Opzelura May Reduce Need for Other Treatments in Atopic Dermatitis

Opzelura (ruxolitinib) may help patients with atopic dermatitis avoid biologics, according to a poster presented at the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Association annual meeting in Orlando, March 7, 2025, to March 11, 2025.

In this observational study, more than 90% of patients who had not received biologics prior to treatment with Opzelura, were able to avoid biologics during the 12 months after treatment began. The Incyte-sponsored study also found that patients who had received biologics during the baseline period did not continue with them after treatment with Opzelura.

Developed by Incyte Corp., Opzelura is a topical nonsteroidal that was approved in September 2021 to treat patients 12 years and older with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis. It is a selective JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor. It was also approved in July 2022 for patients 12 years and older with vitiligo.

The wholesale acquisition cost of Opzelura is $2,094 per tube. Eligible patients with commercial coverage for Opzelura may pay as little as $0 per tube. Some patients whose coverage does not include the drug can pay $35 per prescription but must go to participating pharmacies.

Researchers in this study wanted to assess treatment patterns for atopic dermatitis six months before and six and 12 months after the use of Opzelura.

Researchers looked at the use of several treatments, including topical corticosteroids, topical calcineurin inhibitors and phosphodiesterase-4 therapies among patients among those who had received a baseline treat of biologics or who were biologics-naïve. Current biologics available to treat atopic dermatitis include Dupixent (dupilumab), Ebglyss (lebrikizumab), Adbry (tralokinumab) and Nemluvio (nemolizumab), which was approved for this indication in December 2024.

Led by Jin Lu, M.D., Ph.D., director of translational sciences at Incyte, researchers conducted a retrospective, observational study using data from the Healthcare Integrated Research Database (HIRD) from October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, to identify new users of Opzelura. HIRD is a proprietary database created by Carelon Research and contains health-related information for more than 88 million people who are or have been enrolled in commercial insurance or Medicare or Medicaid health plans.

In this analysis, researchers looked for patients 12 years of age and older with atopic dermatitis who had continuous enrollment in a commercial or managed Medicare plan during the 6-month baseline period prior to the first claim for Opzelura and the 12-month follow-up period. In the analysis, treatment patterns before and after Opzelura were assessed.

Of the 556 patients who were assessed, 125 had received biologics, and 431 had not received biologics before treatment with Opzelura.

Researchers found that patients averaged about two Opzelura prescription fills drug the 12-month follow up after starting Opzelura. They also found that there was sustained reduction in use of other topical therapies and oral corticosteroids after the introduction of Opzelura, including in patients who had used biologics. Oral corticosteroid doses decreased by 41% among those who were naïve to biologics and by 50% in those who had received biologics in months seven to 12.

Approximately 25% of patients who received biologics during the baseline period did not continue with that therapy in months seven to 12. Additionally, of those who had never used biologics, more than 90% avoided their use after starting Opzelura cream.

This is important, researchers said, because systemic therapies may have safety concerns and may not adequately control atopic dermatitis.