OX40/OX40 Ligand Target Offers Broader Acting Therapy for Atopic Dermatitis, With Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD

At the 2025 American College of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting in Orlando, HCPLive spoke with Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, from Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, on his upcoming presentation, “7 for 11: Hot Therapeutic Targets in Allergy and Immunology.”1 He will specifically present on OX40/OX40L, otherwise known as the interaction between the costimulatory TNF receptor OX40 and its ligand, OX40L, and its role in atopic diseases.2

“In atopic dermatitis, we've largely had therapies that target downstream elements of inflammation, so this includes cytokines like IL-4 and IL-13, IL-31 and intracellular signaling pathways like the JAK stat pathway, but a challenge has always been that atopic dermatitis is a fairly immunologic heterogeneous disease, meaning that there isn't simply a single cytokine or 2 cytokines that are responsible for the majority of the disease state,” Chovatiya said. “Simply targeting 1 or 2 cytokines may not be enough.”

He continued that OX40 and OX40 ligand activate various types of T-cells. By inhibiting the interaction, it may be possible to stop at the source of the production of T-cells that are driving the disease.

“In many ways, it's a broader acting therapy, but a specifically broader acting therapy that really tends to target this whole compartment of T-cell mediated inflammation,” Chovatiya continued.

Phase 2 and 3 trials have studied this OX40/OX40 ligand target. Therapies investigated include rocatinlimab, an antibody that binds to the OX40 receptor on T cells, and amlitelimab, an antibody that binds to the OX40 ligand on activated antigen-presenting cells. 3,4

“One of the most compelling data we had from earlier phase studies for both of these molecules were that, in addition to patients being able to achieve clinically relevant improvement in the signs and symptoms of their disease, there seemed to be fairly long lasting efficacy, in the sense that patients seem to be able to achieve relatively stable responses even when they are withdrawn from therapy,” Chovatiya said. “The logic here was that perhaps these drugs were in some way modifying elements of the disease at an immunologic level…this has always been one of the holy grails for disease states like atopic dermatitis…. We’ve now been paying very close attention to some of the initial phase 3 readouts to see if this is really going to hold up in a larger-scale clinical trial. Thus far, what we found is that the OX40 and OX40 ligand targeting molecules work.”

Relevant disclosures for Chovatiya include 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.

References

1. Chovatiya R. 7 for 11: Hot Therapeutic Targets in Allergy and Immunology (OX40/OX40L). Presented at ACAAI 2025 in Orlando on Saturday, November 6, 2025.

2. Curti BD, Kovacsovics-Bankowski M, Morris N, et al. OX40 is a potent immune-stimulating target in late-stage cancer patients. Cancer Res. 2013;73(24):7189-7198. doi:10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-12-4174

3. Amgen And Kyowa Kirin Announce Top-Line Results from Rocatinlimab Phase 3 Ascend Long-Term Extension Study in Adults With Moderate To Severe Atopic Dermatitis. Amgen. Amgen. Published 2020. https://www.amgen.com/newsroom/press-releases/2025/09/amgen-and-kyowa-kirin-announce-top-line-results-from-rocatinlimab-phase-3-ascend-long-term-extension-study-in-adults-with-moderate-to-severe-atopic-dermatitis

4. Press Release: Sanofi’s amlitelimab met all primary and key secondary endpoints in the COAST 1 phase 3 study in adults and adolescents with atopic dermatitis. Sanofi.com. Published 2025. https://www.sanofi.com/en/media-room/press-releases/2025/2025-09-04-05-00-00-3144170