Oral sarecycline may be effective for papulopustular rosacea

Oral sarecycline was effective for the treatment of patients with papulopustular rosacea, according to a presentation at the South Beach Symposium Medical Dermatology Summit.

“In 2018, sarecycline (Seysara, Almirall), a third-generation oral tetracycline, was FDA approved for treatment of acne,” James Q. Del Rosso, DO, of JDR Dermatology Research, and colleagues wrote. “Due to the well-established role for oral tetracyclines in rosacea and the desire to circumvent emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria as much as possible, a pilot study was completed to evaluate oral sarecycline in adults with papulopustular rosacea.”

In a prospective, parallel group study, researchers analyzed 97 patients (mean age, 52.4 years; women, 82%) with moderate to severe rosacea, with 72 randomly assigned to receive sarecycline and 25 receiving control multivitamin. Study endpoints included achieving clear or almost clear skin based on Investigator Global Assessment scale, reduction of inflammatory lesions and tolerability.

Both groups experienced a reduction in IGA scores, but the sarecycline group yielded a greater IGA reduction compared with the multivitamin group (P < .0001) as well as a statistically superior total inflammatory lesion count reduction at week 12 compared with the multivitamin group (P < .0001). Further analysis showed sarecycline was well tolerated and yielded significant reductions in dryness (P = .01), peeling (P = .02), skin burning (P = .01) and pruritus (P < .001) by week 12.

“Results of this pilot study demonstrate that oral sarecycline is efficacious as early as 4 weeks and safe for the treatment of papulopustular rosacea in adults based on IGA assessments, total inflammatory lesion reductions, [Subject Global Assessment] outcomes and safety evaluations,” Del Rosso and colleagues wrote, suggesting that additional studies be conducted to further evaluate the use of oral sarecycline for rosacea treatment.