CHMP positive for Olumiant to treat atopic dermatitis. Eli Lilly

Eli Lilly and Company and Incyte announced that the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) has issued a positive opinion for baricitinib for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD) who are candidates for systemic therapy. This opinion marks the first step toward European regulatory approval for baricitinib (marketed as Olumiant) for patients with AD. If approved, baricitinib would become the first JAK inhibitor indicated to help treat patients with AD. The CHMP opinion is now referred for action to the European Commission, which grants approval in the European Union. A final decision is expected from the European Commission in the next one-two months. The positive opinion was based on Lilly's Phase III BREEZE-AD clinical development program for baricitinib evaluating the medicine's potential to treat AD including BREEZE-AD1 and BREEZE-AD2, monotherapy studies investigating the efficacy and safety of baricitinib in moderate to severe AD patients; BREEZE-AD4, a study evaluating the efficacy and safety of baricitinib in combination with topical corticosteroids in patients with moderate to severe AD who have failed or who are intolerant to, or have contraindications to cyclosporine; and BREEZE-AD7, a study evaluating the efficacy and safety of baricitinib in combination with topical corticosteroids in patients with moderate to severe AD.