Highlighting 24-Week Findings on Povorcitinib for HS, With Martina Porter, MD

New late-breaking data suggest treatment of moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) using povorcitinib will result in clinically meaningful and statistically significant disease improvements through the 24-week mark.1,2

These 24-week interim data, drawn from the phase 3 STOP-HS trial, were presented during the 2025 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress in Paris.1 HCPLive spoke with trial investigator Martina Porter, MD, STOP-HS investigator, assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School, and vice chair for research and academics at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, about these findings.

“Unfortunately, don't know exactly the pathophysiology of HS, but there are quite a few cytokines that are involved,” Porter said. “Also, both the innate and adaptive immune systems. JAK1-selective inhibitors tend to target multiple of these molecules, like IL-1, IL-6, IL-10, and we've always speculated that these are involved. But we don't know for sure why some patients get HS and what's really contributing. So in some ways, perhaps having a broader target can actually help some of these patients.”

Porter noted that there are currently only 2 classes of drugs approved for the treatment of patients living with HS, which are TNF-alpha inhibitors and IL-17 inhibitors. She added that these are highly targeted.

“We know that only approximately 50% of patients are really doing well on these molecules,” Porter explained. “It suggests that we probably have a very heterogeneous population, and not every patient is going to respond to the same therapy. So the more options we have, the better I think we'll be able to manage this disease.”

The drug, a highly selective oral JAK1 inhibitor, was examined in adult patients ≥18 years. The data revealed a significantly greater proportion of subjects attaining Hidradenitis Suppurativa Clinical Response (HiSCR50; ≥50% reduction in total inflammatory nodule count from baseline without worsening in abscesses or draining tunnels) versus those on a placebo at the 12-week mark. Porter highlighted the significance of such a conclusion.

“So what we saw…was just over 40% of patients, and STOP-HS 1 and STOP-HS 2 achieved [HiSCR50], compared to just under 30% of the placebo,” Porter noted. “And HS is a little difficult, because the placebo rates can vary from trial to trial. So we're looking both at the overall efficacy and the differences from placebo. But I would say this falls in line with some of our other medications that we have approved as well. One of the things to note is that we did see [HiSCR75, 90, and 100] responses for povorcitinib that were fairly good too.”

Porter noted that dose may make a difference among patients for some of the different outcomes that exist for evaluating HS.

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

Porter has reported serving as a consultant and/or investigator for AbbVie, Acelyrin, Alumis, AnaptysBio, Aristea, Bayer, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Incyte, Janssen, MoonLake, Novartis, Pfizer, Prometheus Laboratories, Regeneron, Sanofi, Trifecta Clinical, Sonoma Bio, and UCB.

References

1. Porter M, Martorell A, Santos L, et al. Povorcitinib for Moderate to Severe Hidradenitis Suppurativa: Week 24 Interim Phase 3 Results. Presented at the 2025 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress, Sept 17-20, 2025.

2. Incyte Announces New 24-Week Phase 3 Data from the STOP-HS Clinical Trial Program of Povorcitinib in Hidradenitis Suppurativa at EADV 2025. Incyte. September 17, 2025. https://investor.incyte.com/news-releases/news-release-details/incyte-announces-new-24-week-phase-3-data-stop-hs-clinical-trial.