AstraZeneca PLC announced that the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has approved Fasenra (benralizumab) as an add-on treatment for bronchial asthma in patients who continue to experience asthma exacerbations despite treatment with high-dose inhaled corticosteroid and other asthma controllers. The approval is based on the results from the WINDWARD programme, including the pivotal Phase III exacerbation trials, SIROCCO and CALIMA, and the Phase III oral corticosteroid (OCS)-sparing trial, ZONDA.1 Fasenra will be available as a fixed-dose subcutaneous injection in a prefilled syringe administered once every four weeks for the first three doses, and then once every eight weeks thereafter.