Hydroquinone-free serum efficacious in hyperpigmentation treatment

DENVER — A novel hydroquinone-free correcting serum proved efficacious and tolerable in women with hyperpigmentation, according to a study presented here.

“Hyperpigmentation is often characterized by uneven skin tone and a photoaged appearance and ultimately arises from excess melanin disposition,” Elizabeth T. Makino, BS, CCRA, MBA, director of clinical development skincare at AbbVie, said during a video abstract presentation at the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery Annual Meeting. “The objective for this study was to assess the efficacy and tolerability of a novel hydroquinone-free, multimodal, pigment-correcting serum, which I will refer to as LYT3, compared to the 4% [hydroquinone (HQ)], which is a prescription topical gold standard.”

Women aged 30 to 65 years with moderate to severe hyperpigmentation on both sides of the face were included in the split-face, double-blind, randomized controlled study. A minimum of 25 patients for each skin type were placed into subgroups including African American, Hispanic white, Asian, and non-Hispanic white with an additional subgroup for melasma. Each received a twice-daily application of the correcting serum LYT3 on a randomly assigned facial side and 4% HQ on the opposite side for 12 weeks.

Clinical assessments were taken at baseline and at weeks 2, 4, 8 and 12.

Results were similar across all race and ethnicity subgroups. Patients saw an approximate 12% improvement in overall hyperpigmentation and an approximate 8% improvement in skin tone evenness with both LYT3 and 4% HQ treatments.

Although there were no significant differences between the results, participants consistently preferred LYT3 to 4% HQ at every visit, with 57 participants preferring LYT3 while 43 preferring 4% HQ at week 12. The melasma subgroup also reported a significantly higher satisfaction with LYT3 compared with 4% HQ (63 vs. 37).

“LYT3 significantly improved facial hyperpigmentation, including melasma, across multiple race and ethnicity subgroups and was well tolerated,” Makino said.