Effectiveness of omalizumab in severe persistent asthma under real-life conditions

Anthony D. D’Urzo; Jenny Wong

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Omalizumab critical appraisal
Mike E Cotterill

Published on: 01 August 2014

Published on: (1 August 2014)
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Omalizumab critical appraisal
Mike E Cotterill, family physician
To the editor: I read with interest the critical appraisal on Omalizumab. I thought there were a few questions that readers might have in order to "critically appraise" this Critical Appraisal: 1. Dr. D'Urzo lists that he has received fees from Novartis, one of the manufacturers of omalizumab. Did he receive fees specifically related to omalizumab? Were the Belgian physicians in the study paid to participate? 2. What kin...
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To the editor: I read with interest the critical appraisal on Omalizumab. I thought there were a few questions that readers might have in order to "critically appraise" this Critical Appraisal: 1. Dr. D'Urzo lists that he has received fees from Novartis, one of the manufacturers of omalizumab. Did he receive fees specifically related to omalizumab? Were the Belgian physicians in the study paid to participate? 2. What kind of literature search was done to obtain this article? 3. Was the PERSIST study funded by the manufacturer of omalizumab? 4. Were the endpoints specified and published prior to the conduct of the trial? 5. Why select a non-randomized, uncontrolled, unblinded study? Wouldn't this be susceptible to placebo effect? Could the result be due only to the natural progression of the disease? 6. Are the various questionnaires and criteria used externally validated? 7. Given Canadian family physicians probable unfamiliarity with omalizumab, and its high cost (>$600 / 150 mg treatment), is it better than existing treatments? Sincerely, Mike Cotterill
Conflict of Interest:
None declared
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Competing Interests: None declared.