Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD

2025 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress

 in Paris, a poster was presented titled ‘The Physical and Emotional Burden of Prurigo Nodularis in Adult Patients: Impact of Dupilumab on Itch, Pain, and Skin-Related Distress in PRIME 1/2.’

These data on dupilumab (Dupixent) from the PRIME and PRIME2 studies were discussed in a recent interview with Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, clinical associate professor at Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School, and director of the Center for Medical Dermatology and Immunology Research. Chovatiya was asked about the significance of these poster data for prurigo nodularis.

Highlighting PRIME Study Findings on Dupilumab for Prurigo Nodularis, With Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD

“This study was an analysis of previously presented phase 3 data that specifically looked at tupilimab in patients with prurigo nodularis,” Chovatiya explained. “...And the question we really had with this particular analysis was, [given that] we've seen clinical data to really take a look at how well dupilumab performs on some of the clinician-assessed signs of the disease itself, what about the patient perspective?”

Chovatiya was asked during the interview about unmet needs remaining for patients living with the burden associated with prurigo nodularis, a condition characterized by intensely pruritic, fibrotic nodular lesions.

“Our patients would say one of their most important things is they want relief of symptoms, and itch is obviously a key and core symptom for patients,” Chovatiya said. “It's highly intense. But that doesn't mean that itch is the only symptom. Many of our patients experience a high burden of skin pain, stinging, numbing, tingling, and essentially situations where their skin is not where it should be. That is very highly intertwined with the inflammatory lesions. So I think people oftentimes forget that this is not a disease of just itch, and it's not a disease of just bumps or ulcerations or erosions, but rather of both of these together.”

Chovatiya was later asked about what he felt were the most important findings on dupilumab highlighted in his team’s poster data at EADV.

“Sure enough, following dupilumab treatment, over the course of several months, individuals had highly substantial numerical improvements in terms of the proportions of them able to achieve basically complete control, or near complete control, in each of these different parameters,” Chovatiya said. “So the bottom line findings here are that we know that dupilumab works simply based on its approval and phase 3 data. But this is really nice information that we can combine with that to tell our patients that…many of the issues related to how you lead your life as a result of the disease are going to improve alongside the signs and symptoms of the disease itself.”

For any additional information on this poster data, view the full interview posted above.

The quotes contained in this interview summary were edited for the purposes of clarity.

Chovatiya previously reported serving as an advisor, consultant, speaker, and/or investigator for AbbVie, Amgen, Apogee Therapeutics, Arcutis, Argenx, ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, Beiersdorf, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cara Therapeutics, Dermavant, Eli Lilly and Company, FIDE, Formation Bio, Galderma, Genentech, GSK, Incyte, LEO Pharma, L’Oréal, Nektar Therapeutics, Novartis, Opsidio, Pfizer Inc., Regeneron, RAPT, Sanofi, Sitryx, and UCB.

Ständer S, Chovatiya R, Wiggins S, et al. The Physical and Emotional Burden of Prurigo Nodularis in Adult Patients: Impact of Dupilumab on Itch, Pain, and Skin-Related Distress in PRIME 1/2. Presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) 2025 Congress. Paris, France. September 17-20, 2025.

Kwatra SG, Pereira MP, Wiggins S, et al. Prurigo nodularis: disease burden, clinical features and approach to management. Br J Dermatol. 2025 Sep 18;193(4):642-652. 

Videos

This interview from EADV highlights recent data from PRIME and PRIME2 on the effects of dupilumab (Dupixent) on itch and pain in prurigo nodularis.

A session on the current treatment landscape for atopic dermatitis was presented during the 

European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) 2025 Congress

 in Paris, with 2 experts in the field of dermatology as presenters: Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, and Chih-ho Hong, MD, FRCPC.

Chovatiya, a clinical associate professor at Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School and director of the Center for Medical Dermatology and Immunology Research, highlighted several key takeaways on the biggest news in atopic dermatitis management in 2025. He was asked about the impetus for covering this topic at EADV.

Current Treatment Landscape for Moderate to Severe Atopic Dermatitis, With Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD

“[This is] a really fun evening symposium where we're getting a chance to dive into atopic dermatitis in general and talk about some of the unmet needs in our disease state, with a focus on what potentially the class of medications that block the OX40 receptor might unlock for us,” Chovatiya explained. “And of course, in this particular program, we're going to get a chance to talk about many different medications that are taking different approaches, and then highlight some of the newer data for rocatinlimab, our OX40 receptor blocker that's the furthest along on clinical development, that are really suggesting that, indeed, we may have another treatment on our hands for patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis.”

Chovatiya added that during the session, updates were being presented to contextualize the immunology of what makes a medication make sense for clinicians and for patients using the atopic dermatitis toolbox. Afterward, he discussed his session titled ‘Personalizing the Care of Patients With Atopic Dermatitis and Head and Neck Involvement.’

