A convenient, once-daily fixed combination of 0.3% adapalene plus 2.5% benzoyl peroxide gel significantly improved lesion counts over the course of 12 weeks in patients aged 12 years and older with moderate or severe acne.
Investigators enrolled just over 500 patients from 31 sites in the United States and Canada. About half of patients were rated as having severe acne and half as having moderate acne on the investigator’s global assessment (IGA) scale, Dr. Linda F. Stein Gold said at the Hawaii Dermatology Seminar provided by Global Academy for Medical Education/Skin Disease Education Foundation.
Dr. Linda F. Stein Gold
Patients were randomized to three treatment groups: adapalene 0.3%/benzoyl peroxide 2.5% gel (A-BPO-0.3%), adapalene 0.1%/benzoyl peroxide 2.5% (A-BPO-0.1%), or vehicle. Patients in each group had approximately the same total lesion count, and about half in each group had truncal acne lesions, said Dr. Stein Gold, director of clinical research in the department of dermatology at Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit.
Patients were instructed to use their study medications once daily at night after washing with a provided cleanser. They were provided with a standardized moisturizer and cleaners.
Treatment with A-BPO-0.3% was judged as successful (IGA of 1 or almost clear) at 12 weeks in 31% of patients with severe acne. By contrast, 13.3% of patients with severe acne were judged as almost clear. In patients with severe acne, A-BPO-1% was not statistically superior to vehicle (J Drugs Dermatol. 2015 Dec 1;14[12]:1427-35).
“Topical treatment is still the cornerstone of acne therapy, and it is great to have additional options, especially for our more severe acne patients,” Dr. Stein Gold said.
Patients noted dryness, scaling, erythema, and stinging/burning with A-BPO-0.3%, especially between weeks 1 and 2.
Dr. Stein Gold disclosed that she serves as a consultant and scientific advisory board member to Galderma, which markets A-BPO-0.3% as Epiduo Forte.
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