A new drug may help reverse hair loss in people with alopecia.
• The FDA approved a new drug Ritlecitinib, sold under the brand name, Litfulo, to treat severe alopecia areata. It will be available in the coming weeks.
• This is the first drug that is approved to be safe for alopecia patients ages 12 and older.
• Litfulo works by blocking the inflammatory signals that cause hair loss.
The FDA has now approved a new drug to treat hair loss caused by alopecia.
On June 23, the FDA announced approval for ritlecitinib, sold under the brand name Litfulo, a drug used to treat severe alopecia areata. The medicine has been approved for people 12 years and up. Alopecia areata is an autoimmune disease that results in hair loss. This disease affects as many as 6.7 million people in the U.S.
Last year the FDA approved the first treatment for severe alopecia areata called baricitinib, under the brand name Olumiant. That drug works by targeting the JAK system pathway, which is part of the immune system associated with the development of alopecia.
One issue with this treatment is that it was only for adults. Now researchers have continued to examine other treatments and recently discovered the effectiveness of the drug Litfulo. Litfulo will be available for consumers “in the coming weeks,” Pfizer reported in a news release. And the cost for patients will depend on individual health care plans.