Subgroup Analysis of Crisaborole for Mild-to-Moderate Atopic Dermatitis in Children Aged 2 to < 18 Years.

Objectives: This post hoc analysis of pooled data from two phase III studies (AD-301: NCT02118766; AD-302: NCT02118792) explored the efficacy and safety of crisaborole ointment, 2%, a nonsteroidal phosphodiesterase 4 inhibitor, for the treatment of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis (AD) in pediatric patients (aged 2 to < 18 years) only, stratified by baseline characteristics.

Methods: Pediatric patients with mild or moderate AD per Investigator's Static Global Assessment (ISGA) and percentage of treatable body surface area (%BSA) ≥ 5 at baseline were assessed. Crisaborole or vehicle (2:1 randomization ratio) was applied twice daily for 28 days. Of the 1313 pediatric patients included in this study, 874 received crisaborole and 439 received vehicle. ISGA success was defined as clear (0) or almost clear (1) with ≥ 2-grade improvement from baseline. Efficacy and safety were stratified by age group, sex, baseline ISGA, baseline %BSA per published severity strata, and prior AD therapy.

Results: Overall, the proportions of crisaborole-treated and vehicle-treated pediatric patients with ISGA success at week 4 were 32.5 and 21.5%, respectively. ISGA success rates at day 29 (week 4) were generally higher in crisaborole-treated (21.9-38.1%) than vehicle-treated (15.7-26.9%) patients across subgroups. Rates of treatment-related application site pain were 2.4-10.1% for crisaborole-treated patients and 0.6-2.2% for vehicle-treated patients across subgroups. No new safety concerns were noted in any patient subgroup.

Conclusion: Crisaborole improved global disease severity and was reasonably well tolerated across all pediatric baseline characteristic subgroups. Application site discomfort was greater with crisaborole than with vehicle, but few patients discontinued treatment.

Gov Registration Numbers: NCT02118766; NCT02118792 (registration date: April 21, 2014).