Transcript
Dr. Jonathan Silverberg: Hi, I'm Dr. Jonathan Silverberg. I'm a professor of dermatology at the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences in Washington, DC.
The ADORING trials showed consistent efficacy and robust efficacy for tapinarof cream in really mild, moderate, and severe atopic dermatitis, children and adults. And so it certainly indicates that there is efficacy along the lines of the type 2 cytokine axes that we think about more classical type 2 inflammation within atopic dermatitis.
But there are suggestions and certainly preclinical data to suggest that tapinarof may modulate more than just type 2 inflammatory cytokines, but also other pathways as well, type 1 inflammation, Th17 axes, et cetera. And so that may be in part why we're seeing some broader efficacy for a topical across this wide range of patients. It may be attributable in part to, in a sense, broader mechanism of action of what this pathway is modulating.
I think it can sometimes be challenging to make that link between the clinical efficacy and the translational data, but there certainly are suggestions that based on the deep and reliable efficacy that we've seen so far, that that is attributable to a potentially broader mechanism of action of this pathway.
Itch is important. Itch is a universal symptom in atopic dermatitis. It's also the most burdensome symptom in atopic dermatitis. And so it's important that any drug that we use be effective on itch, both ideally long-term and short-term.
Now, long-term, I would argue with any drug that's highly effective on treating the inflammation and the lesions, the itch will follow. But when you're dealing with a topical, it becomes particularly important to have an earlier response on itch because the patients don't want to wait. They don't want to put on a cream every day for two months before the itch starts to improve. They want a quicker response.
And so I think when you're dealing with any topical, it becomes particularly important to see an early itch response, even if it takes a little longer for the lesions to completely clear.
