NEW CAMPAIGN FROM ARCUTIS AIMS TO EXPOSE THE IMPACT OF PSORIASIS ON PHYSICAL, MENTAL, AND EMOTIONAL WELLBEING
Launched during Psoriasis Action Month, campaign provides tips and tools for speaking about psoriasis with healthcare providers, family, and friends
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Aug. 30, 2022 – Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ: ARQT) today announced the launch of an educational campaign designed to raise awareness about the physical and emotional impact of plaque psoriasis and empower those living with the disease to have open, honest conversations with their healthcare providers, family, and friends. The campaign, called Expose Psoriasis, features expert advice from a leading dermatologist and the personal story and tips from an award-winning writer and psoriasis patient advocate.
“Psoriasis can have a significant impact on all aspects of life, and can affect people in ways that may be unexpected, physically, mentally, and emotionally1,” said Frank Watanabe, President and CEO of Arcutis. “Unfortunately, those with psoriasis may have difficulty discussing the full impact of their disease with their loved ones, or even their dermatology specialists, due to stigma, embarrassment, or possibly not realizing how psoriasis may be affecting them. Through Expose Psoriasis, Arcutis hopes to encourage these conversations so people with psoriasis are able to receive the appropriate treatment, care, and support that they need.”
Expose Psoriasis illuminates how plaque psoriasis may significantly impact many aspects of daily life, including day-to-day decisions such as what to wear, participation in social activities, and interpersonal relationships. The campaign also aims to raise awareness that symptoms may occur anywhere on the body, including knees, elbows, torso, and sensitive places like the face, genitals, and areas of skin-to-skin contact (intertriginous areas), such as armpits, under the breasts, stomach folds, between the buttocks, and in the groin area.
Psoriasis occurring on the genitals and in intertriginous areas may look different compared to plaques on other areas of the body, and therefore may be challenging to recognize or diagnose.2 A recent survey conducted by The Harris Poll found that 2 in 5 survey respondents with psoriasis in intertriginous areas did not recognize they had intertriginous psoriasis until they saw pictures of intertriginous plaques.3
“People who experience psoriasis in more private parts of the body, such as on the genitals or intertriginous areas, may feel reluctant or embarrassed to show their dermatology specialist these areas. Additionally, since most people typically think a dermatology visit is only for discussing the physical aspects of their skin, those with psoriasis may not realize that they should be sharing how the disease is impacting their emotional and mental wellbeing,” explained Tina Bhutani, M.D., leading dermatologist and co-director UCSF Psoriasis and Skin Treatment Center. “It’s so important for people to tell their healthcare providers about all the ways psoriasis impacts them because there are many treatment options and resources available that can help. Understanding the full impact of the disease allows dermatology specialists to determine the best course of action to care for our patients.”
Expose Psoriasis also addresses the value of having a support network and provides talking points that people can use to discuss their disease with their loved ones.
“Psoriasis can have an impact on your relationships with others, and talking about your symptoms with loved ones can be difficult, but it’s so important to do so,” explained Sabrina Skiles, award-winning writer and psoriasis patient advocate. “Remember, your family and friends are there to support you, not judge you. By sharing your story with them and educating them about the disease, you are normalizing the topic and strengthening your support network.”
People interested in testing their knowledge about psoriasis can take this interactive quiz here. For more information about this initiative, visit www.ExposePsoriasis.com.
About Psoriasis
Psoriasis is a common, non-contagious, immune-mediated skin disease that affects approximately nine million people in the United States.4 Individuals with psoriasis typically develop “plaques,” or raised, red areas of skin covered with a silver or white layer of dead skin cells. The clinical presentation of plaques in people with diverse skin tones may have more grayish, purplish, or brownish tones. Psoriatic plaques are often itchy and sometimes painful and can appear on any area of the body. Plaques in certain anatomical areas present unique treatment challenges, including the face, elbows and knees, scalp, and intertriginous areas (where two skin areas may touch or rub together).
About Arcutis
Arcutis Biotherapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ARQT) is a medical dermatology company that champions meaningful innovation to address the urgent needs of individuals living with immune-mediated dermatological diseases and conditions. With a commitment to solving the most persistent patient challenges in dermatology, Arcutis harnesses our unique dermatology development platform coupled with our dermatology expertise to build differentiated therapies against biologically validated targets. Arcutis’ dermatology development platform includes a robust pipeline with multiple clinical programs for a range of inflammatory dermatological conditions including scalp psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and seborrheic dermatitis. For more information, visit www.arcutis.com or follow Arcutis on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains "forward-looking" statements, including, among others, statements regarding the potential for roflumilast to revolutionize the standard of care in plaque psoriasis and other inflammatory dermatological conditions. These statements involve substantial known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, levels of activity, performance, or achievements to be materially different from the information expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements and you should not place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results to differ include risks inherent in the clinical development process and regulatory approval process, the timing of regulatory filings, and our ability to defend our intellectual property. For a further description of the risks and uncertainties applicable to our business, see the "Risk Factors" section of our Form 10-K filed with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on February 22, 2022, as amended, as well as any subsequent filings with the SEC. We undertake no obligation to revise or update information herein to reflect events or circumstances in the future, even if new information becomes available. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement, which is made under the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Contacts:
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Amanda Sheldon, Head of Corporate Communications
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Investors
Eric McIntyre, Head of Investor Relations
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1 Bhosle, M.J., Kulkarni, A., Feldman, S.R. et al. Quality of life in patients with psoriasis. Health Qual Life Outcomes 4, 35 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1186/1477-7525-4-35.
2 Merola JF, Qureshi A, Husni ME. Underdiagnosed and undertreated psoriasis: nuances of treating psoriasis affecting the scalp, face, intertriginous areas, genitals, hands, feet, and nails. Dermatol Ther. 2018;31(3):e12589. doi:10.1111/dth.12589.
3 Data on file. Arcutis Biotherapeutics, 2021.
4 Data on file. Arcutis Biotherapeutics, 2022.