(Adds details on drug, adds asthma)
By Toni Clarke
June 11 (Reuters) - An advisory committee to the U.S. Foodand Drug Administration recommended approval on Thursday ofGlaxoSmithKline Plc's drug mepolizumab for severe asthmain patients aged 18 and older.
The panel voted 10 to 4 against approving it in childrenaged 12 to 17.
The FDA is not obliged to follow the advice of its advisorypanels but typically does so. If approved, the drug would bemarketed under the trade name Nucala and be the first newbiologic treatment for severe asthma in more than a decade.
Asthma affects more than 22 million people in the UnitedStates. Severe asthma accounts for 5 to 10 percent of thatpopulation, according to GSK.
Mepolizumab is a monoclonal antibody that binds to areceptor known as interleukin-5 which promotes the growth ofeosinophils. These are certain type of white blood cell that canaccumulate in the lungs of patients with asthma.
The extent of these accumulations correlate with thefrequency and severity of asthma exacerbations. There arecurrently no products designed to treat patients based onpredefined eosinophil levels.
The drug is designed to be given once every four weeks byinjection. GSK is testing it in other conditions, includingchronic obstructive pulmonary disease, a respiratory disorderoften associated with smoking. (Reporting by Toni Clarke in Washington; Editing by Eric Beechand Cynthia Osterman)