SUNRISE: Tezepelumab Shows Meaningful OCS Reduction in Severe Asthma, With Michael E. Wechsler, MD, MSc

Phase 3 findings from the SUNRISE study presented at the 

2026 American Thoracic Society (ATS) meeting

 indicate that tezepelumab offers clinically meaningful oral corticosteroid (OCS) reduction in patients with severe, OCS-dependent asthma, with improvements in lung function and asthma control adding further weight to the drug's growing evidence base.

In an interview on-site at ATS discussing the findings, Michael E. Wechsler, MD, MSc, of National Jewish Health, emphasized that the results build confidence as part of a converging body of evidence, including the earlier phase 3 SOURCE trial and real-world Wayfinder study, all pointing in the same direction.

SUNRISE (NCT05398263) was a multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled study enrolling adults aged 18 to 80 with severe, OCS-dependent asthma. Following an OCS optimization period, 122 patients were randomized 2:1 to receive subcutaneous tezepelumab 210 mg or placebo every four weeks for 28 weeks. The primary endpoint was the categorized percent reduction in daily maintenance OCS dose at week 28 while maintaining asthma control.

The study met its primary endpoint. Patients receiving tezepelumab were nearly three times more likely to achieve a greater percentage reduction in OCS dose compared to those on placebo, with a cumulative odds ratio of 2.93 (95% CI: 1.43–6.03; 

 =.003). Baseline mean daily OCS doses of approximately 12 to 14 mg were reduced to around 5 mg in the placebo arm. This is a clinically meaningful shift, Wechsler noted, given the long-term adverse effects associated with chronic corticosteroid use. Notably, 36% of tezepelumab-treated patients were able to discontinue OCS entirely.

Beyond steroid reduction, tezepelumab-treated patients showed meaningful improvement in pre-bronchodilator FEV1 compared to placebo, alongside numerical improvements across all secondary endpoints including asthma control, health-related quality of life, and biomarker levels. No new safety signals were identified.

Wechsler noted that identifying the right candidates for tezepelumab requires integrating biomarker profiles, comorbidity burden, dosing preferences, and payer considerations. He highlighted the drug's broad upstream mechanism, blocking thymic stromal lymphopoietin to inhibit the IL-4, IL-5, and IL-13 pathways, as a key factor supporting its consistent performance across both controlled trials and real-world settings.

Wechsler M, et al. (Poster Board # 521) Efficacy and Safety of Tezepelumab Versus Placebo in Reducing OCS Use in OCS-Dependent Patients With Severe Asthma: Results From the Phase 3 Sunrise Study. Poster presented at ATS 2026 in Orlando, Florida. 

https://ats2026.d365.events/education/abstracts/abstracts/2b275b67-c1f3-4043-8f9a-38e79ca86938

Videos

This interview highlights phase 3 findings from the SUNRISE study regarding tezepelumab and oral corticosteroid (OCS) reduction in patients with severe, OCS-dependent asthma.

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Isam Albaba, MBSS, from the department of thoracic medicine & surgery at Temple University Hospital.

Higher-Resolution CT May Predict Pneumothorax After BLVR, With Isam Albaba, MBBS

2026 American Thoracic Society (ATS) International Conference 

in Orlando, Florida, Isam Albaba, MBSS, from the department of thoracic medicine & surgery at Temple University Hospital, discussed how functional air trapping on CT imaging may help identify patients at the greatest risk for pneumothorax following bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR).

BLVR is increasingly used in select patients with severe 

chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

, particularly those with advanced emphysema. Pneumothorax remains the most frequent complication and can lead to prolonged hospitalization, chest tube placement, and, in severe cases, valve removal.

The study presented at ATS evaluated whether pre-procedural CT imaging could better stratify risk than traditional selection measures such as fissure integrity alone. Investigators focused on functional air trapping within the ipsilateral non-target lobe, using advanced quantitative CT techniques.

“Fissure integrity is a starting point,” Albaba said. “If they do not have fissure integrity, they are not eligible for BLVR. [It] doesn't necessarily determine [if] pneumothorax [will happen].”

Some studies have suggested that greater fissure completeness and integrity may be associated with a greater likelihood of pneumothorax, which is physiologically plausible since more complete fissures allow greater volume redistribution to the ipsilateral lobe. However, on their own, these measures are not strong or reliable predictors of pneumothorax development.

