Alopecia areata (AA) commonly travels with anxiety and depression, and new research shows that deuruxolitinib (Leqselvi, Sun Pharma) can improve symptoms of depression and anxiety in patients with AA.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved deuruxolitinib, a Janus kinase (JAK) 1/JAK 2 inhibitor, for adults with moderate to severe AA in July 2024.
The new pooled analysis of THRIVE-AA1 and THRIVE-AA2 included patients treated with deuruxolitinib 8mg twice daily (n = 600) and placebo (n = 267). Among patients treated with deuruxolitinib 8mg BID, 22.5% achieved a ≥6-point improvement in the overall Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) score from baseline to Week 24 compared with 11.8.% of placebo-treated patients. For the subscale scores, 18.9% of patients receiving deuruxolitinib 8mg BID achieved a ≥4-point improvement in the HADS-Anxiety score compared with 10.2% of placebo-treated patients. In addition, 26.2% of patients treated with deuruxolitinib 8mg BID achieved a ≥3-point improvement in the HADS-D score from baseline to Week 24. By contrast, just 14.2% of patients treated with placebo achieved a ≥3-point improvement in the HADS-D score from baseline to Week 24.
The study was presented at the European Academy of Dermatology & Venereology (EADV) Congress in Amsterdam.
