Alphyn, a clinical-stage dermatology company developing new therapeutics for severe and prevalent skin diseases, announced on Tuesday that that the first patient has been dosed in its CLEAR-AD1 Phase 2b clinical trial of Zabalafin Hydrogel in Australia.

The trial is intended to assess the safety, efficacy and tolerability of Zabalafin Hydrogel in patients with mild and moderate atopic dermatitis (AD), and directly treat the immuno-inflammatory and bacterial causes of the disease at all stages, from AD onset to infection.

According to Alphyn, Zabalafin Hydrogel offers the potential to be the first singular comprehensive approach to uniquely and effectively directly control the itch, stop the immuno-inflammatory cascade and eliminate the bacterial cause and progression of AD.

The CLEAR-AD1 trial is a randomised, double-blinded, vehicle-controlled study enrolling patients at two different stages of AD disease progression -- one in which bacteria have contributed to the progression of AD but not yet to the infection stage, and the other in which bacteria have contributed to the progression of AD to the infection stage.