‘List doesn’t stop’ for JAK inhibitor potential in dermatology
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — The past year has seen explosive development in Janus kinase inhibitors for dermatologic conditions, and it is possible they could continue to have indications throughout the specialty, according to a speaker here.
“2022 was the year of the [Janus kinase (JAK)] inhibitor in dermatology,” Brett King, MD, PhD, associate professor of dermatology at Yale School of Medicine, said during his presentation at South Beach Symposium. “When you start to think about the many conditions that we treat in dermatology ... we take care of people with profound disease. The problem is, we really don’t have treatments for most of these people. ... And so that’s why there’s so much excitement about JAK inhibitors because JAK inhibitors can treat almost everything.”
The past year has seen explosive development in Janus kinase inhibitors for dermatologic conditions, and it is possible they could continue to have indications throughout the specialty.
In 2022, the JAK inhibitors abrocitinib and upadacitinib were approved for the treatment of atopic dermatitis, baricitinib for alopecia areata and ruxolitinib cream for vitiligo.
Both abrocitinib and upadacitinib showed dramatic and early onset improvement in itch, as well as efficacy similar to that of dupilumab.
“We have two new agents that have dupilumab-like or better efficacy, so the question arises, what do they add besides being oral?” King said.
To answer that question, one study examined how abrocitinib was received by patients who had failed dupilumab. The study found that 80% of these patients achieved EASI 75 and 60% achieved EASI 90 after 12 weeks of abrocitinib 200 mg once-daily treatment.
For alopecia, between 20% and 40% of patients treated with baricitinib had impressive hair regrowth after 1 year, and for facial vitiligo, ruxolitinib cream has shown about half of patients get 75% or better repigmentation of the face with twice-a-day treatment.
“JAK inhibitors are a super powerful class of medicines. They are literally going to change the way we do dermatology,” King said. “When you think about what else they’re useful for, the list doesn’t stop.”