Asthma is a broad diagnostic label given to a range of conditions that exhibit similar clinical features – chronic airway inflammation, reversible airflow obstruction, wheezing, shortness of breath, chest tightness etc. While it’s understood that several pathophysiological processes can lead to asthma, most asthma patients continue to be treated using a one-size-fits-all approach, including new biologic approaches.
Treatment-refractory asthmatics form a relatively large group of patients suffering from frequent, severe asthma exacerbations, which remain challenging to control. There is a high level of unmet need in severe, refractory asthma, especially in Th2-low or non-Th2 asthma patients.
We identified clear differences in the SNPs, genes and pathways associated with Th2 and non-Th2 asthma, creating opportunities for development of new treatment options and better patient stratification biomarkers for clinical decision support.