News

Pain common, but hard to manage, in RDEB: Study

Pain is a frequent problem for people with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), and available medications are often not sufficient to control it, a study reported. “Pain is an almost universal symptom across all types of RDEB,” the researchers wrote, noting that worse pain “generally correlates with worse quality…

Relief Therapeutics to get EU patent for antimicrobial spray for EB

RLF-TD011, an antimicrobial spray, will be granted European Union patent coverage for wound treatment in people with epidermolysis bullosa (EB). The Relief Therapeutics treatment contains highly pure hypochlorous acid, a chemical with antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory properties. RLF-TD011 is marketed as Nexodyn for the management of chronic and acute…

Blocking enzyme shows promise as EBA treatment strategy

Treatment with SNT-6935, an experimental compound that acts to reduce the activity of an enzyme that breaks down proteins, reduced skin damage in a lab model of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA), a study showed. The study, “Granzyme B inhibition reduces autoantibody-induced dermal–epidermal separation in an ex…

3 types of molecules found to boost collagen levels in RDEB cells

Three types of molecules were found to support the production of collagen VII (C7) in patient-derived cell models of recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB), according to a recent study. These compounds acted in RDEB caused by premature termination codon (PTC) mutations that produce a shorter, non-functional version of C7,…

ELX-02 reverses impact of nonsense mutations in RDEB, JEB cells

The experimental therapy ELX-02 reversed the effect of nonsense mutations in skin cells derived from people with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (RDEB) and junctional epidermolysis bullosa (JEB), a study found. Nonsense mutations in genes result in shorter, non-functional proteins, which commonly occur in RDEB and JEB patients, and…

JAK inhibitors seen to work better than dupilumab for EBP itching

Treatment with Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors — medications such as upadacitinib and baricitinib — was seen to work better than dupilumab at easing itching and skin lesions in people with epidermolysis bullosa pruriginosa (EBP) in a small real-world study. Specifically, among five patients with known itch scores receiving dupilumab,…

Dupilumab seen to heal blisters in epidermolysis bullosa acquisita

Treatment with dupilumab, an injection therapy approved for certain inflammatory disorders, was found to completely heal blistering in a woman in Germany with epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA), a case report describes. The woman’s healing with dupilumab came after “different systemic treatments … remained ineffective,” the researchers wrote. Indeed, the patient…

New platform allows gene-edited stem cell therapies for DEB

Scientists have devised a new, more efficient method to create gene-edited stem cell therapies for dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa (DEB). “Solving critical bottlenecks, we refine a practical and simplified … protocol for the generation of genetically corrected … skin grafts … for the long-term healing of DEB patient wounds,” the…

Rituximab treatment may be safe, effective for EBA: Review study

About three-quarters of people with epidermolysis bullosa acquisita (EBA) treated with rituximab experienced disease remission, according to a review study. Almost all patients responded to treatment. Overall, nearly 40% of rituximab-treated patients experienced relapses — when symptoms return after a period of improvement — over almost two…