“It's not just about how much volume goes into the ipsilateral,” he said. “It's also about how fragile that tissue is and how much air trappings [is] happening in the fragile lung, as opposed to areas that are not as fragile and likely to have a defect in the pleural space that will…result in a pneumothorax.”

The analysis found that functional air trapping specifically within emphysematous regions of the lung (fAT-E) was the strongest predictor of pneumothorax risk. Static CT measures alone were not sufficient, underscoring the importance of dynamic physiologic imaging.

A threshold of approximately 25% to 27% functional air trapping provided the best discrimination between patients who did and did not develop pneumothorax, with greater specificity in refined analyses (94% vs 75%).

Albaba noted that scan quality itself plays an important role in interpretation. The data becomes less reliable if a patient does not achieve adequate inspiratory and expiratory volumes. For instance, a change of ≥ 1 liter between scans significantly improves the accuracy of functional air trapping measurements.

The findings suggest that incorporating quantitative CT metrics into pre-procedure planning could help clinicians better anticipate complications and potentially refine post-BLVR monitoring strategies. Currently, many patients are routinely hospitalized for observation after valve placement due to pneumothorax risk, contributing to substantial healthcare utilization.

Future research will focus on validating these imaging biomarkers across larger cohorts and integrating them into prospective BLVR planning algorithms to better personalize procedural risk assessment.

Editor’s note: Albaba has no reported disclosures.

Albaba I, Deller E, Lalwani A, et al. Functional Air Trapping Predicts Pneumothorax After BLVR. Poster presented at ATS 2026 in Orlando, Florida, on May 19.

A quantitative CT-based approach may help predict pneumothorax risk after bronchoscopic lung volume reduction, according to findings presented at ATS 2026.

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Jason Guichard, MD, PhD, is an advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist at Prisma Health and the lead investigator on the study.

PROACTIVE-HF: Cordella PA Sensor Improves HF Status Regardless of EF

The Cordella Pulmonary Artery (PA) sensor system is associated with improved status in patients with 

 regardless of ejection fraction (EF), according to 2-year data from the PROACTIVE-HF trial.

The Cordella PA Sensor is a microelectromechanical system sensor implanted in the right pulmonary artery, which enables pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) reading from the anterior chest wall via a handheld reader when patients are in either the seated or supine posture. The system is designed to provide clinicians with a patient’s supine and/or seated PAP, blood pressure (BP), heart rate (HR), body weight, and oxygen saturation (SpO2).

“The odds would tell you that the majority of patients would probably see a hospitalization within 2 years,” Jason Guichard, MD, PhD, advanced heart failure and transplant cardiologist at Prisma Health and lead investigator on the study, told 

 in an exclusive interview. “The fact that the Cordella PA sensor system was able to keep these patients out and alive is quite remarkable.”

PROACTIVE-HF was a prospective, open-label, single-arm, multicenter clinical trial aiming to evaluate the safety and efficacy of the Cordella PA sensor system in patients with New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III HF compared to a performance goal. Patients with a diagnosis of and treatment for HF for ≥3 months who were on stable, optimally titrated medical therapy for ≥30 days and had an HF-related hospitalization within 12 months at the time of screening, among other criteria, were eligible for inclusion; those with ACC/AHA Stage D refractory HF, a history of recurrent pulmonary embolism, or unrepaired severe valvular disease, among other criteria, were excluded.

All enrolled patients were instructed to take daily vital signs, including HR, BP, weight, and SpO2. Following implantation of the Cordella PA sensor, patients were treated to a target trend seated mean PAP of 5-20 mmHg, which was achieved through titration of vasodilators, diuretics, and guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) via a trial-specific guideline. The team defined trend-seated mean PAP as a 7-day moving average of daily mean PAP readings.

The primary endpoint for the trial was 24-month incidence of HF events or all-cause mortality. HF events included first or recurrent HF hospitalization and outpatient intravenous diuretic visits. Secondary outcomes included change from baseline in PAP, vital signs, NT-proBNP, KCCQ, HF medication changes, and patient compliance.

