Around 100,000 people suffering from the worst form of asthma will be given access to a £12,000 treatment that promises the chance of a more normal life.
Health chiefs have said the NHS will pay for injections of Benralizumab for those who cannot be helped by traditional inhalers or steroids.
Patients groups welcomed the decision saying it offers a “beacon of hope” to people suffering from severe eosinophilic asthma, around 1.3 per cent of the 5.4 million living with all forms of the disease.
Eosinophilic asthma is a severe type of asthma that can cause life-threatening exacerbations.
Benralizumab is given as an injection every four weeks for the first three doses and every eight weeks following.
Produced by Medlmmune, a subsidiary of AstraZeneca, the drug costs £1,955 per injection, however the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence, which decides what medications and treatments must be provided on the NHS, said it had secured Benralizumab for a confidential price.
Kay Boycott, Chief Executive of Asthma UK, said: “This new drug offers a beacon of hope to thousands of people in the UK who have an acute form of asthma called severe eosinophilic asthma.