Novartis has announced that the European Commission (EC) has approved Xolair® (omalizumab) prefilled syringe (PFS) for self-administration, allowing patients with severe allergic asthma (SAA) and chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) to administer their own treatment. With this approval, Xolair is the first and only biologic to offer the option of self-administration for SAA and CSU.
Xolair, which targets immunoglobulin E (IgE), is the first and only biologic to be approved in the European Union, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein for self-administration (or administration by a trained caregiver) for the treatment of SAA in patients six years of age and older that have difficulty in controlling their asthma symptoms and for CSU in patients 12 years of age and older who continue to have hives that are not controlled by H1 antihistamines. Studies in severe allergic asthma and chronic spontaneous urticaria have shown that appropriately trained patients can effectively self-administer Xolair at home.
The efficacy of Xolair has been demonstrated in large-scale clinical trials and real world studies. Xolair has been shown to reduce severe exacerbations and corticosteroid use in SAA, as well as rapidly reduce symptoms in CSU.
