Spot On Treatment For Acne

'The Phase I results are startlingly good,' said Nigel Blackburn, director of clinical development at the company, Summit, which is organising the trial. 'Reducing sebum production has been the "holy grail" of acne treatment for 30 years, and there has been little success aside from Roaccutane which has significant side effects.'

The current 'gold standard' for acne treatment, Roaccutane can cause a wide range of side effects, including teratogenicity -- which leads to abonormalities in the unborn foetus of pregnant women, and has also recently been linked to depression and (inconclusively) to teenage suicides. The market for acne treatments is worth several billion dollars, and any new treatment developed without side effects could potentially reap blockbuster sales.

Although Summit has not disclosed the name of the drug now under evaluation, the company says it represents an entirely new class of compounds for treating acne. 'At the doses we are looking at any side effects should be mild compared with those resulting from Roaccutane treatment,' Blackburn commented.

The company hopes to begin critical Phase 2 trials to assess the efficacy of the drug in acne sufferers next year. Depending on the results, the drug could either be formulated as a stand-alone topical treatment or more likely in combination with other existing treatments. The company has already been in talks with several interested companies, who are waiting to see whether the initial results can be repeated in a larger study group.

About acne

Acne develops when too much sebum is produced in the skin and the sebaceous glands are infected by the bacterium Propionibacterium acnes. The condition affects up to 80-90% of adolescents, and approximately 30% of people continue with their acne into adult life, according to the UK Primary Care Dermatology Society. The incidence of acne at age 40 is reported to be 1% in men and 5% in women.