Differences in Biologic Clinical Trials for Chronic Rhinosinusitis with Nasal Polyps—Are We Comparing Apples With Oranges?

Authors

• Marjolein Cornet, Alrijne Hospital
• Peter W. Hellings, University of Ghent
• Martin Desrosiers, Université De Montréal
• Martin Wagenmann, Düsseldorf University Hospital (UKD)
• Richard Follows, Clinical Sciences, Immunology & Inflammation Research Unit, GSK, London
• Laura Walrave, Global Medical, Specialty Care, GSK, Wavre
• Luz Adriana Jimenez, Global Real-World Evidence & Health Outcomes Research, GSK, London
• Lee Tombs, Precise Approach Ltd.
• Dawn Edwards, Immunology & Inflamation Research Unit, GSK, London
• Peter Howarth, Global Medical Affairs, GSK, London
• Joseph K. Han, Old Dominion UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2026

DOI

10.1002/alr.70205

Publication Title

International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology

Volume

16

Issue

8

Pages

769-777

Abstract

In recent years, several biologics targeting Type 2 inflammation have been developed for treating chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP). These have been studied in registrational randomized controlled trials (RCTs), which vary in their patient populations, trial design, endpoints, geography, timing, or data-handling processes. While (in)direct treatment comparisons and meta-analyses have been carried out to compare efficacy results from RCTs, often these fail to properly account for these between-study differences. Here, we summarize the key between-study differences that can influence trial outcomes and highlight the resulting challenges faced when comparing outcomes from different Phase III RCTs of biologics in CRSwNP.

Rights

© 2026 GSK.

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Data Availability

Article states: "Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no datasets were generated or analyzed during the current study."

Original Publication Citation

Cornet, M., Hellings, P. W., Desrosiers, M., Wagenmann, M., Follows, R., Walgrave, L., Jimenez, L. A., Tombs, L., Edwards, D., Howarth, P., & Han, J. K. (2026). Differences in biologic clinical trials for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps-are we comparing apples with oranges? International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, 16(8), 769-777. https://doi.org/10.1002/alr.70205

Repository Citation

Cornet, M., Hellings, P. W., Desrosiers, M., Wagenmann, M., Follows, R., Walgrave, L., Jimenez, L. A., Tombs, L., Edwards, D., Howarth, P., & Han, J. K. (2026). Differences in biologic clinical trials for chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps-are we comparing apples with oranges? International Forum of Allergy & Rhinology, 16(8), 769-777. https://doi.org/10.1002/alr.70205