a first authorized treatment for patients with vitiligo available in France

Patients suffering from vitiligo, an autoimmune disease which causes progressive depigmentation of the skin, will be able to benefit from a first authorized treatment reimbursed by Health Insurance, according to a decree published Wednesday January 31 in the Official Journal. This treatment concerns Opzelura cream, developed by the American laboratory Incyte Biosciences, to treat “non-segmental vitiligo with facial involvement in adults and adolescents over 12 years old”, according to the text. The treatment is already available in the United States, Germany and Austria.

Opzelura received marketing authorization valid in the European Union in April. In October 2023, the High Authority for Health issued a favorable opinion for its reimbursement. The pharmaceutical company then turned to the Ministry of Health to ask not to have to wait for price negotiation. An express route which results from the so-called device of“direct access”. This is an experimental measure included in the Social Security financing law since 2022, the aim of which is that certain medicines reach French patients more quickly.

The French Vitiligo Association estimates that around 1 to 2% of the world’s population is affected by this very visible chronic disease which can lead to “significant alteration in the quality of life, in relationships with others and with oneself”. More than a million people in France are affected by this pathology, according to Incyte Biosciences, which employs 2,500 employees, including 50 in France.