Key clinical point: Nemolizumab is safe and effectively reduces pruritus in pediatric patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) whose pruritus has not been sufficiently improved with topical corticosteroids/calcineurin inhibitors or antihistamines.
Major finding: At week 16, the nemolizumab vs placebo group had a significantly greater improvement in the weekly mean 5-level itch score (−1.3 vs −0.5; P < .0001), with a significantly higher proportion of patients achieving a weekly mean 5-level itch score ≤ 1 (24.4% vs 2.3%; P = .0035). Most adverse events were mild in severity and none led to treatment discontinuation or death.
Study details: Findings are a from multicenter phase 3 study including patients age 6-12 years with AD and inadequately controlled moderate-to-severe pruritus who were randomly assigned to receive nemolizumab (n = 45) or placebo (n = 44) with concomitant topical agents.
Disclosures: This study was sponsored by Maruho Co. Ltd., Osaka, Japan. Two authors declared receiving grants and honoraria from various sources, including Maruho, and other two authors declared being employees of Maruho.
Source: Igarashi A et al. Efficacy and safety of nemolizumab in paediatric patients aged 6-12 years with atopic dermatitis with moderate-to-severe pruritus: Results from a phase III, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre study. Br J Dermatol. 2023 (Jul 31). doi: 10.1093/bjd/ljad268