The Future of Customized Treatments Within the Atopic Dermatitis Pipeline

Peter Lio:

Hi, I am Dr. Peter Lio. I'm a clinical assistant professor of dermatology and pediatrics at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine here in Chicago, Illinois.

There is so much exciting stuff in the pipeline. Again, to me it is just incredible because, I kid you not, just a decade ago, it felt like we had nothing. We had almost nothing to see, and now it is just remarkable. Not only do we have wonderful small molecules and different pathways in the immune system and in the itch pathways that we're already seeing and experiencing, there's the promise of biologics that are going to have very long dosing intervals. Sometimes maybe once a year or twice a year.

We have these concepts, these bi-specific medications that will attack multiple targets at once, which should be really fascinating. Some of my early experience with using two medicines at once has shown me that this might be a little bit of synergy and not just additive effects. It seems to be better than the sum of its parts, which is really exciting. Still early days.

We also have totally new approaches. I'm fascinated by companies that are looking into the microbiome. Can we manipulate the microbiome in a way to also help that way? Can we still advance the science of barrier function, the pH? Marchionini's acid mantle, strengthening that? Can that help us? All these different pathways. Different types of supplements, too. Can we work from the inside? Because we understand that some of the products of our skin are very much based on what's in the diet, L-Histidine, of course, hemp oil has been studied. These are ways to strengthen from inside.

All of these things are taking us to a place where I think in the future we're going to be able to look at a patient, maybe we'll do a scraping or a tape strip and say, "Aha, your specific issue is X, Z, Y." Thus, we are going to customize a plan, the precision, the personalized medicine, to get them exactly what they need, no more, no less, and get them better in a way that is going to be safe and effective, and I can't wait for that time.