Atopic dermatitis, new drug available for severe cases

Milan (askanews) – Intense itching, to the point of preventing sleep. It is the main symptom of atopic dermatitis, the most common inflammatory skin disease, which affects between 5 and 8% of the adult population and which, in the most severe forms, is characterized by skin lesions that can cover most cases. body.

A disease, in the most acute forms, disabling. But for today's patients, the first biological treatment reimbursed by the National Health Service is available for the treatment of severe atopic dermatitis in adults for whom treatment with ciclosporin is contraindicated, ineffective or not tolerated .

Giampiero Girolomoni, professor of dermatology at the University of Verona, explains: "Atopic dermatitis can be treated today: there is a new drug called Dupilumab, recently approved by the AIFA, which allows for to treat moderate and severe forms.This is a drug – continues the professor – extremely well tolerated, has no drug interactions, does not require monitoring of laboratory tests, is administered subcutaneously every fifteen days and he has demonstrated in very thorough clinical studies and experience of at least two years in the United States and in northern Europe, which is effective in the vast majority of patients ".

Dupilumab has been included in the list of innovative drugs from the Italian Medicines Agency. But what are the therapeutic benefits of using it? Antonio Costanzo, head of the dermatology unit of the Humanitas Clinical Institute in Rozzano: "The added value of Dupilumab lies in the fact that it helps to control the signs and symptoms of atopic dermatitis long-term.Atopic dermatitis is a disease characterized by lesions at There is an intense itching that makes sleep difficult, Dupilumab can control skin lesions and control itching in the long term without side effects. "

For the Italian Association of Atopic Dermatitis, which represents patients, the introduction of the new drug represents "after 50 years without any real innovation in treatment, a real revolution" for people affected by the disease.