IGA response observed in 48.4% of patients treated with abrocitinib 200mg

A late-stage study of Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) inhibitor abrocitinib has demonstrated significantly greater reduction in signs and symptoms of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis compared to placebo.

The Phase III study randomly assigned atopic dermatitis patients who were not responding to topical agents or required systemic therapy, to receive oral abrocitinib 200mg or 100mg once daily, dupilumab 300mg subcutaneously every other week or placebo.   

In total, 838 patients were included in the study, with 226 in the abrocitinib 200mg group, 238 in the abrocitinib 100mg group, 243 in the dupilumab group and 131 in the placebo group. All patients in the study also received topical therapy.   

At week 12, an Investigator’s Global Assessment (IGA) response was observed in 48.4% of patients in the abrocitinib 200mg group, 36.6% in the abrocitinib 100mg group, 36.5% in the dupilumab 300mg group and 14% in the placebo group. 
Researchers also observed improvements in Eczema Area and Severity Index–75 (EASI-75) scores, with an EASI-75 response at week 12 observed in 70.3%, 58.7%, 58.1%, and 27.1%, in each group respectively.  

The higher, 200mg dose of abrocitinib was superior to dupilumab with respect to itch response at week 2, although neither abrocitinib dose significantly improved on dupilumab on most other key secondary endpoints comparisons at week 16.