"The disease is characterized by an itching oozing rash that can cover almost all of the skin. The constant itch to say nothing of the disfigurement can be so unbearable that many patients consider suicide. There has never been a safe and effective treatment. On Saturday the results of two large clinical trials of a new drug offered hope to the estimated . million adult Americans with an uncontrolled moderatetosevere form of the disease atopic dermatitis which is a type of eczema. Most patients who got the active drug dupilumab instead of a placebo reported that the itching began to wane within two weeks and was gone in a few months as their skin began to clear. Nearly  percent of participants getting the drug saw all or almost all of their rash disappear. For some relief was almost instantaneous. I knew immediately I was on the drug and not the placebo said Daniela Velasco an event planner in Playa del Carmen Mexico. Within a couple of weeks the ugly red rash that had covered  percent of her body was almost gone. Even better she said for the first time I didnt feel any itch at all. Before entering the trial Mrs. Velasco  had seen  doctors about the disease and tried dozens of drugs and treatments to no avail. To participate in the study she spent more than  to fly to Mount Sinai in New York on a regular basis and stay in hotels. She realized she might get a placebo but also knew that when the study ended everyone including the placebo patients would be able get the drug if the trial was successful. The drug blocks two specific molecules of the immune system that are overproduced in patients with this and some other allergic diseases. The only side effects were a slight increase in conjunctivitis an inflammation of the outer membrane of the eye and swelling at the injection site. This is a landmark study said Dr. Mark Boguniewicz an atopic dermatitis expert at National Jewish Health and the University of Colorado School of Medicine who was not involved with the study. For us in atopic dermatitis we are entering a new era. The studies http lasting  weeks and involving nearly  people were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Daniela Velascos arms left and top and legs below right before the treatment with dupilumab.CreditEmma GuttmanYassky Daniela Velascos arms left and top and legs below right before the treatment with dupilumab.CreditEmma GuttmanYassky Dr. George D. Yancopoulos the president and chief scientific officer at Regeneron which in partnership with Sanofi makes the drug said he expects the Food and Drug Administration to rule on dupilumab by March  . The drugs brand name will be Dupixent. The agency has given the drug breakthrough status httpnewsroom.regeneron.comreleasedetail.cfmReleaseID which provides expedited development and review of drugs for serious or lifethreatening diseases. Editors Picks Dr. Yancopoulos declined to speculate on dupilumabs price saying only that it will be consistent with the value of the drug. It is a biologic the most expensive type of drug and is injected every two weeks. Atopic dermatitis experts said they have longed for a safe and highly effective treatment. In desperation some prescribed other drugs offlabel like powerful immunosuppressants or high doses of steroids which are far from ideal because even if they helped their side effects can be severe  kidney failure with immunosuppressants bone loss and even psychotic breaks with highdose steroids. Patients are miserable Dr. Boguniewicz said. Our patients and families havent slept through the night not for days or weeks but for months or years. Many doctors provide no treatments other than perhaps creams and ointments that do not stop the itching or soothe the red and weeping rash said Dr. Jonathan I. Silverberg of Northwestern Universitys Feinberg School of Medicine and a principal investigator in one of the studies. Many sufferers can relate to the plight of the defense lawyer played by John Turturro in the HBO series The Night Of http He suffers from http atopic dermatitis that started on his legs and his feet and later spread to his neck and head. Like so many patients he tries treatment after treatment  bleach baths covering the rash in Crisco and wrapping it with plastic wrap steroids Chinese medicine. He scratches it with chopsticks and disgusts people near him. But all to no avail. Such experiences explain the excitement over the new drug although researchers say they would like to see longerterm data. What we are seeing are some really impressive efficacy numbers Dr. Silverberg said. But efficacy alone is not enough. It is the safety profile that is the real key. Everything we are seeing really looks great. Sign up for Science Times Well bring you stories that capture the wonders of the human body nature and the cosmos. Dr. Jon M. Hanifin a professor of dermatology at Oregon Health and Science University and founder of the National Eczema Association agreed. While not a principal investigator in the study Dr. Hanifin did oversee the care of some patients enrolled in it. Herb Bull at a friends home in Westfield N.J. He said the new drug saved his life.CreditBryan Anselm for The New York Times Herb Bull at a friends home in Westfield N.J. He said the new drug saved his life.CreditBryan Anselm for The New York Times Its wonderful he said. We walk in the room and patients are smiling. These patients are the worst of the worst. Their life was destroyed. Dr. Yancopoulos was inspired in part to develop the drug because his father had severe atopic dermatitis which he developed shortly after he got lung cancer at . More so than the cancer and the chemo this rash and its horrible itch started dominating his life and ruining its quality Dr. Yancopoulos said. Heres a guy with Stage IIIB lung cancer  basically a death sentence  and he is more concerned and miserable about his skin and his itch. One participant in the trial Lisa Tannebaum a yearold harpist in Stamford Conn. was so thrilled that she wrote a letter to Regeneron suggesting they use her before and after photographs in advertisements. She developed a severe form of the disease  years ago and tried everything imaginable in conventional and alternative medicine without relief  specialized diets immunosuppressive drugs special clothing bleach baths. She even had the gold fillings removed from her teeth on the theory that they may be causing an allergic response but to no avail. It was like every day I had poison ivy and fire ants on myself she said. You dont sleep at all. You cant go out you have staph infections all the time because the skins protective barrier is broken by the rash. I couldnt drive my kids to school because the itching was so bad I couldnt put my hands on the steering wheel. Now she is performing again and will be playing her harp at Carnegie Hall on Oct.  https Herb Bull  a retired Merck scientist in Westfield N.J. had mild atopic dermatitis for years until three years ago when it took a turn for the worse. The rash covered his entire body. Sleep was impossible itching a constant torment. Even walking was difficult. Advertisement He had weeping lesions all over his body said his doctor Dr. Emma GuttmanYassky a principal investigator in the trial and professor of dermatology and immunology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. I thought I might as well give up and die Mr. Bull said. It took months for the drug to work he said but when it did the change was miraculous. His rash and the itching went away. The new drug Mr. Bull said saved my life."