Regeneron pharmaceuticals and Sanofi have jointly announced positive results from their phase-3 trials of new COPD drug dupilumab(Dupixent) for treating atopic dermatitis in children aged 6 months to 5 years. The trial’s findings showed that adding dupilumab to standard-of-care topical corticosteroids (TCS) significantly improved skin clearance and reduced overall disease severity.

Amy S. Paller, Professor and Chair of Dermatology and Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and principal investigator of the trial, said that the results also show a safety profile consistent with those seen in other age groups. She also added that the trial results holds importance as 85 to 90 percent of patients develop dermatitis symptoms before the age of 5 and treatments are unavoidable as they experience intense, persistent itch and skin lesions that cover much of the body (58 percent on average for the patients in this trial at baseline). This leads to skin dryness, cracking, redness or darkening, and crusting and oozing, along with increased risk of skin infections.