HQ Team
July 24, 2023: US-based Verrica Pharmaceuticals, a dermatology therapeutics company, has got FDA approval for a drug to treat a contagious viral skin disease, the company announced.
The USFDA gave its nod for Ycanth to treat molluscum contagiosum (molluscum) in adult and pediatric patients two years of age and older, according to a Verrica statement.
Molluscum is caused by a pox virus that produces distinctive raised, skin-toned-to-pink-colored lesions that can cause pain, inflammation, itching, and bacterial infection.
It is transmitted through direct skin-to-skin contact or through fomites (objects that carry the disease like toys, towels, or wet surfaces) and can spread to other parts of the body or to other people, including children.
Children get the disease from households, schools, swimming pools, and other extra-curricular settings.
Six million affected in US
The lesions can be found in most areas of the body and may carry substantial social stigma. Without treatment, molluscum can last for an average of 13 months, sometimes up to several years.
About six million people get affected in the US yearly, according to Verrica estimates.
Ycanth is used topically and it is not for oral, mucosal, or ophthalmic use. During clinical trials, local skin reactions at the application site were observed in 97% of subjects treated with Ycanth. Local skin reactions included vesiculation, pruritus, pain, discoloration, and erythema.
Oral ingestion of cantharidin has resulted in renal failure, blistering and severe damage to the gastrointestinal tract, coagulopathy, seizures, and flaccid paralysis.
The condition is one of the largest unmet needs in medical dermatology, said Ted White, Verrica’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “We look forward to working with healthcare providers to give patients and caregivers access to Ycanth by September 2023.”
Verruca is also developing drugs to treat common warts and external genital warts, two of the other largest unmet needs in medical dermatology.
The Pennsylvania-based company has a global license pact with Lytix Biopharma AS to develop and commercialize a drug for dermatologic oncology conditions.