A total of 456 patients were implanted with a sensor – of these, 45.6% (n = 208) had HF with reduced EF (HFrEF), 44.1% (n = 201) had HF with preserved EF (HFpEF), and 9.9% had HF with mildly reduced EF (HFmrEF). Another 2 patients did not have an EF assessment at baseline. During the first 24 months, the incidence of HF events and cardiovascular mortality was 0.89 (95% CI, 0.81-0.99) events per patient. Additionally, patients with HFrEF had greater HF events and cardiovascular mortality rates than those with HFpEF (1.0 vs 0.8 events per patient; 

Guichard and colleagues also noted KCCQ overall scores 5.1 points higher than at baseline, substantially improving for both patients with HFpEF and HFrEF. NT-proBNP was largely unchanged across all cohorts, although NYHA class improved across all arms. Body weights were reduced at 24 months (103.7 +/- 25.8 vs 100.9 +/- 24.5 kg; 

 <.0001) in HFpEF, but not in HFrEF (101.6 +/- 25.8 vs 100.8 +/- 24; 

 = 0.72). Patients saw no significant changes in home readings of systolic or diastolic BP or in HR measurements in any group.

Ultimately, Guichard and colleagues concluded that management with the Cordella PA sensor system substantially improves health status at 2 years, independent of EF. These results also represent an extension of the positive 6- and 12-month outcomes of PROACTIVE-HF, supporting wider adoption of seated mean PAP-guided management to improve symptoms and quality of life for multiple years.

“We have come a long way in reducing heart failure hospitalizations, and we’ve learned a lot on how to identify these patients, how to manage them, and how to do so efficiently and effectively,” Guichard said. “I would love to see a day where we get 95%, maybe even 99% avoiding hospitalizations and avoiding heart failure decomposition in general, and hopefully that’ll get patients living better and living longer.”

Editors’ Note: Guichard reports no relevant disclosures.

Guichard J, Bonno E, Nassif M, et al. Two-year results of proactive-HF trial stratified by left ventricular ejection fraction. 

Endotronix, Inc. PROACTIVE-HF IDE Trial Heart Failure NYHA Class III (PROACTIVE-HF). ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT04089059. Updated March 3, 2025. Accessed May 26, 2026. 

https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04089059

Jason Guichard, MD, PhD, lead author of the study, discusses positive 2-year data from the investigative trial of the Cordella Pulmonary Artery Sensor System.

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Jamey Moore, DO, a fellow at Temple University Hospital.

Greater Steroid Doses Linked to Shorter Hospitalization in AE-SARD-ILD

Higher corticosteroid doses during hospitalization were associated with shorter length of stay among transplant-free survivors with 

acute exacerbations of systemic autoimmune-related disease-associated interstitial lung disease (AE-SARD-ILD)

, according to findings presented at the 

 Jamey Moore, DO, from Temple University Hospital, said the findings reinforce corticosteroids as the “backbone” of treatment for AE-SARD-ILD and suggest clinicians should consider more aggressive upfront dosing in carefully selected patients without evidence of infection.

“Steroids...should remain the mainstay of treatment,” Moore said.

The retrospective cohort study evaluated adults hospitalized with AE-SARD-ILD at Temple University Hospital between 2016 and 2024. Investigators assessed the relationship between average daily corticosteroid dose and hospital length of stay, as well as transplant-free survival outcomes.

The analysis included 52 patients with a mean age of 59 years, 65% of whom were female. Underlying rheumatologic conditions included rheumatoid arthritis, scleroderma, dermatomyositis, Sjögren syndrome, mixed connective tissue disease, anti-synthetase syndrome, and systemic lupus erythematosus.

Among 32 transplant-free survivors, a greater average daily corticosteroid dose was significantly associated with shorter hospitalization time, with a Spearman correlation coefficient of -0.66 (

 < .001). Median daily steroid doses were also significantly greater among transplant-free survivors compared with patients who died or underwent transplantation during admission.

Moore noted the study did not identify a precise steroid threshold associated with improved outcomes but instead found a broader relationship between greater corticosteroid exposure and reduced hospitalization time.

The findings arrive as pulmonologists continue balancing the potential benefits of aggressive immunosuppression against the risk of infection, particularly in older or immunocompromised patients with autoimmune ILD. Moore emphasized that the investigators attempted to minimize this confounding factor by excluding patients with documented infections and focusing on individuals with negative infectious workups early during admission.

