The anti-IL-4 receptor alpha antibody dupilumab: facing a new era in treating atopic dermatitis

Abstract

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis is the most common chronic inflammatory skin disease with high prevalence rates in adults and even higher among children. For the numerous patients suffering from moderate to severe disease, standard systemic treatment regimens such as cyclosporine A, methotrexate or azathioprine are not suited for long-term treatment due to their unfavorable safety profile. A promising alternative would be the newly developed IL-4 receptor alpha antibody dupilumab which has been investigated in several clinical trials during the last years.

Areas covered: Recently, four phase I and II studies have been published providing a favorable efficacy and safety profile. Clinical scores such as EASI were reduced by 74% after 12 weeks of treatment with early onset of first improvement after already one week. Safety data showed no evidence of drug-related serious adverse events and no organ toxicity.

Expert opinion: First clinical data of treating AD with dupilumab provided strong evidence for a highly significant efficacy and safety. In the case, future phase III studies will confirm these findings, dupilumab has the potential to become a new first line standard treatment for patients with severe AD.

Keywords:

• atopic dermatitis
• dupilumab
• IL-4 receptor alpha subunit
• pruritus
• quality of life