Early tests show that the first new pill in two decades led to a sharp improvement of symptoms for chronic asthma sufferers.  And unlike inhaler or steroids, the new pill shows no signs of side effects.

"This new drug could be a game-changer for future treatment of asthma," said Professor Chris Brightling of the University of Leicester in central England, who led a study on the new drug fevipipran, which was published in the British medical journal The Lancet Respiratory Medicine.  It showed that fevipipran - a Novartis product - improved lung function, reduced inflammation and repaired the lining of airways. 

Researchers came to this conclusion by dividing 61 asthma patients into two groups, and yes, you probably guessed what happened next.  One group was given 225 mg of the drug twice a day for 12 weeks and the other participants were given a placebo.  The group with the drug did well.

Asthma sufferers have trouble breathing when their immune systems sends cells called eosinophils into the bronchial walls, where they restrict and inflame the airways.  People who do have not have asthma typically have an eosinophil count of less than one percent; but those with moderate-to-severe asthma have a reading of about five percent.  Fevipiprant seeks to prevent those eosinophil immune cells from moving into the airways and causing trouble.

Like every other medical story ever written, doctors caution that more research is needed.  But Novartis wants to get this thing licensed and prescribed by 2019.