Recent Developments

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The Rosacea App Launches

With benefits for patients and clinicians, a new Smartphone application for rosacea is available from Intendis. “The Rosacea App,” available for free for iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android, is launching this month with a host of features to educate, support, and guide individuals who have been diagnosed with rosacea of think they may have rosacea.

Individuals who think they may have rosacea can use The Rosacea App to research the disease, log their symptoms, and compare their symptoms against those commonly associated with the skin condition. There is also information on obtaining a medical diagnosis and treatment. For the patient with rosacea, the “Trigger Tracker” can help pinpoint which of the many common triggers are relevant for an individual with the convenience of immediately recording information in one's phone (rather than entering information in a journal oncea- day or less frequently). Features like the “Substitution Finder” can help patients avoid known triggers by providing a list of similar ingredients that are less likely to cause flares. “Weather Alerts” allow individuals to prepare for environmental factors that may exacerbate rosacea and can even calculate a “risk level” based on local temperature, humidity, etc.

Clinicians can benefit from The Rosacea App during initial patient consultations and at follow-up appointments. If a new patient has downloaded the app and logged information, the clinical can easily view the individual's reported symptoms and triggers to aid diagnosis, treatment planning, and counseling. For established patients, clinicians can view data in the “Trigger Tracker” for targeted patient education and to support changes to the treatment or application regimen.

Finally, patients who use The Rosacea App have access to a savings coupon for Finacea that they can use from their phone (no printing required) and can register for special offers and alerts.

The app is free, and available for iPhone/iPod at Apple.com/itunes/; BlackBerry at Appworld.blackberry. com/webstore/; and Android at Market.android.com/.

Injectable For Submental Fat Shows Promise

Results of a phase II study of ATX-101 show the first-in-class injectable adipolitic agent for the reduction of submental fat was well-tolerated and demonstrated statistically significant efficacy compared to placebo, Kythera Biopharmaceuticals announced. ATX-101 is based on an endogenous molecule with unique features including selectivity for adipocytes and rapid clearance. ATX-1010 showed statistically significant difference versus placebo on measures of patient satisfaction, patient impact, and chin attractiveness. Adverse events were primarily mild to moderate and were transient. These results confirmed observations made in previous phase II trials. The procedure itself is minimally invasive and can be done with little or no anesthetic.

New Book On Navigating Financial Aspects of Medicine

Clinicians interested in honing their financial skills may benefit from the new book The Medical Entrepreneur: Pearls, Pitfalls and Practical Business Advice for Doctors. Author and dermatologist Steven Hacker, MD teaches doctors how to bill, get paid, read a contract, negotiate with insurance companies, and evaluate electronic health records, among other things. The book also explores the many possibilities physicians have to become entrepreneurs, from understanding financials to protecting intellectual property. The book is available for purchase on TheMedicalEntrepreneur.com and at Amazon.com.

Promius Teams with Psoriasis Foundation

To help broaden the reach of the National Psoriasis Foundation and support its programs, Promius Pharma will make a 10 percent donation to the NPF for every purchase of Scytera (coal tar) Foam 2% over the next three months. Promius Pharma is also providing funding support for online and live patient education meetings put on by the NPF. For more information on these programs or the current Scytera promotion, visit Psoriasis.org.

CME Program Focuses on Medication Labeling

To aid clinicians in understanding ever-changing medication labeling, the PDR Network and The Doctors Company have launched the “Known the Label” campaign. The free CME program is entirely online and is available at PDR.net.

New Study, New Name

Clinicians can anticipate findings from a phase II clinical trial evaluating NBT-320, a novel formulation of terbinafine provided along with iontophoresis, for the treatment of onychomycosis. The trial, sponsored by NB Therapeutics, Inc. (formerly Nitric BioTherapeutics) completed enrollment earlier this year.

Highlights of Posters from AAD Annual Meeting

Etanercept for Scalp Psoriasis

Etanercept (Enbrel, Amgen) offers efficacy in the treatment of scalp psoriasis (P3322). Patients were randomized to either 12 weeks of etanercept 50 mg twice weekly followed by 12 weeks of etanercept 50 mg once weekly (Group A) or 12 weeks of placebo twice weekly followed by 12 weeks of etanercept 50 mg twice weekly (Group B). Group A had an 87 percent mean improvement in PSSI compared with 20 percent in Group B at week 12. The PSSI response to etanercept for patients in Group A was maintained through 24 weeks. At week 24, patients in Group B saw a mean percent improvement in PSSI score of 79 percent, similar to that achieved by the Group A patients at week 12. Among the 121 patients evaluable for safety, 67.8 percent reported at least one adverse event through week 24. Three patients reported five serious AEs: cholecystitis/cholelithiasis, fall/rib fracture, and metastatic malignant melanoma.

Tretinoin Microsphere Gel Helps Darker Skin Types

In addition to improving acne, tretinoin microsphere gel 0.1% (Retin-A Micro, Ortho Dermatologics) may improve post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation in patients with darker skin types (P301). In the open-label study, patients with skin types IV to VI with mild to moderate acne used tretinoin microsphere 0.1% for 12 weeks. Results demonstrated statistically significant decreases in lesion counts from baseline to week 12. There were statistically significant improvements in global acne, with 58 percent of patients rated as having at least a 1-grade improvement from baseline. Hyperpigmentation improvement was statistically significant at week 12, with 1-, 2-, and 3-grade improvement ratings in 42.5 percent, 27.5 percent, and 7.5 percent of patients, respectively.

Emollient Foam Garners Patient Satisfaction in AD

A ceramide-hyaluronic acid emollient foam (HylatopicPlus, Onset Dermatologics) applied three times daily for four weeks offers similar efficacy to pimecrolimus cream 1% twice daily for four weeks in the treatment of atopic dermatitis (P1314). Results of the single-blind, bilateral comparison study involving 30 subjects show that 82 percent of foam-treated lesions and 74 percent of cream-treated lesions were clear or almost clear, which was not statistically significant. Two-thirds of subjects preferred the foam to the cream.

Biomimetic Signaling Mimics Skin Healing Process

A biomimetic signaling technology (based on galvanic coupling of elemental zinc and copper microparticles) generates electrical fields on skin similar to the skin's own healing signals (P1604). Investigation of the bi-mineral complex technology, which has been incorporated into several topical skincare products, compared active treatment to zinc oxide alone, zinc chloride alone, and untreated skin. Measurement of the skin's electric potential was made with a device called a Dermacorder. While controls and untreated skin had similar electrical profiles, biomimetic technology produced a profile similar to that of injured skin, more than 11-times the fields generated by controls.

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