A COMMON eczema drug could provide relief for millions of asthma sufferers, new research suggests.

American researchers found the drug, dupilumab, stops symptoms and improves patients' ability to breathe better than standard therapies.

Two separate studies found the drug, an injectable antibody, was able to improve lung function.

Experts from Washington University School of Medicine studied more than 2,000 patients that suffered from moderate to severe asthma.

The rate of asthma exacerbations – progressively worsening shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing – was cut in half when patients were treated with dupilumab.

And those taking the placebo suffered at least one asthma exacerbation a day.

Although the drug significantly reduced asthma symptoms for all patients, dupilumab worked particularly well in patients with high numbers of a specific type of white blood cell, called eosinophils, circulating in the bloodstream.

For those patients, asthma exacerbations were cut by two-thirds.

Lead author Mario Castro, a distinguished professor in pulmonology and critical care medicine, said: "This drug not only reduced severe symptoms of asthma, it improved the ability to breathe.

"That's important because these patients have a chronic disabling disease that worsens over time with loss of lung function.

"So far, we do not have a drug for asthma that changes the course of the disease.

"Current drugs for severe asthma help reduce trips to the emergency room, for example, but they don't improve lung function."

For the first study, 1,900 patients needing three types of inhalers to manage their symptoms were split into two groups, one to receive dupilumab and one to receive a placebo for a year.

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