What is "mepolizumab"

n. A humanized monoclonal antibody that recognizes interleukin-5 and is used to treat certain kinds of asthma and white blood cell diseases.

Mepolizumab (trade name Nucala) is a humanized monoclonal antibody that recognizes interleukin-5 (IL-5). Mepolizumab has been investigated or is under investigation for the treatment of severe eosinophilic asthma, atopic dermatitis, hypereosinophilic syndrome (HES), eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), nasal polyposis, eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Phase III clinical trials in severe eosinophilic asthma were completed in 2014.

Mepolizumab is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the maintenance treatment of severe asthma in patients aged 12 years or older and with an eosinophilic phenotype in combination with other medicines used to treat asthma.

The European Commission granted a marketing authorisation valid throughout the European Union on 2 December 2015. In Europe Nucala is indicated as an add-on treatment for severe refractory eosinophilic asthma in adult patients.