Alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss is seen to grow substantially and higher number of people every year. Global pharmaceutical firms are increasingly working towards development of medicines for the treatment of alopecia areata. 

An example of this came to light when Concert Pharmaceuticals, a US based pharmaceutical firm headquartered in Lexington, Massachusetts, committed to find novel therapies for various chronic diseases reportedly showcased positive results from the Phase 2 trial of CTP-543, an investigational medicine administered in patients having moderate to severe alopecia areata.

Patients who were involved in the trial were treated with 12 mg of CTP-543 twice-daily or 8 mg of CTP-543 twice daily, and reached the primary efficacy endpoint along with statistically substantial differences relative to placebo in the patient percentage, obtaining more than or equal to 50 percent relative difference from baseline at 24 weeks by using the SALT (Severity of Alopecia Tool).

The Phase 2 study was a randomized, sequential, double-blind and placebo-controlled dose trial done in order to evaluate the efficacy and safety of CTP-543 in mature patients having moderate-to-severe alopecia areata. 149 adult patients were randomly given CTP-543’s one among three doses or placebo, given twice daily.

The outcomes were showcased in the 28^th European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Annual Congress at Madrid, Spain.        

Chief Development Officer at Concert, who also gave the oral representation in EADV, James V. Cassella, Ph.D. stated that the company is delighted that it was selected to showcase its efficacy and safety data for CTP-543 medicine to the community of treatment at this Congress.

Cassella further stated that the company believes the outcomes from this dose-ranging trial along with its oral JAK inhibitor, CTP-543, have set a new limit for clinical outcomes in patients having moderate-to-severe alopecia areata.

Cassella further added that the company looks forward to improving the CTP-543 development into Phase 3 evaluation in 2020, as it continues its efforts to launch a novel treatment for patients diagnosed with this severe autoimmune disorder which has no approved medication presently.

Source credit: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20191012005001/en/Concert-Pharmaceuticals-Presents-Positive-Phase-2-Data