Personalised Medicine for Asthma and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are prevalent conditions, and despite recent advances and multiple available therapies and interventions, there remains a significant unmet clinical need. In recent years, it has become clear that there is both significant heterogeneity within each of these conditions and additionally significant overlap in many of the clinical and inflammatory features. In parallel, useful clinical and immunological biomarkers which inform about prognosis and response to therapy have emerged in both asthma and COPD. These biomarkers will allow both better targeting of existing treatments and the identification of those patients who will respond to novel therapies which are now becoming available. Biomarkers will also facilitate the identification of novel therapeutic targets for future development. Delivery of precision medicine in airways disease is now feasible and is a core component of a personalised healthcare delivery in asthma and COPD.