High long-term efficacy of LEO Pharma's Picato in actinic keratosis confirmed

New data from the international FIELD Study Repeat presented today at the 15th World Congress of Cancers of the Skin (WCCS) in Edinburgh, Scotland, demonstrate initial treatment with Picato(ingenol mebutate gel) 0.015% is efficacious in treating actinic keratoses (AK) and, when followed by a repeat cycle for persistent and newly emerging AKs, this efficacy is further increased. The data also confirm two treatment cycles of Picato are well tolerated by patients.

Picato is a drug from independent Danish drugmaker LEO Pharma and received US Food and Drug Administration approval in 2012 and in Europe in November of that year (The Pharma Letter January 29, 2012). The company, which is foundation owned, does not reveal sales figures for its products.

These findings are significant as AK is a chronic disease. The presence of underlying sub-clinical (invisible) lesions can lead to recurrence of original AKs and the development of new lesions over time, which normally require repeat treatment. The FIELD Study Repeat followed patients over a one-year-period, confirming both the short and in particular the long-term benefits when treating once or twice of Picato - with an overall 50% complete clearance of all AK lesions after one year.