Discussing New Topical Drugs for Atopic Dermatitis in Younger Patients, With Peter Lio, MD

An interview was conducted at the 2025 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference in Las Vegas, featuring Peter A. Lio, MD, a clinical professor of Dermatology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and clinical assistant professor of Dermatology & Pediatrics at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine.

In this interview at the Fall Clinical meeting, Lio discussed highlights from several of the sessions he co-presented during the conference.1,2,3 First, Lio was asked about his session on the changing landscape of topical therapies in the field of dermatology.

“Topical therapy is so important to me, and it's near and dear to my heart,” Lio explained. “...I think that the money that a company can make from a topical is nowhere near what they can make from a systemic. So to me, it's kind of the ultimate honor for us when companies do it. And I'm so happy we have some really exciting new topicals in our armamentarium, particularly in the world of atopic dermatitis. We have a new topical phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor that's just a couple of years old now.”

This drug, Lio noted, was topical roflumilast, and it received an indication down to age 2 years recently. Lio went on to discuss other topical medications of note.

“We’ve got topical ruxolitinib, and that is, of course, a topical JAK inhibitor,” Lio said. “That also very recently, in the past month or 2 here, has gotten approval down to age 2. We have topical tapinarof, which is the aryl hydrocarbon receptor agonist and is really awesome. Also approved down to age 2. So not only do we have new treatments for atopic dermatitis, but also in little kids, which is incredible. Most recently, we got a new topical in the class for JAK inhibitors, with topical delgocitinib…for chronic hand eczema.”

Lio went on to discuss some of the most notable takeaways from his portion of the conference session titled ‘30 Tips in 30 Minutes.’

“I think number 1 is going to be the writing out of an action plan,” Lio said. “I think this sort of defines my entire practice, [where] I print out for each individual patient exactly what I'd like them to do. That tells them what to do in the morning, what to do in the evening. It has an order of operations. It links to the products. So they really have all of that comprehensive stuff done. Not only is it for the patient, but it's also selfishly for me because if they call later, then sometimes I'm like.”

Lio went on to describe the second tip provided in his talk, which was a strategy for dealing with patients’ needle-phobia and procedure phobia.

“I have a whole bunch of kind of pearls within the pearl of doing everything you can to minimize the pain, the discomfort, and the anxiety around doing procedures from a blood draw to a biopsy to even just freezing a wart,” Lio said. “All of these things can cause a lot of trauma to the patients. And if especially for [kids], of course, we realize that if they are comfortable, if they are relaxed and on board, not only is that good for them…but it's good for us because we're much more likely to have a successful procedure. And there's even data to support that.”

Lio highlighted the benefits of habit reversal therapy, which he described as a way to give patients a ‘replacement behavior.’

“Instead of scratching at itchy skin, we might have them do something like make gentle circles or tap their fingers, or play with ‘worry beads’ or a fidget toy,” Lio explained. “It sounds kind of goofy, but it really can make a huge difference. It's not the whole story. It's not going to replace an oral JAK inhibitors or biologics. I'm not trying to make a claim like that, but it can be a really nice, supportive or adjunctive piece that addresses the mind body. And sometimes it can literally be the difference between treatment success and treatment failure. I need all the help I can get.”

To find out any additional information on these topics and others highlighted in Lio’s sessions, view the video above. For more on new research in dermatology, view the latest conference coverage.

The quotes implemented in this interview summary were edited for clarity.

Relevant disclosures for Lio include AbbVie, Almirall, Arbonne, ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, Dermavant, Eli Lilly and Company, Galderma, Johnson & Johnson, L’Oreal, LEO Pharma, Pfizer, Regeneron/Sanofi Genzyme and others.

References

1. Stein Gold L, Frey C, Lio P, et al. The Changing Landscape of Topical Therapies. Session presentation at the 2025 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct 23-26, 2025.

2. Elewski B, Alexis A, Lio P, et al. 30 Tips in 30 Minutes. Session presentation at the 2025 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct 23-26, 2025.

3. Lio P. How To Get Involved in Clinical Trials. Session presentation at the 2025 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, Oct 23-26, 2025.