The international Phase 2 trial of a synthetic anti-viral interferon – inhaled via a nebuliser – proved most effective in helping patients with more difficult asthma when they developed a virus or cold-induced attack.

“We’re not interested in curing the common cold – or rhinovirus as it’s known – we want to limit the negative effect it has on asthma,” the University of Newcastle’s Priority Research Centre for Asthma and Respirator Diseases Conjoint Professor Peter Wark said.

“Around 80 per cent of acute exacerbations are triggered by respiratory tract infections and our existing treatments are, at best, only partially effective.”

During the trial, patients were asked to send an SMS text at the onset of cold-like symptoms and they were then assessed within 24 hours and administered either the interferon or a placebo.

The results – published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine – have encouraged the researchers to further explore the susceptibility and response factors.

“The question is where we go from here. People who are most at risk of virus-related acute asthma are not well defined and we think more work needs to be done,” Professor Wark said.

A follow-up trial – starting shortly – will aim to determine which patients respond better to the therapy while looking for biomarker signatures.

Professor Wark believes nebulised interferon could be applied to other patients with chronic respiratory diseases that suffer from recurring viral infections including cystic fibrosis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder.