The IL-13 inhibitorIL-13 inhibitor can now be used to treat moderate-to-severe AD in adults and adolescents aged 12 years and older with a body weight of at least 40kg and who are candidates for systemic therapy.
Typically referred to as eczema, AD is an inflammatory disease that causes the skin to become itchy, dry and cracked.
The incidence of AD appears to have increased in recent decades, with approximately 5.2 million adults and 2.5 million children in the UK affected by moderate or severe cases of the condition.
Ebglyss, which also received approval from the European Commission last year, represents “a step forward” for uncontrolled moderate-to-severe AD patients, Almirall said, citing the therapy’s selective mechanism of action, efficacy, safety profile and four-weekly maintenance dosing.
The regulatory approvals were supported by results from the late-stage ADvocate1 and ADvocate2 trials evaluating Ebglyss as a monotherapy in adult and adolescents with moderate-to-severe AD, as well as data from the phase 3 ADhere study assessing the drug in combination with topical corticosteroids.
At week 16, almost 60% of patients experienced at least a 75% reduction in disease severity when receiving Ebglyss monotherapy in the ADvocate studies and nearly 70% of patients receiving Ebglyss combined with standard-of-care topical corticosteroids achieved the 75% reduction in the ADhere trial.
Results from the clinical development programme also showed that 80% of patients who responded to Ebglyss treatment at week 16 maintained skin clearance and itch relief for up to two years with monthly maintenance dosing.
Jorgen Damsbo, general manager at Almirall UK, described NICE’s recommendation as a “testament to the benefits [the] treatment can bring to patients”.