Patients with a type of severe asthma benefit from injections of an antibody, research has shown.
Two teams, in the UK and Canada, found the treatment mepolizumab helped those patients with asthma exacerbated by a condition called eosinophilia.
The drug not only reduced the frequency of severe attacks, but enabled patients to cut back on the use of steroids, which are associated with side effects.
The studies feature in the New England Journal of Medicine.
 |  The possible benefits that mepolizumab could bring to the half a million people with severe asthma in the UK are incredibly exciting  Professor Ian Pavord Institute for Lung Health |
It is estimated that up to 500,000 people in the UK have severe asthma complicated by eosinophilia.
This is a form of persistent airway inflammation linked to high levels of white blood cells called eosinophils.
Their condition can be so severe that they require regular hospital treatment.
The Canadian study focused on 20 patients who had been taking the steroid prednisone - which is linked to side effects such as weight gain and bone loss - for an average of nine years to control their condition.
Those who were given mepolizumab were able to reduce their use of prednisone significantly without their asthma getting any worse.
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