As someone with acne-prone skin, the crux of my skin-care routine isn't luxurious cleansers or innovative pimple pads. In fact, the most important step of my skin-care routine happens far away from the sink. It's opening a pillbox and taking prescription oral medication. But thanks to a new topical antibiotic treatment approved this week by the Food and Drug Administration, I, and all the other acneic skin types like me, may have slightly fewer stress dreams about leaving home without your trusty acne pills in tow.
Last week, the FDA announced the approval of Amzeeq, a topical form of the antiobiotic minocycline. Until now, minocycline has only been available as an oral antibiotic. Amzeeq, a product of parent company Foamix Pharmaceuticals, marks the first time it's been available in non-pill form.
"Minocyline is the main oral antibiotic for treating moderate and severe cystic acne," says Howard Sobel, clinical cosmetic dermatologist at Lenox Hill hospital. "Now we have Amzeeq, which delivers minocycline in a foam form. It’s exciting because it avoids the possible oral complications seen with oral minocyline and has all the same beneficial effects." Specifically, Amzeeq is indicated to treat "inflammatory lesions of non-nodular moderate to severe acne vulgaris," the medical term for common acne.
According to Shari Marchbein, clinical assistant professor of dermatology at NYU, potential side effects of the oral form include drug-induced lupus, liver toxicity, vertigo, and severe rashes. In a clinical trial of over 2,400 patients of nine years and older — one of the largest clinical acne studies to date — no treatment-related serious side effects were recorded. (The most common side effect was headache, which was reported in three percent of subjects testing Amzeeq versus two percent of subjects without.)
Minocycline has never before been available as a topical treatment due to the molecule's instability in typical topical formulations, says David Domzalski, chief executive officer of Foamix. "In Amzeeq, Foamix has leveraged its proprietary Molecule Stabilizing Technology (MST) platform to effectively deliver minocycline in a foam-based vehicle," he says. "Amzeeq now provides a new way to get the efficacy of minocycline, but in a convenient, once-daily topical application."
More options in the anti-acne arsenal are always a good thing. But Marchbein points out that antibiotics aren't a longterm, primary solution to acne. "While it's good to add an additional topical to our acne treatment armamentarium, we know that antibiotic resistance is a real and ongoing concern and threat to our overall health," she explains. Increased resistance is a concern in both oral and topical antibiotics, she says.
"As a result, many dermatologists are trying to avoid prescribing topical and oral antibiotics unless absolutely needed — in oral forms, it is important to limit use to no more than 3 months — and antibiotics should always be used in combination with a benzoyl peroxide wash or gel when used topically to help prevent resistance. "
Amzeeq is expected to be available by prescription in January 2020. Until then, here are some other ways to identify and treat acne.
More on acne:
- Aklief, a New Retinoid for Both Facial and Body Acne, Was Just Approved by the FDA
- The Ultimate Guide to Getting Rid of Acne
- 14 Best Acne Spot Treatments to Get Rid of Pimples Fast
Now see how acne treatments have evolved over the past 100 years:
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