WEDNESDAY, June 28, 2023 (HealthDay News) -- Crisaborole is effective as a long-term maintenance therapy for pediatric and adult patients with mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis (AD), according to a study published online May 15 in the American Journal of Clinical Dermatology.

Lawrence F. Eichenfield, M.D., from the University of California San Diego and Rady Children's Hospital-San Diego, and colleagues examined long-term efficacy and safety of crisaborole once daily (QD) versus vehicle QD as maintenance therapy for patients (aged ≥3 months) with mild-to-moderate AD. Eligible patients received crisaborole twice daily during an open-label run-in period of up to eight weeks and were then randomly assigned to receive crisaborole or vehicle QD (135 patients in each group).

The researchers found that patients who received crisaborole versus vehicle had longer median time of flare-free maintenance (111 versus 30 days). For patients who received crisaborole versus vehicle, the mean number of flare-free days was higher (234.0 versus 199.4 days). In addition, patients receiving crisaborole had a lower mean number of flares (0.95 versus 1.36). No clear trend was observed between the groups in maintenance of pruritus response. Crisaborole was well tolerated, with no new safety findings for use as maintenance treatment.

"Crisaborole QD is effective as a long-term maintenance therapy, demonstrating a significant reduction in the incidence of AD-related flares compared to vehicle in pediatric (aged ≥3 months) and adult patients with mild-to-moderate AD," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including Pfizer, which manufactures crisaborole and funded the study.