Study: Truncal Acne Treated by Oral Sarecycline

Two phase 3 studies evaluating the safety and efficacy of oral sarecycline (Seysara; Almirall) as a treatment for truncal acne was recently published in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology.¹

Sarecycline is a narrow-spectrum, third-generation, tetracycline-class oral antibiotic approved for the treatment of acne. According to the study background, few treatments have been evaluated for truncal acne and previous phase 3 trials have found sarecycline as safe and effective for moderate to severe acne. 

There was a pooled analysis performed for truncal acne results with sarecycline from both trials and an Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) score was given at 3, 6, 9, and 12 weeks to evaluate success. 

For the chest area, the IGA success rate was greater with sarecycline than placebo at week 3 (11.84% vs 7.71%, respectively; p=0.0192), 6 (18.81% vs 14.03%, respectively; p=0.0390), and 12 (33.42% vs 20.77%, respectively; p=0.0001) vs baseline. 

For the back area, greater success was found with sarecycline versus placebo group at weeks 3 (12.13% vs 7.04%, respectively; p=0.0023), 6 (18.42% vs 14.34%, respectively; p=0.0412), 9 (29.05% vs 19.88%, respectively; p=0.0004) and 12 (33.07% vs 21.91%, respectively; p=0.0001).

It was found that sarecycline was safe and effective for oral treatment of moderate to severe truncal acne. 

Reference:

1. Del Rosso JQ, Stein Gold L, Baldwin H, et al. Management of truncal acne with oral sarecycline: pooled results from two phase-3 clinical trials. J Drugs Dermatol. 2021;20(6):634-640. doi:10.36849/JDD.2021.6204