Breathing through a straw…

For most of us, breathing comes effortlessly. We don’t give it any thought – we just do it. That’s not the reality, unfortunately, for millions of people around the world - one million in the U.S. alone, and two and a half million worldwide – who live with severe, uncontrolled asthma. This debilitating and often stigmatized condition will likely become even more common in coming years as millions more people around the world move from the countryside to cities, where air quality is typically poorer. 

People with severe, uncontrolled asthma often need daily monitoring by physicians and must curtail their normal activities to avoid triggering sudden and scary attacks known as “exacerbations.” At Amgen we’ve talked with many such people. They describe their experience as being akin to “breathing through a straw.” Their overwhelming feeling is one of powerlessness – of being unable to control something as basic as their own ability to breathe. 

There is a clear unmet medical need for these people, and we at Amgen – together with our partners at AstraZeneca – are committed to finding a solution. This week, at the annual conference of the American Thoracic Society, we shared late-stage clinical trial data for a first-in-class investigational medicine to treat severe, uncontrolled asthma.

During May, as we observe National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month, let’s look forward to the day when none of us are left feeling like we have to breathe through a straw.