Coal tar-based product for treatment of atopic dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis is a very common chronic inflammatory skin disorder affecting 1 in 5 children and over 400.000 adults in the Dutch population. The most bothersome symptom of this disease is the intense itch that patients experience causing sleepless nights and an impaired quality of life of patients and parents. Most of the current therapies for AD target the immune system, whereas emollients are used as an adjuvant to improve skin barrier function. Topical application of coal tar has been used to treat skin diseases for more than 2000 years is an effective therapy for reducing skin inflammation and itch while improving the skin barrier function. Unfortunately, its use is declining and often considered obsolete due to the unfavorable cosmetic profile and (unproven) safety concerns.  

This project aims to develop a coal tar-based product for treatment of atopic dermatitis (AD) that can be brought to the market within 4 to 5 years from now. This new product should have superior qualities over existing coal tar preparations, with respect to smell, color and safety profile, whilst preserving its efficacy. Clearly this is both of commercial interest (huge market opportunities) and societal interest, as there is a considerable unmet medical need, particularly for the treatment of children with AD. This main objective is therefore of common interest to the private partner (Fagron B.V.) and the knowledge center (Radboudumc). An additional objective for the knowledge center is to address scientific questions to generate knowledge that can be translated into clinical applications.

The project can therefore be regarded as a hybrid of experimental development, industrial research and fundamental research and resulted in the identification of the active ingredients in coal tar. Unfortunately, the extreme complex composition and sticky nature (high viscosity) of coal tar hampered the development of a new coal tar-based product. The results of our fundamental research clearly steer towards a great potential of newly developed drugs that target the same receptor as coal tar. Future research is therefore aimed to investigate if these new drugs are effective and safe to use for the treatment of AD patients.