Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., of Tokyo, said data from its global phase II XCIMA study in atopic dermatitis were published in The New England Journal of Medicine, showing that nemolizumab, an anti-interleukin-31 receptor A antibody, resulted in significant improvement of the change in pruritus visual analogue scale at 12 weeks compared to placebo, hitting the primary endpoint. Patients in the nemolizumab group had a score of -43.7 percent for the 0.1 mg/kg dose, -59.8 percent for the 0.5 mg/kg dose and -63.1 percent for the 2 mg/kg dose vs. 20.9 percent for placebo (p < 0.01 for all comparisons). The study randomized 264 patients.