Patient satisfaction with hair regrowth in a study of ritlecitinib: a plain language summary

What is this summary about? Alopecia areata (‘AA’ for short) is an autoimmune disease that causes a person to lose their hair. Ritlecitinib is a medication approved to treat severe AA. It blocks parts of the body’s defense system that plays a role in causing hair loss. In this study, patients with AA in the ALLEGRO phase 2b/3 study (also known as ALLEGRO-2b/3) were asked how they felt about their hair growth (meaning hair that grew back). This was done to understand how ritlecitinib, the study drug, affected their satisfaction. Patients reported how they felt by answering a questionnaire. This questionnaire is the Patient Satisfaction with Hair Growth tool. Patients took ritlecitinib for 12 months (48 weeks) or took a placebo, a pill that looks the same but has no medicine, for 6 months (24 weeks). After 6 months, patients who took placebo then took ritlecitinib for another 6 months. What were the results? This study showed that more patients who took ritlecitinib were satisfied with their overall hair growth and the amount and quality of their hair growth after 24 weeks than patients taking placebo. Patients who took placebo reported high dissatisfaction with their hair growth at Week 24. More patients who switched from placebo to ritlecitinib were satisfied with their hair regrowth at Week 48 than at Week 24. After 48 weeks, the number of patients who were satisfied with their hair growth was similar to or larger than the number of patients satisfied with their hair growth after 24 weeks. There was agreement between the satisfaction patients reported with their hair growth and their improvement in hair growth reported by doctors involved in the study. What do the results mean? Adult and adolescent patients who took ritlecitinib reported high levels of satisfaction with their hair growth, which continued over time to Week 48. Patients’ reported satisfaction with their hair growth was consistent with the amount of scalp hair growth reported by doctors. This means patients were more satisfied as they grew more hair.