FDA Approves New Treatment Olumiant for Alopecia Areata

New treatment for severe alopecia areata gets medically approved

In June, 2022, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the drug baricitinib (Olumiant) for the severe hair loss condition, alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that results in sudden and sometimes extreme hair loss.

The newly approved treatment pill, to be taken once a day, is a systemic therapy for alopecia areata, meaning it treats the entire body rather than a specific area.

Alopecia areata affects males and females in equal numbers. It may appear at any age, but most typically begins during childhood. There are approximately 2.5 million individuals in the United States affected by alopecia areata, which usually leads to bald patches on the scalp. People with severe alopecia areata may also lose body hair, eyebrows and eyelashes.

The approval of this treatment will help fulfil a significant unmet need for patients with severe alopecia areata. It should clearly be noted that Olumiant is a treatment severe alopecia areata, meaning this treatment will not be prescribed to patients who suffer with milder forms of the condition.

People who suffer from alopecia areata face significant challenges, as the disease can be very stigmatising. Alopecia areata is an extreme form of hair loss, that occurs suddenly, and progresses more quickly than most other hair loss types.

With the approval of Olumiant as a treatment for alopecia areata, there is now a once-a-day medication that can potentially help patients have significant hair growth and eyebrow and eyelash growth.

Before the FDA approval of Olumiant there has not been any FDA-approved therapies for the treatment of alopecia areata, so this latest development is a huge boost for men and women who are looking to counter their hair loss.

Nearly 2 in 5 Study Participants Had Significant Hair Regrowth

In a couple of extensive trials for the treatment, a total of 1,200 people were included. Over half of the participants were white, just over two thirds were Asian, and less than 10 percent were black. All participants in the trials had severe alopecia, defined as at least 50 percent scalp hair loss for more than six months.

The trials found that nearly 4 out of 10 of the people who took a 4 mg dose of Olumiant achieved significant scalp hair regrowth. After a year, nearly 3 in 4 of those people achieved 90 percent scalp hair coverage. Separately, more than 4 out of 10 of study participants had some regrowth in body, eyebrow and eyelash hair.

A separate group of participants that took the 2 mg dose of Olumiant, with around 2 out of 10 participants reaching the 80 percent threshold of hair growth. Around 1 in 5 participants on the 2 mg dose experienced regrowth in body and eyebrow hair, and 1 in 4 participants had regrowth in eyelash hair.

What Is Alopecia Areata?

Alopecia areata is a disease that happens when the immune system attacks hair follicles and causes the hair to fall out. Hair follicles are the structures in skin that form hair. While hair can be lost from any part of the body, alopecia areata usually affects the head and face.

In this soul-sapping condition, most people lose clumps of hair in small circular patches about the size of a golf ball, but in can be larger in some cases. For some people, this condition is temporary, and they will go onto experience hair regrowth, but for many other sufferers, alopecia areata can be a long-term thing, which requires constant treatment.

What exactly is the Olumiant treatment?

Olumiant is part of a class of drugs known as Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors. JAKs are enzymes that transmit signals for cell processes, including immune response, stimulating immune cells to produce inflammatory proteins. JAK inhibitors interrupt the transmission of the signals and reduce inflammation.

Scientists have conducted studies on various other JAK inhibitors, but Olumiant is now the first JAK inhibitor to receive FDA approval for severe alopecia areata, which is seen as a major breakthrough, and on another side note, the FDA has also approved Olumiant to treat hospitalised COVID-19 Patients.

Olumiant can be an effective treatment for alopecia areata, but it does not come cheap. For 28 days supply, you will be expected to pay in the region of 1,300 EUROS, which is around £1,100, or around 1,400 USD, for the 2 mg or 4 mg doses.

What are the negative side effects of Olumiant

Like with any medical drug, there will always be risks involved. There a some negative side effects associated with Olumiant, with some of the most common ones being:

Upper respiratory tract infections
Headaches and dizziness
Acne and skin rash
High cholesterol
Muscle damage
Urinary tract infection
Liver enzyme elevations
Inflammation of hair follicles
Tiredness and fatigue
Lower respiratory tract infections
Nausea and vomiting
Genital yeast infections
Anemia
Abdominal pain and stomach discomfort
Shingles
Weight gain

Each patient should talk to their doctor about their personal and family health history and specific risk factors when considering starting Olumiant for alopecia areata.

What is the safe alternative to Olumiant for treating alopecia areata?

Alopecia areata is not an easy condition to treat effectively, and Olumiant is the only medically approved treatment available at this time. However, despite it being the only FDA approved treatment, there are still many people, even with severe alopecia areata, who do not want to take the drug, because they would rather avoid the risk of negative side-effects.

There are not that many effective safe alternatives to Olumiant for treating alopecia areata, but there are a select few products on the market that can help.

Potent multivitamin hair supplements have shown to help minimise the shedding, and even promote the function of normal hair growth in alopecia areata patients. These safe and natural supplements are the most popular choice of non-medial hair loss treatment.

Although not designed specifically to treat alopecia areata, some multivitamin hair supplements like HR23+® can slow down the shedding (and even halt the shedding completely), and activate the hair follicles, thus encouraging hair growth.

Results tend to vary from person to person, but if alopecia areata patients are looking for a safer alternative to Olumiant, then HR23+® is certainly something that should be considered.