“I’m also having a chance to give a talk about head and neck atopic dermatitis, a very common and burdensome phenotype of disease itself,” Chovatiya said. “And this one is a bit more medication agnostic, in the sense that what we're really trying to understand is, why the head and neck has such a unique burden. Why is it so challenging to treat and what are some of the circumstances in which this area tends to get worse, even though other parts of the body can get better? [Also] what are some of the therapeutic solutions, particularly in the biologic realm, that can help us to treat our patients?”

Chovatiya added that there can be significant burdens that come with head and neck atopic dermatitis, noting that it really behooves clinicians to go beyond topical therapies to make sure such patients are receiving the appropriate medication choices.

For additional information on this topic and others highlighted during EADV 2025, view our 

Raj Chovatiya has reported serving as an adviser, a consultant, a speaker or an investigator for AbbVie, Amgen, AnaptysBio, Apogee Therapeutics, Arcutis, Argenx, ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, Beiersdorf, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cara Therapeutics, CLn Skin Care, Dermavant, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, FIDE, Formation Bio, Galderma, Genentech, GSK, Incyte, LEO Pharma, L'Oréal, Nektar Therapeutics, Novartis, Opsidio, Pfizer, RAPT, Regeneron, Sanofi, Sitryx, Takeda, TRex Bio and UCB.

Session: The Current Treatment Landscape for Moderate to Severe AD. Presented at the 2025 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress, Sept 17-20, 2025.

Guttman-Yassky E, Kabashima K, Bissonnette R, et al. Efficacy and Safety of OX40-Receptor Targeting With Rocatinlimab in Moderate-to-Severe Atopic Dermatitis: Results From the Phase 3 ROCKET-Ignite Trial. Presented at the European Association of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) 2025 Congress. Paris, France. September 17-20, 2025.

In this EADV interview, Chovatiya highlights some of his session’s most notable takeaways regarding current treatments and new data in the atopic dermatitis space.

STRATUM Trial: Zoryve Foam Works Across Skin Types, With Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD

Use of roflumilast foam 0.3% (Zoryve) was associated with significant improvements in 

 symptoms, itch relief, and pigmentation across diverse patient populations, regardless of race, ethnicity, or skin type, according to a new analysis of the pivotal STRATUM trial.

European Association of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) 2025 Congress

, the results offer clinicians insight into the potential effects of roflumilast foam 0.3% among this heterogeneous patient population.

“What's been a really fun journey over the past few years has really been understanding and exploring seborrheic dermatitis, one of the more common chronic inflammatory skin diseases we see, but not something that necessarily gets the same spotlight as atopic dermatitis or psoriasis,” Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, dermatologist and clinical associate professor at Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School, founder and director of the Center for Medical Dermatology and Immunology Research in Chicago, in an interview with HCPLive. "And really the approval of roflumilast foam has really, [and] I don't use this word often, been a game changer for that disease state, given that we just haven't really had much in the way of targeted treatment for this particular disease.”

Approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in July 2023 for seborrheic dermatitis, roflumilast foam 0.3%, a highly potent phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitor from Arcutis Biotherapeutics, was evaluated in the phase 3 STRATUM trial which compared its efficacy and safety with vehicle foam in patients aged 9 years or older with moderate-to-severe seborrheic dermatitis. Eligible patients had stable disease for at least 4 weeks, Investigator Global Assessment (IGA) scores ≥3, and moderate-to-severe erythema and scaling at baseline.

The primary endpoint was IGA success, which is defined as achieving clear/almost clear (0/1) with at least a 2-point improvement, at week 8. Secondary endpoints included improvements in itch (Worst Itch-Numeric Rating Scale [WI-NRS]), scaling, erythema, pigmentation changes, and safety. Outcomes were assessed across subgroups by race, ethnicity, and Fitzpatrick skin type (FST).

A total of 457 patients participated, including 356 who self-identified as White, 51 as Black/African American, 97 as Hispanic/Latino, and 50 as other races. Stratification by FST resulted in cohorts of 330 patients with type I–III and 127 with type IV–VI.

By week 8, significantly greater proportions of patients treated with roflumilast foam versus vehicle achieved IGA success overall (79.5% vs 58.0%) and across subgroups, with response rates consistent among White (80.3% vs 57.2%), Black/African American (71.5% vs 59.4%), and other racial groups (82.0% vs 62.5%). Similar trends were observed across ethnicity and FST groups, with patients of darker skin types (IV–VI) achieving comparable outcomes (76.3% vs 66.4%).

For WI-NRS success, 62.8% of roflumilast-treated patients achieved ≥4-point itch reduction compared with 40.6% in the vehicle group. Again, efficacy was consistent across racial, ethnic, and FST subgroups, with notable improvements among patients with skin of color (69.5% vs 43.5% for FST IV–VI). Similar improvements were observed in scaling and erythema resolution.

Investigators pointed out pigmentary changes improved during treatment. Among patients with hypopigmentation at baseline, 57.1% of White patients and 80.0% of non-White patients experienced partial or complete improvement by week 8. For hyperpigmentation, rates were 75.0% and 55.6%, respectively, by week 8.

