Ruxolitinib cream associated with higher repigmentation of vitiligo lesions, study says

An improvement of at least 75% from baseline in the facial Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (F-VASI; range, 0 to 3, higher scores indicate a greater area of facial depigmentation) was the primary endpoint or F-VASI75 response at week 24. Five critical secondary endpoints were improved responses on the Vitiligo Noticeability Scale.

The study demonstrated the following findings:

· 674 patients were enrolled, 330 in TRuE-V1 and 344 in TRuE-V2.

· In TRuE-V1, the percentage of patients with an F-VASI75 response at week 24 was 29.8% in the ruxolitinib-cream group and 7.4% in the vehicle group (relative risk, 4.0). TRuE-V2's percentages were 30.9% and 11.4%, respectively (relative risk, 2.7).

· The results for key secondary endpoints showed the superiority of ruxolitinib cream over vehicle control.

· Among patients who applied ruxolitinib cream throughout 52 weeks, adverse events occurred in 54.8% in TRuE-V1 and 62.3% in TRuE-V2; the most common adverse events were application-site acne (6.3% and 6.6%, respectively), nasopharyngitis (5.4% and 6.1%), and application-site pruritus (5.4% and 5.3%).

"There is a need for larger and longer trials to determine the effect and safety of ruxolitinib cream in vitiligo patients," the researchers wrote in their study.

Reference:

The study, "Two Phase 3, Randomized, Controlled Trials of Ruxolitinib Cream for Vitiligo," was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa2118828