Currents: Patient-Focused Approaches to Eczema

LEO Pharma: Tralokinumab Benefits Adult AD

Results from a post-hoc subanalysis of the Phase 3 ECZTRA 3 trial demonstrate the potential for LEO Pharma’s investigational tralokinumab as a safe and effective treatment for adults with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis. The data were shared virtually at the 2021 Winter Clinical Dermatology Conference.

More patients achieved the primary endpoints of IGA 0/1 and EASI-75 with tralokinumab 300mg every two weeks plus topical corticosteroid (TCS) compared with placebo every two weeks plus TCS (n= 28) at Week 16 (40.8 vs 10.7 percent and 56.3 vs 21.4 percent). Rescue medication was used by 3/72 (4.2 percent) patients in the tralokinumab plus TCS group and by 3/28 (10.7 percent) patients in the placebo plus TCS group.

Mean total SCORAD score was reduced by 36.9 with tralokinumab plus TCS versus 16.7 with placebo plus TCS at Week 16. Tralokinumab plus TCS was well tolerated, with an overall safety profile comparable to that of placebo plus TCS in the initial 16-week treatment period.

Acute Itch in AD And Environmental Triggers

Allergens in the environment often cause episodes of acute itch in eczema patients, and this itching often doesn’t respond to antihistamines because the itch signals are being carried to the brain along a previously unrecognized pathway that current drugs don’t target, according to research from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, published in the journal Cell.

“We’ve connected acute itching in eczema to allergic reactions transmitted by an entirely different population of cells,” says principal investigator Brian S. Kim, MD, a dermatologist, an associate professor of medicine, and co-director of the Center for the Study of Itch & Sensory Disorders. “In patients who experience episodes of acute itching, their bodies react in the same way as in people with acute allergy. If we can block this pathway with drugs, it might represent a strategy for treating not only itch but other problems, including perhaps hay fever and asthma.”

The discovery may help patients avoid things that make them itch intensely, including animals, dust, mold or certain foods. Meanwhile, it also offers drug companies new targets for treating itch in eczema patients, including proteins and molecules Dr. Kim’s team has identified along this newly identified neuro-immune pathway.

Severe AD Linked TO Increased Risk of Death

Those with severe atopic eczema may have a 62 percent higher risk of dying from several health issues compared with those without eczema, according to a new study in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

A research team, led by the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) and funded by the Wellcome Trust, compared the risk of dying in more than 500,000 adults with atopic eczema with more than 2.5 million without eczema.

The researchers did not set out to find the reasons for the increases in risk of death in severe or predominantly active eczema. Previous studies have suggested the elevated risk may be linked to reduced physical activity and reduced sleep quality, as well as immunological dysfunction due to the disease itself or its treatments. They urge more research to help develop intervention strategies.