Positive Results for Ruxolitinib Cream in Children with Atopic Dermatitis Presented in Ongoing Study

Ruxolitinib cream showed positive results in children 2- to 11-years-old with mild to moderate atopic dermatitis (AD), according to data of a poster presented at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting in San Diego from March 8 to 12.

Ruxolitinib cream, a topical JAK inhibitor, used either twice daily or as needed, has proven effective as a nonsteroidal monotherapy for relieving signs and symptoms of AD, also known as eczema, a common condition that causes itchy, dry and inflamed skin.

AD usually begins in childhood but can start at any age, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.

The poster, which displayed data of an ongoing phase 3 study of children with mild to moderate AD, is aimed to evaluate the efficacy of ruxolitinib cream use in children with the condition.

In this randomized, double-blind study, participants are randomly assigned to use either ruxolitinib cream at different strengths (0.75% ,1.5%) or a neutral vehicle cream to monitor how effective the creams are after 8 weeks of use.

If participants haven't had any safety issues by then, they will continue using the same cream for another 44 weeks to see its long-term safety.

If participants were initially using the vehicle cream, they will then be randomly assigned to one of the two ruxolitinib cream groups for the rest of the study.

So far, it was found that patients who used either 0.75% or 1.5% ruxolitinib cream experienced improvement in their condition compared to those using the vehicle cream, starting as early as week 2 and lasting through week 8.

Additionally, by week 8, patients at different levels of AD severity showed similar improvements in skin condition and itchiness.

Out of the 330 patients enrolled, 12.7% discontinued treatment within the initial 8-week period, mainly due to reasons such as withdrawing from the study or being lost to follow-up.

Overall, it was found that both strengths of ruxolitinib cream were well tolerated among children, with only a few reporting mild reactions. No serious side effects or events suggesting systemic JAK inhibition were observed during the study.