Dupixent (dupilumab) is an injectable medication approved to treat several conditions that cause inflammation of your airways or skin. It belongs to a group of drugs called biologics. Unlike synthetic drugs, which are made in a lab using chemical processes, biologics are made from living organisms and can target specific parts of your body’s natural immune response. Dupixent works by blocking two key proteins that trigger type 2 inflammation.
Your doctor may prescribe Dupixent if you’ve been diagnosed with any of the following:
- Atopic dermatitis (eczema)
- Asthma
- Chronic sinus infections with nasal polyps
- Eosinophilic esophagitis
- Skin conditions like chronic hives, prurigo nodularis, or bullous pemphigoid
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- Allergic fungal rhinosinusitis
In clinical trials, patients with eczema who took Dupixent saw a meaningful improvement in their symptoms compared to those who took the placebo. After 16 weeks, nearly half of those with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis had at least a 75% improvement in their symptoms after taking Dupixent. Those improvements largely held up over time. In another phase 3 study for adults and adolescents with moderate to severe asthma, Dupixent cut the yearly rate of severe asthma attacks almost in half.
We spoke with Baiju Malde, MD, an allergist and immunologist at Northwestern Medicine Primary and Specialty Care, to learn more about how Dupixent works and what you should know before starting treatment.
Who typically benefits from this treatment?
The first thing you just need to know is how Dupixent works. It's an interleukin-4 receptor antagonist. That receptor is found on certain immune cells, including T and B cells. It's also found in your skin, in respiratory mucosa and in the endothelial lining, which is where this medicine is taking place and where it's acting.
Dupixent has been approved for nine different medical conditions. It first got approved back in 2017 for atopic dermatitis, which many people think of as eczema. After that, it got approved for asthma, then nasal polyps, then eosinophilic esophagitis, then prurigo nodularis. The drug was approved to treat chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in 2024, then for chronic spontaneous urticaria in 2025, and then bullous pemphigoid. Most recently, it was approved for allergic fungal sinusitis.
What sets this treatment apart from others?
I don't think Dupixent is better or worse than any other medicine, but it has lots of indications. If you’re a patient who has two or more of these conditions that are not well controlled or are moderately severe, it's nice to have a medicine that may attack both disease states. It might actually help solve a couple of different things.
Can you tell me about how well this treatment works and how quickly patients might see results?
It depends on what disease you're taking Dupixent to treat. For eczema, asthma, and nasal polyps, some people — “some” being the most important word — may feel some benefit within two weeks of starting it. If you have eczema, you might notice that you’re itching less. If you're having nasal polyps, you might notice you smell a little bit better. Or it's for asthma, you might feel like you can breathe a little bit better. It could take months for symptoms to fully improve though.
For conditions like hives, sometimes it can take up to 12 months to start seeing improvements. If you have eosinophil esophagitis, you might notice that you can swallow better at four to eight weeks, but to actually get to what they call a histologic remission can take up to four months. So you can't give up on it.
Is this treatment generally considered safe?
When people hear the word “biologic,” they often think, "Wow, this seems like a big deal.” It’s also an injection, so I think that's where people get a little bit worried. The first thing I try to explain is that Dupixent is not immunosuppressive, but immunomodulatory. And what's the difference between those two words? Immunosuppressive medicines can make you more prone to infections, but this is not one of those kinds of drugs. Instead, it changes your immune system so that it's not creating asthma, making eczema worse, or making nasal pulse grow. It's stopping that process, not making you more prone to something else.
What sort of side effects can people expect, and are there ways to handle them?
Any medicine can cause a side effect — even a vitamin. In terms of Dupixent, there are rare side effects that can occur, like hypersensitivity reactions or new onset psoriasis.
The most common side effects that I tell patients that they could experience, and that I want to hear about right away, are eye symptoms. These are most common in people with atopic dermatitis.
Dupixent can also increase eosinophil levels — which are white blood cells that drive an allergic response — so it’s a good idea to have your blood count checked before we start the medicine because we don’t want those eosinophils to go up in numbers.
If you experience any side effects, please make sure to tell your doctor. Don’t be shy.
How do you take this treatment, and will people need any regular tests or checkups?
Dupixent is an injection. It comes in a syringe or a pen form. What indication you have determines the frequency of this medicine. For eosinophil esophagitis, you take it every week. For nasal polyps, asthma, and atopic dermatitis, it’s every two weeks.
If you’re worried about giving yourself a needle, ask a friend or a family member to help you. The needle itself is actually really teeny tiny. It's going into the subcutaneous tissue layer directly beneath your skin. If you take the medication out of the fridge 30 to 40 minutes before you utilize it, then it won’t hurt as much.
Once you've started this medicine, your doctor will want to see if you’re having any side effects, see how much better you’re feeling, and potentially run some basic tests — like a breathing test if you have asthma — to make sure it’s actually working.
Are there any types of people who shouldn’t take this treatment, like those with certain health conditions or who are taking other medications?
Whether you have moderately severe atopic dermatitis, moderate to severe asthma, or eosinophil esophagitis that has not been helped with acid reflux medicine, I think the main thing is that you have to be prescribed Dupixent for a good reason.
How much does this treatment cost? Will insurance cover it, or are there options for financial assistance?
Dupixent can be expensive, but if you have a good indication and your doctor can prove you need it, there are often options for coverage. Check with your insurance company and talk to your doctor about whether this is the most appropriate drug for you.
How can people find out more about whether this treatment would be a good fit for them?
My best advice is definitely to touch base with your doctor — whether it’s an allergist, pulmonologist, dermatologist, GI doctor, or your primary care doctor — so you know the pros and cons.
If you're being prescribed Dupixent, it’s important to ask why your doctor is thinking about it. Consider what other medicines you’ve tried for whatever condition it is, why this one is a good option, what the main side effects are, and what you, as a patient, should be looking out for.
Can you give me some insights into the research and studies behind this treatment?
Because it's approved for so many different conditions, there are so many different trials based on which indication we're looking at, and what their endpoints are are very different.
