Alopecia areata, FDA approved new drug

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug to treat alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that can cause total loss of hair and other often patchy body hair, including nose and ear, eyelashes and eyebrows. This is baricitinib, a medicine produced by Eli Lilly for rheumatoid arthritis. According to two randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials, sponsored by Eli Lilly and published last month in the New England Journal of Medicine, involving 1,200 patients with severe alopecia areata, the drug is able to regrow hair by blocking the attack of the immune system on the hair follicles. Two other companies, Pfizer and Concert Pharmaceuticals, are far behind with similar drugs, known as Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKs). These medicines are already marketed for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases, as well as in the treatment of severe Covid-19 in hospitalized adult patients. With FDA approval, patients will be eligible for insurance coverage to purchase these drugs, which cost nearly $ 2,500 per month.