On 26 July 2024, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved deuruxolitinib (brand name LEQSELVI™) for the treatment of severe alopecia areata in adults, marking the third FDA-approved treatment for the condition in as many years.

Deuruxolitinib belongs to a class of medications known as Janus Kinase (JAK) inhibitors. The other two FDA-approved treatments for severe alopecia areata, bariticinib and ritlecitinib, are also JAK inhibitors.  

Alopecia UK's CEO Sue Schilling said: 

"It is exciting to hear that a further treatment has been approved by the FDA in the USA, and I hope that we will see deuruxolitinib become a further treatment for people with severe alopecia areata in the UK in the future. We will watch with interest. I am proud of Alopecia UK's recent work to advocate for new treatment pathways, and we will continue to assist in the work required to ensure the decision makers understand why people with alopecia deserve access to treatments.

We will, of course, also continue our work to provide information to on how to live well with alopecia, so that those who either cannot have treatment, are unsuccessful with treatment, or choose not to have treatment, are empowered with confidence. This work is just as important to us as our work to advocate for fairer treatment pathways."

For medicines to be approved for use in the UK, they need to receive marketing authorisation from the Medicines & Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). Currently, deuruxolitinib has not received MHRA authorisation. 

For medicines to be approved for use by the NHS, they need to be approved by NICE (England, Wales and NI) and SMC (Scotland). This involved a technology appraisal process, as like the ones supported by Alopecia UK for baricitinib and ritlecitinib. You may recall that baricitinib did not receive NICE or SMC approval, whilst ritlecitinib was recommended for routine NHS commissioning by both organisations. (You can find our latest ritlecitinib update here). Alopecia UK is not currently aware of the plans or timescales for deuroxolitinib to go through any technology appraisal in the UK. 

We will continue to monitor events and will update our community with any news as we hear it. To ensure you receive the latest updates regarding JAK inhibitor treatments, along with other news and events from Alopecia UK, sign up for our newsletter here.  

Alopecia UK was proud to be a stakeholder in the recent NICE and SMC consultations, and we will continue to advocate for new treatments to be made available to those who need them, alongside advocating for fairer access to wigs, dermatology appointments and psychological support. 

If you would like to support our ongoing advocacy work, please consider a donation to Alopecia UK today.