Upadacitinib shows short-term efficacy for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis in adolescents and adults, according to a study published online May 20 in The Lancet.

Emma Guttman-Yassky, M.D., from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues examined the efficacy and safety of upadacitinib versus placebo in Measure Up 1 and Measure Up 2 replicate multicenter trials. Adolescents and adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis were randomly assigned to receive upadacitinib 15 mg, upadacitinib 30 mg, or placebo once daily for 16 weeks (281, 285, and 281 patients, respectively, in the Measure Up 1 study; 276, 282, and 278 patients, respectively, in the Measure Up 2 study).

The researchers found that in both studies, the coprimary end point (proportion of patients who achieved at least a 75 percent improvement in THE Eczema Area and Severity Index [EASI] score from baseline [EASI-75] and proportion of patients who had achieved a validated Investigator's Global Assessment for Atopic Dermatitis [vIGA-AD] response) was met. In Measure Up 1 and Measure Up 2, the proportion of patients who had achieved EASI-75 at week 16 was significantly higher in the upadacitinib 15-mg and 30-mg groups versus placebo. The proportion of patients who achieved a vIGA-AD response at 16 weeks was significantly higher in the upadacitinib 15- and 30-mg groups than in the placebo group in Measure Up 1 and Measure Up 2. Both doses of upadacitinib were well tolerated.

"We achieved extremely high clearance rates that are bringing us closer to the amazing clearance rates that we see in psoriasis," Guttman-Yassky said in a statement.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to biopharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, which manufacturers upadacitinib and partially funded the study.

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