Subcutaneous abdominal injections of the experimental monoclonal antibody nemolizumab produced significant improvement in patients with atopic dermatitis and moderate-to-severe pruritus, a study shows.

The improvements were seen in several measures of disease severity during the 16-week, phase 3 double-blinded trial carried out in 215 Japanese volunteers, all aged 13 or older.

The antibody, given every four weeks, works against the interleukin-31 receptor A, known to be involved with pruritus and inflammation in atopic dermatitis.

Score on the 101-point Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for pruritus was the primary endpoint, the authors wrote in The New England Journal of Medicine.