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Segmental vitiligo on one lid and the ipsilateral forehead | Image Credit: © DermNet

January 2024

Vitiligo and Retinal Detachment: Is There a Connection?

The risk of retinal detachment in people with vitiligo is 44% higher than among people without the disease, according to a study conducted in Taiwan. Those who have undergone phototherapy or systemic therapy for vitiligo face an even higher risk.

The findings are based on a population-based cohort study using 2007-2018 data from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Database.

For the study, a total of 21,132 patients with vitiligo were 1:4 matched with patients without vitiligo by age, sex, and propensity score of comorbidities including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, atopic dermatitis, glaucoma, myopia, uveitis, eye injury, and previous cataract surgery.

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February 2024

First Known Canadian Study Evaluates Real-World Experiences of Patients With Vitiligo in Community Setting

In the first known Canadian study exploring the real-world experiences of patients with vitiligo in a community setting, researchers' findings of patient age, sex, and affected location were consistent with prior epidemiologic data.

The retrospective, cross-sectional study, was published in the Journal of Cutaneous Medicine and Surgery and was carried out at a community dermatology clinic spanning 2 locations in Ontario.

Researchers utilized an electronic medical record review to identify patients who had presented to one of the clinics with a vitiligo diagnosis between January 2008 and April 2022. The search term "vitiligo" was used in the search. In addition to narrowing the search via key search terms, researchers also examined phototherapy records in order to further identify patients who may have been missed in the initial search method.

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March 2024

Experts Develop Evidence and Consensus-Based Recommendations for Diagnosing and Treating Vitiligo in Young Patients

Experts developed evidence and consensus-based recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of vitiligo, particularly regarding the use of topical therapeutics, in pediatric, adolescent, and young adult patients. The consensus statement, published in JAMA Dermatology, fulfills an unmet need, as researchers Renert-Yuval et al noted that guidelines for vitiligo have not been developed since 1996--yet not for pediatric patients.

In October 1996, guidelines for the care of vitiligo were published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology. To the knowledge of researchers, this is the most recent set of guidelines developed for the treatment of vitiligo. However, they note that prior to these new recommendations, there are no known, published guidelines that address vitiligo in a young patient population.

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April 2024

Incyte and CMS Collaborate to Develop Povorcitinib in Numerous Chinese Regions

Incyte announced its new collaboration and license agreement with China Medical System Holdings Limited (CMS) for the research, development, and commercialization of povorcitinib in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan Region, and 11 Southeast Asian countries, as well as a non-exclusive license to manufacture povorcitinib in CMS’ territory.

Povorcitinib is a selective oral JAK1 inhibitor currently being evaluated for the treatment of non-segmental vitiligo, hidradenitis suppurativa, prurigo nodularis, asthma, and chronic spontaneous urticaria.

Based on their agreement, CMS will make an upfront payment to Incyte, and Incyte is eligible to receive additional potential development and commercial milestones and royalties on net sales of povorcitinib in CMS’ territory.

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May 2024

VYNE Therapeutics Provides Updates on VYN201 for Nonsegmental Vitiligo and VYN202 for Inflammatory Diseases

VYNE Therapeutics announced new pipeline updates on VYN201 and VYN202 for the treatment of nonsegmental vitiligo and other inflammatory skin diseases. The results were announced in VYNE’s first quarter 2024 financial results.

“During the first quarter, we made steady progress in advancing our VYN201 program toward a phase 2b trial,” said David Domzalski, the president and chief executive officer of VYNE, in the news release. “We are rapidly activating clinical trial sites and expect to dose the first subject in the trial this quarter. In addition, we recently received IND clearance for our VYN202 program to proceed and expect to dose the first healthy volunteers in our phase 1a trial this quarter. We look forward to updating our stakeholders on our progress in the coming months.”

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June 2024

Study Investigates Ties Between Vitiligo and Parkinson’s Disease

Researchers behind a population-based study aimed to clarify the association between vitiligo and Parkinson’s disease (PD), noting that knowledge on the subject is sparse. Through their investigation of the bidirectional epidemiological association, researchers concluded that vitiligo is associated with a lower risk of developing PD. They also found the presence of comorbid PD predisposes patients with vitiligo to elevated mortality and cardiometabolic outcomes.

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July 2024

Phase 3 Ruxolitinib Study Shows Higher Rates of Adolescent Repigmentation

Data presented at the 2024 Society for Pediatric Dermatology meeting in Toronto, Canada, found that adolescents with vitiligo achieved higher rates of more complete repigmentation than adults.

A post hoc analysis of the TRuE-V1 and TRuE-V2 phase 3 studies demonstrated patients aged ≥12 years with nonsegmental vitiligo had statistically significant repigmentation with twice-daily application of 1.5% ruxolitinib cream vs vehicle (non-medicated cream) at week 24 with continued improvements observed through Week 52, as measured by the Vitiligo Area Scoring Index (VASI).

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August 2024

Vitiligo Risk Alleles Vary Across Different Populations, According to Study

Genetic variation is present among patients with vitiligo, with differences noted in vitiligo-associated genes across patient populations, according to a study published in BMC Genomic Data.

More specifically, researchers reported that the risk alleles rs1043101 and rs10768122 in the SLC1A2 gene are notably more common in South Asian patients compared to global averages. Likewise, the intron variant rs4766578 and nonsynonymous variant rs16891982 are enriched in enriched in European and Admixed American populations.

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September 2024

Exploring Afamelanotide for Vitiligo: Insights into the CUV 105 Phase 3 Clinical Trial

Tareen Dermatology announced a partnership with pharmaceutical company CLINUVEL. The partnership is intended to advance vitiligo research through the undertaking of advanced-stage clinical trials.

One such clinical trial is the phase 3 CUV 105 trial assessing the efficacy and safety of afamelanotide (Scenesse) in combination with phototherapy for treating vitiligo, which is actively recruiting participants at multiple study sites across the US.

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