Moore cautioned against viewing the study as immediately practice-changing because of its retrospective, single-center design and the possibility that transplant-free survivors represented a healthier subgroup. However, the results may influence clinician decision-making.

“I think it should put a thought into your mind that if you’re admitting this patient, and it doesn’t seem like they have an infectious cause of the exacerbation, then you should probably give higher-dose steroids up front rather than being cautious and underdosing,” he said.

Investigators now plan additional analyses focused specifically on steroid exposure during the first 48 to 72 hours of hospitalization.

“Does giving a higher-dose steroid in those first 48 to 72 hours lead to changes in outcomes or shorter length of stay?” Moore wondered.

Editor’s note: Moore has no reported disclosures.

Moore J, Kurtzman A, Garapati A, et al. (

) Higher Corticosteroid Dose Linked to Shorter Hospitalization in Acute Exacerbations of Systemic Autoimmune Related Disease Associated Interstitial Lung Disease. Poster presented at ATS 2026 in Orlando, Florida, on May 17.

ATS 2026 data presented by Jamey Moore, DO, suggest greater upfront corticosteroid dosing may shorten hospitalization in acute exacerbations of autoimmune-related ILD.

Oral Versus IV Iron, Populations That Warrant Upfront Escalation, the Implementation Gap, and Always Finding the Underlying Cause 

Freed outlines which patients should proceed directly to IV iron without a trial of oral therapy and why oral iron follow-up is inadequately practiced in the United States.

The decision between oral and IV iron is not a single binary choice but a clinical stratification that begins before the prescription is written. Certain populations can be identified prospectively as unlikely to derive meaningful benefit from oral iron and should proceed directly to IV iron: patients with gastrointestinal conditions that impair absorption, including gastric bypass surgery, inflammatory bowel disease, and celiac disease; patients whose rate of iron loss exceeds the capacity of oral absorption to keep pace, most commonly women with heavy menstrual bleeding that has not yet been adequately addressed and patients with chronic gastrointestinal blood loss; patients with advanced chronic kidney disease, in whom elevated hepcidin levels — accumulated due to impaired renal clearance — suppress intestinal iron absorption and render oral supplementation largely ineffective, a problem that begins well before dialysis initiation; patients with congestive heart failure, for whom a substantial evidence base supports IV iron as the preferred route; and patients with chronic inflammatory diseases broadly, in whom inflammation-driven hepcidin upregulation similarly suppresses oral iron absorption. For patients who do not fall into these categories, an appropriate trial of oral iron is reasonable, but it must be followed: the hemoglobin should be rechecked at 4 to 6 weeks, and failure to improve is the indication for conversion to IV iron. Multiple studies have documented that this follow-up is not occurring in the majority of cases in the United States, meaning patients who fail oral iron are frequently not identified as having done so and are not escalated.

The forward-looking challenge in iron deficiency is not primarily scientific but operational. The tools and treatments needed to dramatically reduce the burden of iron deficiency in the United States already exist. The priority question is how to close the gap between what is known and what is practiced — fixing reference ranges at the health system level through institutional advocacy; creating rapid-access pathways for IV iron in appropriate patients; ensuring that women of reproductive age are screened and treated for iron deficiency before they become pregnant, so that clinicians are not encountering severely iron-deficient patients at the first prenatal visit. On the horizon, new IV iron formulations are expected to enter the market with the potential to reduce infusion costs and expand the number of agents capable of delivering full replacement doses in a single short session with a favorable reaction profile. These are meaningful incremental advances, but they are secondary to the implementation work already warranted by the agents available today.

In this final segment of the video discussion on iron deficiency anemia, Jason Freed, MD, closes with what he describes as the principle most important to carry into practice: iron deficiency is never a complete diagnosis. Identifying that a patient is iron deficient is the beginning of the clinical workup, not the end of it, and the underlying cause must always be sought and addressed — repletion without source control produces temporary benefit and inevitable recurrence. In premenopausal women, structured assessment of menstrual blood loss — including questions about the number of saturated pads or tampons used per day, nocturnal changes, missed work or school, and clot size — reveals heavy menstrual bleeding far more frequently than a single unstructured inquiry. In men, iron deficiency should not be explained away by secondary factors such as proton pump inhibitor use; 90% of men with unexplained iron deficiency will have a gastrointestinal cause identified on upper endoscopy and colonoscopy, and the workup should not be deferred. Freed frames this emphasis on source identification not as an additional burden on the clinician but as the necessary condition for any treatment intervention to produce durable benefit — a principle that applies as much to the individual patient as it does to the field's broader effort to reduce the health burden of a condition that is, by every available measure, being massively undertreated.

