According to a study conducted by the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Xolair actually helps in improving the condition of children suffering from asthma by eliminating seasonal flare-ups and allowing reductions in the doses of other asthma control medications.

FDA allows the usage of this drug to people above the age of 12 who are suffering from severe allergic asthma.

After conducting a clinical trial on children and young adults aged 6 to 20, researchers claim that they were able to reduce the symptom days by about 25% and exacerbation rates by about 30%.

William W. Busse, Professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, said that the spike in asthma attacks typically seen in the fall and linked with colds and other airway infections was virtually eliminated in the children taking Xolair.

Zab Mosenifar, MD, a Pulmonologist who is Executive Vice Chair of the department of medicine and a Professor of medicine at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, has raised several doubts regarding the efficacy of the drug saying that the drug didn’t merit more widespread use.

Xolair is a biologic drug which blocks antibodies called IgE and if these antibodies are present in excess, then it can trigger symptoms of allergic asthma, including shortness of breath, coughing and wheezing.