Delgocitinib cream works wonders in chronic hand eczema

Application of delgocitinib cream results in significant improvements in itch, pain, and quality of life (QoL) at week 16 in adults with moderate to severe chronic hand eczema (CHE), as shown in the pooled analysis of the phase III DELTA-1 and -2 trials.

“These improvements were statistically significant with delgocitinib vs cream vehicle as early as week 1, demonstrating the rapid efficacy of delgocitinib across subtypes,” said lead author Dr JiaDe Yu, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, US.

Eligible patients in the DELTA-1/2 trials received treatment with delgocitinib (n=639) or cream vehicle (n=321) twice daily through week 16.

Yu and colleagues then assessed patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), including Hand Eczema Symptom Diary (HESD)-itch, HESD-pain, Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and Hand Eczema Impact Scale (HEIS) according to baseline primary aetiological and morphological CHE subtype.

At week 16, delgocitinib use showed higher responder rates for ≥4-point improvement in HESD-itch, HESD-pain, or DLQI for all CHE subtypes compared with cream vehicle. [EADV 2025, abstract 2730]

In vesicular CHE, the proportions of patients in the delgocitinib group who achieved improvements in HESD-itch, HESD-pain, and DLQI were 53.0 percent, 57.0 percent, and 72.9 percent, respectively, as opposed to 21.6 percent, 28.1 percent, and 47.1 percent of those in the cream vehicle group.

“Significantly greater response in each of these endpoints was achieved with delgocitinib vs cream vehicle (p<0.05) within 4 weeks for all subtypes, and as early week 1 for DLQI (for ICD/AD/vesicular),” Yu said. “Similar response time was observed for HEIS, with clinically meaningful responses from week 2.”

Furthermore, patients treated with delgocitinib, compared with cream vehicle, achieved greater improvements in absolute HESD-itch and HESD-pain from baseline for all subtypes by day 10. These improvements were attained as early as day 1.

“The topical Janus kinase inhibitor, delgocitinib cream, was well tolerated and significantly improved all efficacy endpoints in moderate to severe CHE in two phase III trials (DELTA-1/2),” Yu said.

Severity index

Additional results from the DELTA-1/2 trials proved the efficacy of delgocitinib, particularly in achieving clear or almost clear skin at week 16, as measured by the change in Hand Eczema Severity Index (HECSI) score from baseline. [EADV 2025, abstract 2787]

Of the patients treated with delgocitinib, 67.7 percent achieved HECSI-75 at least once, compared with 37.1 percent with cream vehicle (p<0.0001), and 69.5 percent achieved HECSI measure of clear/almost clear skin at least once, as opposed to 43.5 percent with cream vehicle (p<0.0001), at week 16.

On the other hand, less than half of delgocitinib-treated patients (42.8 percent) achieved Investigator’s Global Assessment for CHE score of 0 or 1, indicating clear or almost clear skin, relative to 18.7 percent in those who received cream vehicle.

“Statistically significant improvements with delgocitinib cream 20 mg/g over cream vehicle were seen across all signs of CHE (including erythema, scaling, vesicles, and fissures) and all regions of the hand and wrist up to week 16,” the authors said.