A new survey commissioned by Leo Pharma confirms there’s plenty of room in the market for its chronic hand eczema treatment Anzupgo, which is currently under review by the FDA.
The survey, conducted by Ipsos, queried nearly 200 dermatology providers, including doctors, nurse practitioners and physician assistants, at the start of this year, according to a Wednesday press release. It focused on their experiences with chronic hand eczema (CHE), which, in the absence of any specific FDA-approved therapeutics, is typically treated with a range of eczema meds.
Just over half of those surveyed agreed that current treatments for moderate to severe eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis, don’t sufficiently translate as treatments for moderate to severe CHE.
A majority of the healthcare professionals noted that their CHE patients are typically on three or four separate medications to manage the condition, and a quarter of clinicians cited significant issues with patient adherence.
Likely due to the lack of CHE-specific treatments, almost two-thirds of the survey respondents said CHE is more frustrating to manage than other chronic skin conditions. More than 60% said their patients with moderate to severe CHE rack up three or four office visits per year, and 27% reported closer to five or six office visits per year for those patients.
On top of the treatment difficulties, 65% of the derms said that there’s a lack of education around CHE as a separate condition from atopic dermatitis.
Leo is therefore hoping the survey results and a planned symposium this week ahead of the American Academy of Dermatology’s annual meeting will help improve awareness among healthcare providers about CHE, which is estimated to affect nearly 16 million people in the U.S. alone, per the release.
“It’s only through better understanding of this complex disease that we can help improve the standard of care in medical dermatology and ultimately improve patients’ quality of life,” Robert Spurr, Leo’s president of the North America region, said in a statement.
Leo announced in September that the FDA had accepted its application for its delgocitinib cream as a treatment for adults with CHE, with a decision expected in the second half of this year. An approval would make the topical JAK inhibitor the first therapeutic specifically greenlit for CHE in the U.S.; the cream has already been approved in Europe, where it’s now sold as Anzupgo.
Shortly after the regulatory update last fall, Leo unveiled an unbranded healthcare provider-focused campaign to boost awareness of CHE. The “Talk to the Hand” initiative features educational resources about CHE symptoms and risk factors to improve diagnoses plus information about available treatments and patient testimonials to drill down the importance of accurate diagnosis and adequate treatment.
Meanwhile, the company plans to release a second swath of results from the Ipsos survey in the coming months focusing specifically on healthcare providers’ assessments of how CHE affects their patients’ daily lives.