The efficacy and safety of abrocitinib as a treatment option for atopic dermatitis: A short report of the clinical data

Abstract

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, pruritic, inflammatory skin disease that predominantly affects children. However, it can persist in adulthood and/or start at older ages. Both dysfunction of the epidermal barrier and immune dysregulation are known to play a role in the pathogenesis of AD. In the last years, numerous studies showed that Janus kinase (JAK) enzymes have a key role in AD pathogenesis. Therefore, oral and topical JAK inhibitors are new emerging treatments for AD. We report the data relating to abrocitinib, an oral JAK1 inhibitor. For this purpose, we examined articles already published concerning, in particular, concluded clinical trials. Furthermore, we also report the design of current ongoing clinical trials. The search was carried out considering the main search engines relating to medical literature and clinical trials. From all the data we collected, abrocitinib proved to be an effective drug in significantly reducing the severity of moderate-to-severe AD when compared to placebo. Furthermore, the efficacy was similar to other well-established treatment for AD, such as dupilumab. Adverse events were generally mild; indeed, the drug was definitively suspended only in few patients.