“ Severe hair loss from alopecia areata can be disfiguring, erasing one’s physical identity, which is often devastating for patients and their families,” says Brett King, MD, PhD.
Ritlecitinib, a dual JAK3/ TEC family kinase inhibitor, represents a potential new treatment option for alopecia areata that may be more effective than conventional therapy, although little is known to date.
For a study published in The Lancet, Dr. King and colleagues conducted a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of ritlecitinib in patients aged 12 and older. “Patients had 50% to 100% scalp hair loss at the start of the trial, with approximately half of the patient population having 100% scalp hair loss,” Dr. King notes.
Patients (N=718) were randomly assigned to one of seven treatment groups based on different dosing regimens. At week 24, the primary endpoint—Severity of Alopecia Tool score of 20 or less at 24 weeks—was reached by more patients in the ritlecitinib groups (31% in 200 mg+50 mg, 22% in 200 mg+30 mg, 23% in 50 mg, and 14% in 30 mg groups) versus the placebo group (2%).
“Achievement of 20% or less scalp hair loss was experienced by 23% of adult patients over 24 weeks and by 40% of patients over 40 weeks,” Dr. King says, adding that results were similar in both adolescents and adults.
There was no difference in adverse events (AEs) across the intervention groups, and most AEs were mild to moderate, with no deaths reported. Overall, findings from this study suggest that ritlecitinib may be safe and effective for systemic therapy among patients with alopecia areata.
“Ritlecitinib is important because there is still an unmet need, and it is the first medicine approved for adolescents with severe alopecia areata,” says Dr. King. “These medicines are transformative, not only for being effective treatments for a disease that in the past had no treatment, but also because they can help restore normalcy to people’s lives.”
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