Roflumilast foam 0.3% was well tolerated, with most treatment-emergent adverse events classified as mild or moderate. Overall, treatment-related adverse events observed in 2.6% of patients in the roflumilast group compared with 3.3% in the vehicle group.

Relevant disclosures for Chovatiya include AbbVie, Amgen, AnaptysBio, Apogee Therapeutics, Arcutis, Argenx, ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, Beiersdorf, Boehringer Ingelheim, Bristol Myers Squibb, Cara Therapeutics, CLn Skin Care, Dermavant, Eli Lilly, EMD Serono, FIDE, Formation Bio, Galderma, Genentech, GSK, Incyte, LEO Pharma, L'Oréal, Nektar Therapeutics, Novartis, Opsidio, Pfizer, RAPT, Regeneron, Sanofi, Sitryx, Takeda, TRex Bio, and UCB.

 Roflumilast foam 0.3% for the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis in patients with diverse skin types: subgroup analyses of the phase 3 STRATUM trial

. Presented at the European Association of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) 2025 Congress. Paris, France. September 17-20, 2025.

Arcutis Biotherapeutics. FDA Approves Arcutis’ ZORYVE® (roflumilast) Topical Foam, 0.3% for the Treatment of Seborrheic Dermatitis in Individuals Aged 9 Years and Older. Arcutis Biotherapeutics. Published December 15, 2023. Accessed September 18, 2025. 

https://www.arcutis.com/fda-approves-arcutis-zoryve-roflumilast-topical-foam-0-3-for-the-treatment-of-seborrheic-dermatitis-in-individuals-aged-9-years-and-older/

Discover how roflumilast foam transforms treatment for seborrheic dermatitis, showing effectiveness across diverse skin tones.

STRATUM Trial: Roflumilast Foam Works Across Skin Types, With Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD

 is shedding light on real-world use of abrocitinib (Cibinqo) in patients with 

“One of the things that's lacking, often for our medications, beyond clinical trial data, is real-world data, and specifically real-world data that is heterogeneous, meaning that it's gathered across a large population, rather than a single center or a single practice or a single person,” explained study investigator Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, dermatologist and clinical associate professor at Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School, founder and director of the Center for Medical Dermatology and Immunology Research in Chicago, in an interview with HCPLive. “And this particular analysis with abrocitinib is one of the bigger, newer analyses that we have.”

An oral JAK1 inhibitor, abrocitinib received approval for moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis from the US Food and Drug Administration for adults in 2022 and adolescents in 2023, but real-world evidence on its use remains limited.

At EADV 2025 Congress, a recent retrospective observational study leveraged the OMNY Health Database to understand the characteristics of patients initiating abrocitinib in outpatient dermatology practices nationwide. The analysis included adolescents and adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis who received abrocitinib between January 2022 and February 2025.

Data were drawn from general and dermatology electronic health records (EHRs) linked to open claims. Patients were required to have a confirmed AD diagnosis, with exclusions consistent with product labeling.

A total of 315 patients were identified, of whom 8.3% were adolescents and 91.7% were adults. Of these patients, 35% had prior biologic exposure, with dupilumab representing the most common biologic therapy (34.6%). Investigators noted oral prednisone use was also frequent (49.2%).

Assessment of comorbidities revealed overweight or obesity (43.5%), anxiety (41.3%), allergic rhinitis (38.7%), contact dermatitis (37.8%), and depression (34.3%) were the most common comorbidities.

Investigators found a greater proportion of adolescents initiated therapy at the 200-mg dose compared with adults (23.1% vs 13.8%).

Only 13.3% of patients had documented clinician- or patient-reported severity measures at baseline or within 42 days prior to starting abrocitinib. Among this group, 95.2% reported involvement of the upper extremities and 52.8% reported severe itch scores on the Itch Numeric Rating Scale, while clinician-reported disease severity by Investigator’s Global Assessment was most commonly rated as moderate (40.5%).

Real-World Data Shed Light on Abrocitinib Use for Atopic Dermatitis, With Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD

 Abrocitinib Treatment for Moderate-to-Severe Atopic Dermatitis Observed in Electronic Health Records and Administrative Claims in a US-Based Real-World Dermatology Setting: Patient Characteristics and Baseline Disease Severity

. Presented at the European Association of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) 2025 Congress. Paris, France. September 17-21, 2025.

Pfizer Inc. U.S. FDA Approves Pfizer’s CIBINQO® (abrocitinib) for Adults with Moderate-to-Severe Atopic Dermatitis | Pfizer. Pfizer.com. Published January 14, 2022. Accessed September 17, 2025. 

https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/us-fda-approves-pfizers-cibinqor-abrocitinib-adults

Pfizer Inc. FDA Approves Pfizer’s Supplemental New Drug Application for CIBINQO® (abrocitinib) | Pfizer. www.pfizer.com. Published February 10, 2023. Accessed September 17, 2025. 

https://www.pfizer.com/news/press-release/press-release-detail/fda-approves-pfizers-supplemental-new-drug-application

A recent study reveals diverse real-world data on abrocitinib use for atopic dermatitis.

Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD

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