A new drug is showing promise in relieving eczema on Black and brown skin. In a phase 3 trial, Eli Lilly’s medicine Lebrikizumab cleared skin and provided itch relief in people with skin of color who suffered from eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis.
Needless to say, an eczema treatment for Black and brown skin is right on time. Ten percent of Black Americans and over 10 percent of Americans suffer from eczema. The creation of this drug can make living with eczema more bearable, but it is also a reminder of the importance of Black people participating in clinical trials.
Researchers found that eczema severity was reduced drastically in the majority of trial participants. Almost half of them saw major skin improvement, and nearly half achieved clear or close to clear skin. More than half of the study participants experienced clinically meaningful itch relief. Forty of the fifty trial participants were Black.
According to Andrew Alexis, M.D., professor of clinical dermatology and vice chair for diversity and inclusion in the Department of Dermatology at Weill Cornell Medicine and a dermatologist at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, people of color are disproportionately affected by eczema, and experience more severe symptoms. “They also have been historically underrepresented in clinical trials, which means we have lacked data pertaining to the treatment of patients with skin of color,” he explains.
Black America has a fraught history with clinical trials, and medicine has a long way to go to make people feel comfortable with participating. It is no wonder, considering experiments that stripped Black people of informed consent. Black prisoners have historically been test subjects for radiation and harsh chemicals, and in the Tuskegee experiments, Black men were withheld lifesaving treatment for their syphilis. “A few things influence Black people to try clinical trials. One is trust—having someone who looks like them that they can talk to about getting enrolled,” Dr. Tochukwu Okwuosa previously told BDO.
Many conditions present differently in Black patients, and with dermatological conditions, they may even look differently. Without participation in studies, many medications and even doctors will lack cultural competency to properly treat conditions. While the mistrust may be warranted, participation in trials gets us closer to racial and health equity.
“We are all more similar than we are different, but there can be differences in how people process medicines,” explains Namandje N. Bumpus, Ph.D., director of the Johns Hopkins Department of Pharmacology and Molecular Sciences. “We want therapies to work for as many people as possible. The best way for that to happen is for all people to have access to participate in clinical research.”
The FDA initially rejected the application for the drug, citing issues with a third-party manufacturing site. The drug has been licensed and approved for use in Europe as of November 2023. This gives hope for US licensing in the future.
