Before and after images for participants who received 36 weeks of treatment for alopecia areata with baricitinib. (Credit: Provided image / Yale School of Medicine) A treatment for those with severe alopecia areata, an immune disorder that often results in hair loss, has been approved by the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration for the first time.Alopecia areata, commonly referred to as just alopecia, is an autoimmune disorder in which the body attacks its own hair follicles, causing hair to fall out and often in clumps.
The drug, called Olumiant (baricitinib), is the first FDA approval of a full-body drug for the condition, according to an agency statement.The drug was originally approved in 2018 as a treatment for those suffering from moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis and was developed by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly.
Until now, no FDA-approved treatment for the disease existed.Olumiant as a treatment for alopecia was studied in two randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials with patients who had at least 50% scalp hair loss for more than six months.