Oral Versus IV Iron, Populations That Warrant Upfront Escalation, the Implementation Gap, and Always Finding the Underlying Cause

Njira Lugogo, MD, from University of Michigan.

At ATS 2026, Njira Lugogo, MD, discussed PASSAGE data showing tezepelumab reduced severe asthma exacerbations in smokers and patients with comorbid COPD.


Tezepelumab Reduced Severe Asthma Across Phenotypes in Phase 4 PASSAGE

Rebecca Vasquez, MD, is an associate professor of dermatology at UT Southwestern.

Podcasts

This episode highlights the importance of closing persistent gaps in skin cancer prevention and awareness for patients with skin of color.

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podcasts page features a feed of medical news and interview podcast series, including DocTalk, Lungcast, Derm Discussions, and Heart Trials.

Skin of Color Savvy: The Sunscreen Gap—Cancer Prevention in Skin of Color

Goodyear is an integrative medicine physician at the Williams Cancer Institute, board-certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology, and a leader in wellness and cancer prevention. He specializes in functional and regenerative medicine, focusing on healing and teaching the body to restore itself while advancing a holistic approach to reprogram diseased cells and promote long-term wellness.

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Goodyear explores how the medical community often downplays this risk and why it's time for a more transparent, patient-first conversation.

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The Hidden Risk: Reassessing the Long-Term Cancer Impact of CT Scans

Ryan Livingston joined the MJH Life Sciences team in March of 2025, shortly after graduating from TCNJ with a bachelor’s degree in English. He enjoys creative writing, reading, and scuba diving. He can be reached at rlivingston@mjhlifesciences.com.

Lilly reports dose-dependent PCSK9 and LDL-C reductions with single-dose VERVE-102 in interim phase 1b hypercholesterolemia data.

Dyslipidemia

VERVE-102 Lowers PCSK9, LDL-C in Interim Phase 1b Hypercholesterolemia Data

Freed discusses how to select among IV iron formulations based on practical and access considerations.

Intravenous Iron — Formulation Selection, Patient Counseling, Infusion Reactions, and Dosing Principles 

Mark G. Lebwohl, MD, the dean for Clinical Therapeutics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai,

This Q&A interview highlights the broader implications of the phase 3b TOGETHER-PsO trial for ixekizumab and tirzepatide in managing psoriatic disease.

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Q&A: Implications of Ixekizumab, Tirzepatide Data for Psoriasis and PsA, With Mark Lebwohl, MD

Stay updated with the latest healthcare breakthroughs, including FDA approvals and phase 3 data.

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Pulmonary Fibrosis

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The HCPFive: Top News for Healthcare Providers from the Week of 05/17

This interview highlights recent phase 3b data from the TOGETHER-PsO trial on ixekizumab and tirzepatide for psoriasis and obesity or overweight.

Phase 3b Data on Ixekizumab, Tirzepatide for Psoriasis and Overweight, With Mark Lebwohl, MD

Michael Miedema, MD, is the director of cardiovascular prevention at the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute.

Miedema highlights the shortcomings of current technology and medication for what is among the US’s fastest-growing and most devastating conditions.

Addressing the Manifold Barriers in Hypertension, With Michael Miedema, MD

Jeffrey Thiboutot, MD, from Johns Hopkins University.

Jeffrey Thiboutot, MD, discussed efficacy advantages seen in the trial at ATS 2026.

Latest News

SUNRISE: Tezepelumab Shows Meaningful OCS Reduction in Severe Asthma, With Michael E. Wechsler, MD, MSc

Higher-Resolution CT May Predict Pneumothorax After BLVR, With Isam Albaba, MBBS

PROACTIVE-HF: Cordella PA Sensor Improves HF Status Regardless of EF

Greater Steroid Doses Linked to Shorter Hospitalization in AE-SARD-ILD

Oral Versus IV Iron, Populations That Warrant Upfront Escalation, the Implementation Gap, and Always Finding the Underlying Cause