Conditions: Asthma
Keywords: Xolair Allergic asthma Cat allergy
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 69
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
This was a 3-center, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled study with a 16-week treatment phase to determine whether subcutaneous omalizumab, compared with placebo, reduces the degree of bronchoconstriction induced by environmental cat dander exposure in patients 18-65 years old with stable, moderate asthma and a history of cat dander-induced asthma symptoms.

Detailed description:
A cat dander allergen challenge model was used to collect data for all of the Outcome Measures. The cat allergen levels in the model are similar to those found in homes with cats and are capable of inducing lower- and upper-airway responses that have been used to assess the efficacy of several asthma and allergy therapies.

Cat allergen exposure was performed in a room furnished with upholstered furniture, a blanket, and a cat litter box. The door was kept closed at all times, except when personnel or study patients were entering or leaving the room. The ventilation system was operating at all times except during cat allergen challenges. Two neutered adult cats were kept in the room at all times and were free to move about except during challenges, at which time they are placed in wire cages. Immediately before a challenge, the blanket was shaken vigorously to distribute cat allergen throughout the room.

Arms:
arm 1: Patients received omalizumab via subcutaneous injection either every 2 weeks or every 4 weeks for 16 weeks. The dose administered and the dosing interval were determined by serum total IgE level and body weight (measured before the start of treatment) per the study drug dosing table. arm 2: Patients received placebo as a subcutaneous injection either every 2 weeks or every 4 weeks for 16 weeks. Patients received injections at the same time intervals as the omalizumab group.

Interventions: intervention 1: Omalizumab intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: Omalizumab was supplied as a sterile, white, preservative-free, lyophilized powder in single-use vials that was reconstituted with sterile water for injection. intervention 2: Placebo contained the same ingredients as the omalizumab formulation, excluding omalizumab.

Protocol document: