Tezepelumab: An Anti-Thymic Stromal Lymphopoietin Monoclonal Antibody for the Treatment of Asthma

Asthma is a common chronic respiratory disease in which epithelial cytokines and airway inflammation play critical pathophysiological roles. Thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), an epithelial cytokine, is central in the initiation and persistence of airway inflammation in asthma. Tezepelumab is a human immunoglobulin G2λ (IgG2λ) monoclonal antibody developed for treating moderate-to-severe asthma by specifically binding to TSLP and preventing its binding to the TSLP receptor on inflammatory cells. In this narrative review, we describe the results of clinical trials that evaluated the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, efficacy and safety of tezepelumab in patients with moderate-to-severe asthma. We also introduce the ongoing clinical trials in patients with asthma as well as future trials investigating the use of tezepelumab for other indications.Asthma is a long-term disease that causes inflammation in the cells of the lung. One of the cytokines (proteins) involved in asthma is called thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). This cytokine is produced by the airway epithelium, a layer of cells covering the respiratory tract in the lungs, where it activates inflammatory cells. Tezepelumab is a new drug that blocks the activity of TSLP in the lungs and helps reduce asthma symptoms, such as coughing and breathlessness. In this article, we describe the clinical trials that investigated how well tezepelumab works, as well as its safety, in people with moderate or severe asthma. We also describe the trials of tezepelumab that are now underway in people with asthma, allergies or other inflammatory diseases.