A Study to Evaluate the Onset of Effect and Time Course of Change in Lung Function With Benralizumab in Severe, Uncontrolled Asthma Patients With Eosinophilic Inflammation

Inclusion criteria

• Written informed consent for study participation must be obtained prior to any study related procedures being performed and according to international guidelines and/or applicable European Union (EU) guidelines.
• Female and male aged 18 to 75 years inclusively at the time of Visit 1
• Documented current treatment with ICS and LABA for at least 30 days prior to Visit 1. The ICS and LABA can be parts of a combination product or given by separate inhalers. The ICS dose must be greater than or equal to 500 μg/day fluticasone propionate dry powder formulation or equivalent daily. Additional asthma controller medications, eg, oral corticosteroids, long-acting antimuscarinics (LAMAs), LTRAs, theophylline etc. are allowed if they have been used for at least 30 days prior to Visit 1
• History of at least 2 asthma exacerbations that required treatment with systemic corticosteroids (intramuscular (IM), intravenous (IV), or oral) in the 12 months prior to Visit 1. For patients receiving corticosteroids as a maintenance therapy, the corticosteroid treatment for the exacerbation is defined as a temporary increase of their maintenance dose.
• Pre-bronchodilator (pre-BD) FEV1 of 0.75 at Visit 4 prior to randomization.
• A negative urine pregnancy test in WOCBP prior to administration of IP

Exclusion criteria

• Clinically important pulmonary disease other than asthma (eg, active lung infection, COPD, bronchiectasis, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, hypoventilation syndrome associated with obesity, lung cancer, alpha 1 anti-trypsin deficiency, and primary ciliary dyskinesia) or ever been diagnosed with pulmonary or systemic disease, other than asthma, that are associated with elevated peripheral eosinophil counts (eg, allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis/mycosis, Churg-Strauss syndrome, hypereosinophilic syndrome)
• Life-threatening asthma defined as episodes requiring intubation associated with hypercapnia, respiratory arrest, hypoxic seizures, or asthma related syncopal episodes within the 12 months prior to Visit 1.
• Acute upper or lower respiratory infections requiring antibiotics or antiviral medication within 30 days prior to the date informed consent is obtained or during the screening/run-in period
• An upper respiratory tract infection or an asthma exacerbation that required treatment with systemic corticosteroids or an increase in regular maintenance dose of OCS during the screening/run-in period prior to randomization Visit 4
• Any disorder, including, but not limited to, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, hepatic, renal, neurological, musculoskeletal, infectious, endocrine, metabolic, haematological, psychiatric, or major physical impairment that is not stable in the opinion of the Investigator and could:
• Affect the safety of the patient throughout the study
• Influence the findings of the studies or their interpretations
• Impede the patient's ability to complete the entire duration of study
• Known history of allergy or reaction to any component of the investigational product formulation
• History of anaphylaxis to any biologic therapy
• History of Guillain-Barré syndrome
• A helminth parasitic infection diagnosed within 24 weeks prior to the date informed consent is obtained that has not been treated with, or has failed to respond to standard of care therapy
• Any clinically significant abnormal findings in physical examination, vital signs, hematology, clinical chemistry, or urinalysis during screening period, which in the opinion of the Investigator, may put the patient at risk because of his/her participation in the study, or may influence the results of the study, or the patient's ability to complete entire duration of the study
• Any clinically significant cardiac disease or any electrocardiogram (ECG) abnormality obtained during the screening/run-in period, which in the opinion of the Investigator may put the patient at risk or interfere with study assessments
• Histor