XBiotech announces first patient enrolled in study evaluating bermekimab

XBiotech has enrolled the first patient in a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 2 clinical study to evaluate its IL-1a blocking antibody therapy in patients with moderate to severe Atopic Dermatitis. The study will assess weekly bermekimab therapy to reduce inflammatory skin lesions, itch, and pain in patients suffering from eczema. The study will compare three groups of patients over 16 weeks of treatment: a weekly dosing group, a biweekly dosing group, and a placebo group. Percentage of patients who achieve a 75% reduction in skin disease after 16 weeks of treatment will be the primary measure of response. The Eczema Area Severity Index scoring system will be used to assess severity of inflammatory skin lesions. Another crucial assessment will be patient itch, which is often severe and unrelenting in this disease. A numeric rating scale will be used to assess itch and pain at various timepoints ranging from 4-16 weeks. For more information on this study please visit www.clinicaltrials.gov. Bermekimab was previously tested in a clinical study of patients with moderate to severe AD. Those results were previously presented at the annual conferences of the American Academy of Dermatology and the European Academy of Dermatology and Venerology by renowned dermatologists Dr. Eric Simpson and Dr. Alice Gottlieb, respectively. The findings showed that after only 8 weeks of bermekimab therapy, 75% of patients had achieved 75% improvement in disease severity as assessed by EASI score. Bermekimab therapy was also associated with a dramatic reduction in itch and pain, with three fourths of patients achieving clinically significant reduction in itch, and 86% achieving clinically significant reduction in pain after only 8 weeks of treatment.