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Review

Emerging drugs for the treatment of alopecia areata

ORCID Icon & ORCID Icon
Pages 379-387 | Received 01 Jul 2022, Accepted 15 Nov 2022, Published online: 21 Nov 2022
 

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Alopecia Areata (AA) is the second most common non-scarring hair loss disorder, with a prevalence of 1 in 1000 and a lifetime incidence of 2% worldwide. Data from a recent American study shows that from 68,121 patients with the diagnosis of AA, 37,995 (55.8%) were prescribed treatment for AA within a year of diagnosis, however there are still no therapies able to induce permanent remission, or treatments that guarantee hair regrowth/remissions in 100% of cases, especially in longstanding/severe AA. Recently, oral baricitinib has been approved for AA, being the first drug approved for this specific indication.

Areas covered

The current review will provide a summary of current pharmacological approaches and novel therapeutics in development.

Expert opinion

New and very effective drugs have become available for the treatment of severe AA, and many others are expected soon. However, even new, effective treatments are not effective in all patients and recurrence rates after treatment interruption are high. AA is a systemic disease with important impact on quality of life and should not be considered just as an aesthetic problem. Treatment of the disease should take in account and possibly also address treatment of comorbidities.

Declaration of interest

A Tosti is a consultant for DS Laboratories, Monat Global, Almirall, Tirthy Madison, Eli Lilly, P&G, Pfizer, Myovant, Bristol Myers Squibb, Curallux LLC; a Principal Investigator for Eli Lilly, Concert, Erchonia. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This paper was not funded.

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