MONDAY, July 1, 2024 -- Patients with alopecia areata (AA) receiving ritlecitinib have favorable results in terms of satisfaction with hair growth compared to patients receiving placebo, according to a study published online June 27 in Dermatology.

Rodney Sinclair, M.B.B.S., M.D., from Sinclair Dermatology in Melbourne, Australia, and colleagues examined patient-reported satisfaction with hair growth among patients with AA receiving ritlecitinib or placebo in the ALLEGRO-2b/3 trial. Patients with AA and ≥50 percent scalp hair loss were randomly allocated to receive ritlecitinib or placebo daily for 24 weeks, with a 24-week extension of continued ritlecitinib or switch from placebo to ritlecitinib. Patient satisfaction with hair growth was assessed with the Patient Satisfaction With Hair Growth (P-Sat) measure in three domains: amount, quality, and overall satisfaction.

The researchers found that the proportion of the 718 patients reporting satisfaction with their hair growth overall at week 24 ranged from 36.4 to 67.5 percent in the ritlecitinib 10-mg group and in the 200/50-mg group, respectively, versus 22.6 percent in the placebo group. The proportion of patients randomly allocated to ritlecitinib who were satisfied increased or was maintained at week 48. Among placebo patients who switched to ritlecitinib, the proportion who were satisfied was substantially greater at week 48 versus week 24, with similar results seen for patient satisfaction with the amount and quality of hair growth. Strong correlations were seen for all P-Sat scores with change from baseline in Severity of Alopecia Tool scores at week 24.

"These results confirm the benefit to patients of treatment of their alopecia areata," the authors write.

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