Australian dermatologists have put together local guidance on how to deliver advanced targeted therapies to children with inflammatory skin diseases.

Their report published in the Australasian Journal of Dermatology [link here] aims to be an accessible reference tool for dermatologists on the regulatory approval, reimbursement, indications and dosing of agents including TNF inhibitors, IL-17 and IL-23 monoclonal antibodies and JAK inhibitors.

The indications include psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, alopecia areata, hidradenitis suppuritiva and chronic spontaneous urticaria.

“While there are a number of agents available for the treatment of inflammatory skin diseases in adults that are both indicated by the TGA and subsidised by the PBS, there are much fewer in the paediatric population,” said the group led by the Skin Health Institute and University of Melbourne.

They said the discrepancy between adult and paediatric prescriptions of advanced therapies may be due to several factors, including “a lack of familiarity by clinicians of which drugs are therapeutically indicated and/or reimbursed, at what age and/or weight limit(s) and the relevant dosing thereof.”

Other factors included the local availability of treatments in appropriate dose delivery systems and lack of clinical trial data to support drug approvals and subsidies for the paediatric population.

“The aim [of the guidance] is to serve as a quick point of reference for dermatologists who treat these patients,” they wrote.

See the full guidance here [link here].