Investigating Briquilimab’s Efficacy and Safety for CSU, with Thomas Casale, MD

Briquilimab was well-tolerated and seemed to control disease in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) according to new data from the phase 1b/2a BEACON study (NCT06162728).

These findings were presented at the 2025 American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology/World Allergy Organization Joint Congress, February 28-March 3, in San Diego, California, by Thomas Casale, MD, Professor, Internal Medicine, Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida.

HCPLive® spoke with Casale to learn more about briquilimab, which is an aglycosylated antibody that potently inhibits SCF/c-Kit signaling and induces apoptosis of mast cells. He shared data he presented at the congress and why briquilimab may have potential as a treatment in people with CSU refractory to omalizumab. In terms of safety, he noted that due to briquilimab’s mechanism of action, some participants may experience hypogeusia, skin and hair color changes, and neutropenia, but no clinically significant changes were identified in the study.

“With the approval of omalizumab, that made a big difference, because a number of patients do respond and they get better, but there's always a caveat to that, and that is, there are certain patients that don't respond as well, and there are certain patients that respond, but it takes them a long time to respond, and in those patients, it's a very troubling problem for them… And I think having some options like briquilimab, which in this initial study, appears to work very rapidly and has a sustained relief, is a very good option,” Casale said.

Casale's disclosures include Sanofi, Genentech, Regeneron, Novartis, Jasper and Celldex.

REFERENCE

Casale T, Majeed S, Tucker E, et al. Initial results from BEACON, a phase 1b/2a dose escalation study of the anti-c-Kit briquilimab antibody in adults with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). Presented at: 2025 AAAAI/WAO Joint Congress, February 28-March 3. Abstract L24