FDA Approval of Dupilumab for Uncontrolled COPD will Change the Treatment Landscape: Interview with Surya Bhatt, MD, MSPH

The US FDA today approved dupilumab (Dupixent; Sanofi/Regeneron) as an add-on maintenance treatment in adults with uncontrolled chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who are taking maximal standard-of-care inhaled therapy and have evidence of type 2 inflammation, the companies announced.

Surya Bhatt, MD, MSPH, is coprincipal investigator for the pivotal phase 3 BOREAS and NOTUS clinical trials, the foundational studies reviewed by the FDA to make today's decision.

Patient Care spoke with Bhatt for his thoughts on the potential for dupilumab, the first-ever targeted therapy for COPD and the first new approach to COPD management in more than 10 years, to change the treatment landscape for individuals with uncontrolled disease.

Surya Bhatt, MD, MSPH, is professor in the division of pulmonary, allergy, and critical care medicine, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), in Birmingham, Alabama. He is also the director of the UAB lung imaging lab and medical director of the UAB pulmonary function and exercise physiology lab. In addition, he serves as medical director of the UAB pulmonary rehabilitation program. Bhatt also directs a novel telehealth program directed at providing COPD patients with pulmonary rehabilitation at home with the help of telemonitoring and new technology.