Pfizer's Arthritis Drug Shows Promise As Alopecia Universalis Treatment

Researchers at Yale University announced that they were able to successfully treat a man suffering from alopecia universalis with tofacitinib citrate, an arthritis drug made by Pfizer. The researchers at Yale had their patient take 10mg of the tofacitinib citrate drug each day. After two months, hair grew on the scalp and certain areas of the face. After that, the patient was treated with 15 mg per day for the next 3 months. Eight months after the beginning of treatment, the man had grown eyebrows, eyelashes, armpit hair, and a full head of hair.

Alopecia universalis is a rare condition that leaves patients without the ability to grow hair. Currently, the disease does not have a cure, and it has never been successfully treated in a clinical setting with multiple patients. The Yale researchers believed that Pfizer’s tofacitinib citrate had the potential to treat humans with alopecia due to its limited success in treating mice with the disease. Columbia University researchers have used tofacitinib on mice in the past, but this Yale study is one of the first times the drug was shown to successfully cause hair growth in humans.

The researchers believe that tofacitinib citrate works by blocking the immune system’s signal to attack hair follicles, which occurs in patients suffering from alopecia. King believes the next step is a clinical trial with multiple patients using a cream form of tofacitinib.

Brett King, MD of dermatology and assistant professor at Yale’s School of Medicine, was the study’s senior author. “The results are exactly what we hoped for," said Brett King. "This is a huge step forward in the treatment of patients with this condition. We believe the results will be duplicated in other patients, and we plan to try.”

The results of the study were published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology.