Have we identified any adverse effects of biologics for asthma?

Paul M. O’Byrne, MB, is a professor of medicine and dean and vice-president of the Faculty of Health Sciences at McMaster University.

Have we identified any significant adverse effects of biologics in the treatment of asthma?

There have been no class-specific side effects of the biologics fortunately. There are rare incidental adverse effects—allergic reactions. These are extremely rare. In fact, even though I've been studying and using biologics now for almost 15 years, I have never seen a patient with an allergic reaction to one of the biologics so it is a rare phenomenon, but no other specific side effects have been identified.