Lilly Receives Key Designation for Alopecia Treatment
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowIndianapolis-based Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE: LLY) and a partner company have received a key authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on a drug they developed to fight alopecia areata. AA is an autoimmune disorder that can cause unpredictable hair loss all over the body by attacking hair follicles.
Lilly and Incyte Corp., a pharmaceutical company based in Delaware, received Breakthrough Therapy designation for baricitinib for the treatment of AA.
“Patients with AA currently do not have any FDA-approved treatment options available to them,” said Lotus Mallbris, M.D., vice president of immunology development at Lilly. “AA not only causes hair loss but also may be a psychosocial burden for people living with this disease.”
The companies say the designation aims to expedite the development and review of drugs that are intended to treat a serious condition when preliminary clinical evidence indicates that the drug may demonstrate substantial improvement over already available therapies.
“There are millions of people around the world affected by and living with AA,” said Dory Kranz, president and chief executive officer of the National Alopecia Areata Foundation. “We’re encouraged by baricitinib’s potential to be one of the first FDA-approved medicines to treat AA.”
Lilly says baricitinib is currently approved for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis.