Discussing New Ritlecitinib Findings in Cicatricial Alopecia, With Anusha Pasumarthi, MD

New findings suggest ritlecitinib treatment led to favorable safety data and rapid improvements in cicatricial alopecia clinical scores, supporting the use of JAK3/TEC inhibition for this set of conditions.1

These findings were presented in a late-breaking data session at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) 2025 Congress in Paris. They were presented by Anusha Pasumarthi, MD, MSc, a dermatopharmacology fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine, who spoke with HCPLive on their significance.2

“We have the three disease groups, which included FFA, or frontal fibrosing alopecia, as well as lichen planopylares and CCCA,” Pasumarthi explained. “Of those three groups, we basically realized that through our data, all three of them had statistically significant improvements in the grading scores that we use to decide how severe the disease is, as well as clinical improvements in terms of photographic evidence that I'll be presenting as well today. It's very promising to see that. Not only did we see the improvements of the scores clinically and statistically, we also noted a correlation between biomarkers that were being downregulated as we saw the scores improving.”

Pasumarthi highlighted the value of these findings among patients living with these 3 types of cicatricial alopecia.

“I think this clinical trial is providing us a window, if you will, into an unexplored territory that I'm sure that many patients would benefit from, as well as clinicians,” Pasumarthi said. “Because, like I said, it is truly a debilitating disease. Unfortunately, we have no FDA-approved treatments to offer them right now, so [we have] hope that once we see the down regulation of the inflammation that we saw today…when you treat these patients long enough, and you keep the inflammation at bay, we truly [may] start adjusting the fibrosis that's happening in the scalps as well. And, hopefully at some point, reverse it.”

To find out more about Pasumarthi’s team’s conclusions related to ritlecitinib, view our summary of these recent findings.

Pasumarthi had no relevant financial relationships or in-kind support to disclose.

References

1. Del Duca E, Lau M, Yassky EG, et al. JAK3/TEC Inhibition is Safe and Effective in Cicatricial Alopecias: Evidence from a Prospective Trial. Presented at the 2025 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress, Sept 17-20, 2025.

2. Smith T. JAK3/TEC Inhibition Through Ritlecitinib Effective, Safe for Cicatricial Alopecias. HCPLive. September 18, 2025. https://www.hcplive.com/view/jak3-tec-inhibition-through-ritlecitinib-effective-safe-cicatricial-alopecias.