Treatment persistence maximizes efficacy of clascoterone treatment for acne

Key takeaways:

• Short-term results showed clascoterone improved overall acne in 19.9% of patients by week 12.
• Improvement rates increased to 30.2% for facial acne after 12 months and 31.7% for truncal acne after 9 months.

Researchers found that the efficacy of clascoterone cream 1% for the treatment of acne vulgaris increased over time up to 12 months and thus recommend persistent treatment regimens for optimal results, according to a study.

“Clascoterone is a first-in-class molecule that competitively binds to androgen receptors with high affinity and inhibits the transcription of androgen-responsive genes, including sebum components and inflammatory cytokines,” Lawrence F. Eichenfield, MD, of the department of dermatology at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues wrote. “Clascoterone cream 1% is approved in the U.S. for the treatment of acne vulgaris in patients [aged at least] 12 years.”

In this study, the authors presented integrated efficacy data of clascoterone cream 1% for the treatment of acne vulgaris from the two identical phase 3 trials that were the basis for its approval, as well as an extension trial.

In the phase 3 studies, 1,143 patients aged 12 years and older with acne vulgaris were randomly assigned to receive clascoterone (n = 576) or vehicle (n = 567) twice a day for 12 weeks. After the initial 12 weeks, 600 patients enrolled in a long-term extension trial and 343 completed it.

Results showed that a higher portion of patients treated with clascoterone reached overall treatment success, defined as an IGA score of 0 or 1, compared with vehicle-treated patients at the end of week 12 (19.9% vs. 7.7%; P < .0001).

In the extension trial, 30.2% of patients achieved IGA 0 or 1 for their facial acne after 12 months of treatment and 31.7% achieved the same in their truncal acne after 9 months of treatment.

“The efficacy of clascoterone cream 1% for the treatment of acne vulgaris increased over time for up to 12 months in all treated patients,” the authors concluded. “Clinicians may consider counseling patients that treatment persistence is required to maximize the efficacy of clascoterone treatment.”