Maui Derm 2026 Presentation Highlights Icotrokinra, Other New Dermatology Drugs

A presentation was given during the 2026 Maui Derm Hawaii conference titled ‘New Drugs and Therapies in 2026,’ with 2 speakers discussing developments related to dermatologic disease management and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approvals.1

The talk was given by Neal Bhatia, MD, director of clinical dermatology at Therapeutics Clinical Research, and Ted Rosen, MD, professor of dermatology at Baylor College of Medicine. Bhatia and Rosen provided several key insights into the therapeutic armamentarium for clinicians in the dermatology space, covering drugs for diseases such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and more.

“In 2025, we've had psoriasis, we've had foam, and now we have cream for atopic itch, ages 2 - 5, which is really pretty exciting,” Bhatia explained. “I think the opportunity is to treat these kids without steroids, to look for areas of breakthrough in biologics, to think about hard-to-treat areas like the eyelids.”

In 1 example of a treatment highlighted in the talk, Bhatia and Rosen highlighted the FDA approval of roflumilast cream 0.05% for mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis in children aged 2 - 5 years. Early in the discussion, Bhatia emphasized the usefulness of roflumilast foam for atopic dermatitis, especially on the scalp. Other key points highlighted in Bhatia and Rosen’s talk included treating hives.

Bhatia used an example in his slideshow of a patient with angioedema and mucosal swelling. With an abrupt onset of hives, Bhatia explained, one must have the ability to work with such patients quickly. Dupilumab is an option approved for patients 18 years and older. Remibrutinib, he noted, provides these same patients with an alternative option, with research demonstrating significant reductions in urticaria scores.

“One more quick comment about chronic spontaneous urticaria here: remember that both drugs we just mentioned, dupilumab and remibrutinib, were studied while the patients were still on their optimized dose of antihistamines,” Rosen explained. “So it's not instead of, it's in addition to.”

Rosen later pointed to an example on his slideshow of 2 patients with severe bullous pemphigoid. An easy and safe option for these patients, other than steroids, rituximab, or mycophenolate, was described as necessary. Rosen described his treatment of these 2 patients as the same dose as is used for adults with eczema, including a loading dose of 600 milligrams and 300 milligrams every 2 weeks.

However, these patients were given oral steroids to initially clear them, before the steroids were tapered, and then dupilumab was used at Week 16. Between Weeks 16 and 36, 20% clearance was noted among these patients. Rosen then pointed to the results of a different study showing almost 96% of patients having virtually complete remission over a year.

“If you like the idea of using something other than steroids or immunosuppressives, this is a good option,” Rosen said. “But you still start with steroids, you taper the steroids, and you continue the dupilumab on. Certainly, it reduces the total amount of steroids patients are exposed to.”

In terms of up-and-coming treatments for psoriasis, an example Bhatia and Rosen pointed to was icotrokinra, a new oral interleukin (IL)-23 receptor blocker. The drug showed efficacy in recent clinical trial research. The oral IL-23 receptor blocker for moderate to severe psoriasis went against placebo and deucravacitinib. In this research, comparing icotrokinra to deucravacitib for ‘Clear’ or ‘Almost Clear’ scores, icotrokinra did well.

For any additional news on recent trial research for different dermatologic disease states, view updates to coverage of the 2026 Maui Derm conference.

The quotes contained in this summary were edited for clarity.

Disclosures: Bhatia has previously disclosed affiliations with AbbVie, Almirall, Arcutis, Advanced Derm Solutions, Amytrx, Beiersdorf, Biofrontera, BMS, BI, Cara Therapeutics, Castle, Dermavant, Ferndale, Foamix, Galderma, Incyte, ISDIN, J&J, La Roche-Posay, LEO, Lilly, Mindera, Novartis, Ortho, Pfizer, Procter & Gamble, Regeneron, Sanofi, Skinfix, Soligenix, SunPharma, Verrica Pharmaceuticals, and Zerigo Health.

References

1. Bhatia N, Rosen T. New Drugs and Therapies in 2026. Presented at: Maui Derm Hawaii 2026; January 25-29, 2026; Maui, Hawaii.

2. Bissonnette R, Soung J, Lebwohl MG, et al. Oral Icotrokinra for Plaque Psoriasis in Adults and Adolescents. N Engl J Med. 2025 Nov 6;393(18):1784-1795. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa2504187. PMID: 41191940.