Researchers say they have found the first new treatment for asthma attacks in 50 years.

The injection weakens part of the immune system that can trigger flare-ups of both asthma and a lung condition called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Benralizumab is already used in the most severe cases, but the latest research suggests it could be used routinely for the nearly two million attacks in the UK each year.

The research team from King’s College London said the drug is a “game-changer” that could “revolutionize” care.

The findings stem from the realization that not all asthma or COPD attacks are the same. Instead, different parts of the immune system are over-reacting in different patients.

“Now that we can see that there are different patterns of inflammation, we can be smarter and give the right treatment to the right patient, at the right time,” said Professor Mona Bafdel at King’s.

Benralizumab targets a type of white blood cell – called eosinophil – that can cause inflammation and damage in the lungs.

Eosinophils are involved in about half of asthma attacks and one third of COPD cases.

If such attacks – which include difficulty breathing, wheezing, coughing and chest tightness – cannot be controlled with a regular inhaler, doctors currently prescribe a course of steroids.

In the study of 158 people, patients were monitored for three months after treatment for flare-ups.

The results of The Lancet Respiratory Medicine found treatment failure rates to be:

• 74% while taking steroids
• and 45% with new therapies

People treated with the new therapy were less likely to be hospitalized, need a second round of treatment, or die.

Professor Buffadell said this could benefit a large number of people as two million attacks each year is “not a small number”.

“This is a game-changer, we haven’t had any change in treatment for 50 years – it will revolutionize how we treat people when they are really unwell,” said Professor Bafdel.

Volunteers also reported improvement in symptoms and a better quality of life from the new drug.

Alison Spooner, who is 55 and from Oxfordshire, was one of those taking part in the trial. She has had asthma since childhood, but it has become worse over the past five years and she has had three major attacks.

“It seemed like his condition was getting worse, severe shortness of breath was quite scary when you’re gasping and there’s no point in gasping,” she told me.

Alison says she felt “quite different” after having the injections and that she still uses her inhaler but “only because I’ve been told to do so”.

She adds, “Unfortunately, no drug completely relieves asthma, but this is the closest thing. It’s really a bit of a miracle.”

Benralizumab is not ready for wide-scale use.

It will still require a larger trial, which will begin in 2025 and last two years, to be certain of any benefits. Anyone who has already been prescribed these medications should continue to follow their prescription.

That study will also need to assess cost-effectiveness because monoclonal antibodies, like this therapy, are expensive drugs.

But Dr Sanjay Ramakrishnan of the University of Oxford said the work so far “shows massive promise” and that despite it being one of the leading causes of death worldwide, treatment of COPD was “stuck in the 20th century”.

It is estimated that four people with asthma and 85 people with COPD die every day in the UK.

Dr Samantha Walker, of the charity Asthma + Lung UK, said the results were “very good news”.

“But it is frightening that this is the first new treatment for people suffering from asthma and COPD attacks in 50 years,” he said.