Additional hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) treatments could be on the horizon with the news that both secukinumab and the investigational drug brepocitinib reduced the effects of the chronic and painful skin condition in separate trials.
Around 40%-50% of patients exhibited a clinical response to these agents at 16 weeks, a leading HS expert reported at the the 31st Congress of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV).
HS's Time in the Spotlight
Research into HS is "an incredibly active field at this moment," said Alexa B. Kimball, MD, MPH, professor of dermatology, Harvard Medical School, and president and chief executive officer of Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston.
Alexa B. Kimball, MD, MPH
It's "been great for advancing our understanding of the biology and the treatments that we will be able to use," she said.
During the late-breaking sessions at the annual EADV Congress, Kimball presented data from two trials — SUNSHINE and SUNRISE — that investigated the efficacy, safety and tolerability of the interleukin (IL) 17A inhibitor secukinumab (Cosentyx) vs placebo in the treatment of moderate to severe HS.
"This is only the second phase 3 program we have ever seen in HS and the first one since 2016," Kimball said of the trials.
