Allergan and Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently tested a drug called sarecycline for treatment of severe acne.
The medicine is a tetracycline-derived antibiotic that is taken orally, and the best part is, it only has to be taken once a day.
The drug has many anti-inflammatory properties, which lead researchers to believe it may help patients who have inflammatory acne lesions, a common symptom of those with severe acne.
To test the antibiotic, researchers conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled, and randomized study. Half of the patients received sarecycline and half of the patients received a placebo—once a day, every day, for 12 weeks.
Results were nothing but positive.
The drug was found to be safe and much more effective than the placebo in reducing inflammatory lesions. The saracycline group also had a low dropout rate. Side effects (like headache and nausea) were minimal and expected.
The plan is to submit the drug to the FDA for approval in the second half of 2017.
People are so excited about the drug’s potential. Not only is it both an antibiotic and an anti-inflammatory, but it’s also believed that, when combined with other medications, it could significantly improve the lives of those with moderate or severe acne.
You can read more about these two trials and their results on the ModernMedicine Network by clicking here!
