Managing Severe Asthma in the Era of Biologics: Severe Persistent Eosinophilic Asthma

Jointly provided by

  

This educational activity is supported by an educational grant from GlaxoSmithKline.

Release date: 4/14/2020

Expiration date: 4/14/2021

Estimated time to complete: 0.5 hour

Overview

Although only a minority of asthma patients present with severe disease, these patients represent the greatest area of unmet clinical need in asthma care. A better understanding of asthma pathophysiology has resulted in the development of new targeted biologics in recent years, and this has improved outcomes for some patients with severe asthma and prompted the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) to add biologics to its stepwise treatment guidelines for personalized therapy. However, physicians continue to face challenges in determining when to start biologic therapy and which therapy to choose to most effectively manage their patients’ severe asthma symptoms.

In this activity, learners will meet Marie, who has had two recent visits to the emergency room for asthma attacks, and determine what adjustments (if any) are needed to her current treatment regimen—and whether treatment with a biologic is appropriate for her. This activity will also review strategies for navigating administrative challenges when prescribing biologic therapies and tailoring the most appropriate targeted biologic agent to patients with severe asthma based on the patient’s phenotype and endotype.

At the end of the case, learners will play a round of Cranium Challenge to test their ability to apply what they have learned about incorporating biologic therapy for patients with severe asthma.

Faculty

Reynold A. Panettieri, Jr., MD—Program Chair
Vice Chancellor, Translational Medicine and Science
Director, Rutgers Institute for Translational Medicine and Science
Professor of Medicine, Rutgers University
New Brunswick, New Jersey
Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania

Flavia C. Hoyte, MD
Associate Professor of Medicine
Allergy/Immunology Fellowship Training Program
Division of Allergy/Immunology
National Jewish Health
University of Colorado
Denver, Colorado

Michael E. Wechsler, MD, MMSc
Professor of Medicine
Director, Cohen Family Asthma Institute
National Jewish Health
Denver, Colorado

Target Audience

This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of allergists, immunologists, pulmonologists, and primary care providers (including nurse practitioners and physician assistants) involved in the care of patients with severe asthma.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to:

  • Recognize clinical characteristics that indicate that a patient is a candidate for targeted biologic therapy
  • Overcome challenges to implementing biologic therapy in practice
  • Differentiate the efficacy characteristics of biologic therapies using current and emerging data to better personalize treatment according to the phenotypic characteristics and outstanding clinical treatment needs of each patient

Accreditation Statement (from the ACCME)

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of the University of Cincinnati and RedMedEd. The University of Cincinnati is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Physician Credit Designation Statement (from the AMA):

The University of Cincinnati designates this enduring material activity for a maximum of 0.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Maintenance of Certification Points Statement

American Board of Internal Medicine Maintenance of Certification (MOC):

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to .5 MOC points. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.

Disclosure

In accordance with the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support, all CE providers are required to disclose to the activity audience the relevant financial relationships of everyone in a position to control content of an educational activity. A relevant financial relationship is a relationship in any amount occurring in the last 12 months with a commercial interest whose products or services are discussed in the CE activity content over which the individual has control. Relationship information appears below:

Faculty
Flavia C. Hoyte, MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Scientific Advisory Board: Genentech

Reynold A. Panettieri, Jr., MD, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Grant/Research Support: AstraZeneca, Equillium, Genentech, MedImmune, OncoArendi Therapeutics, Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Theratrophix
Speakers Bureau: AstraZeneca, Genentech, Sanofi Genzyme/Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Scientific Advisory Board: AstraZeneca, Avillion, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Equillium, MedImmune, Research Institute for Fragrance Materials, Theravance Biopharma

Michael E. Wechsler, MD, MMSc, has disclosed the following relevant financial relationships:
Consultant: AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Sanofi, Teva Pharmaceuticals USA

University of Cincinnati
Faculty and staff involved in the development and review of this activity have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

RedMedEd
Yvette Murley, PhD, Medical Director, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Heather Rafa, Program Manager, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Jonathan S. Simmons, ELS, Senior Managing Editor, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.
Karen Smith, Creative Director, has disclosed no relevant financial relationships.

Unapproved Product Use

This educational activity may contain discussion of published and/or investigational uses of agents that are not indicated by the US Food and Drug Administration. The University of Cincinnati, RedMedEd, and GlaxoSmithKline do not recommend the use of any agent outside the labeled indications.

Disclaimer

The information presented in this activity is for continuing medical education purposes only and is not meant to substitute for the independent medical judgment of a physician regarding diagnosis and treatment of a specific patient’s medical condition.

The opinions expressed in this educational activity are those of the faculty and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of Cincinnati, RedMedEd, or GlaxoSmithKline. Please refer to the official prescribing information for each product for discussion of approved indications, contraindications, and warnings.

Method of Participation

There are no fees to participate in the activity. Participants must review all activity information, including the learning objectives, disclosure statements, and content. To receive CME credit for participation, participants must complete the posttest (achieving a passing grade of 75% or greater) and program evaluation. Certificates can be printed immediately.

Contact Information

For questions regarding CME credit, contact the University of Cincinnati at 513.558.7277 or uc-cloudcme@ucmail.uc.edu. 
For technical questions related to this activity, please contact RedMedEd at 610.251.6841 or education@redmeded.com.

Hardware/Software Requirements

  • Apple iPad or iPad mini (iOS 8 or higher) with an Internet connection
  • A computer with an Internet connection
    • Internet browser (PC): Google Chrome or Firefox 26 or higher
    • Internet browser (Mac): Google Chrome, Firefox 26 or higher, or Safari 5 or higher
    • Additional software: Adobe Flash Player and/or an HTML 5-capable browser is required for video or audio playback; Adobe Acrobat Reader may occasionally be required

Privacy

This website is managed by RedMedEd, and RedMedEd’s printed privacy policy applies to this site. CME credit for this activity is provided by the University of Cincinnati. If you register for CME credit for this educational activity, RedMedEd will forward relevant personally identifiable information to the University of Cincinnati so that records can be maintained concerning any credits issued to you. Aggregated data concerning registrations, posttests, and evaluations may be shared, but RedMedEd will not knowingly share any personally identifiable information. The University of Cincinnati may use the information you provide on this site to contact you about your CME credit or other relevant educational activities provided through the University of Cincinnati. For more information, contact UC CME at uc-cloudcme@ucmail.uc.edu.

For more information about the privacy policy of the University of Cincinnati, please visit https://www.uc.edu/about/privacy.html.

Copyright

© 2020. This CME-certified program is held as copyrighted by the University of Cincinnati and RedMedEd. Through this notice, the University of Cincinnati and RedMedEd grant permission of its use for educational purposes only. These materials may not be used, in whole or in part, for any commercial purposes without prior permission in writing from the copyright owners.

Course Resources
To view other activities in this curriculum, click here.
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