Weekly Cosmetic Research Analysis
This week’s cosmetic-related literature clusters around safety and efficacy advances: a Lancet phase‑3 head-to-head trial showed a topical JAK inhibitor (delgocitinib) outperforms the only approved systemic therapy for severe chronic hand eczema, several analytical and mechanistic studies flagged hidden toxicities and developmental/skin‑sensitization risks in common cosmetic ingredients, and multiple formulation/bioprocess innovations advanced sustainable sourcing and lower‑surfactant delivery s
Summary
This week’s cosmetic-related literature clusters around safety and efficacy advances: a Lancet phase‑3 head-to-head trial showed a topical JAK inhibitor (delgocitinib) outperforms the only approved systemic therapy for severe chronic hand eczema, several analytical and mechanistic studies flagged hidden toxicities and developmental/skin‑sensitization risks in common cosmetic ingredients, and multiple formulation/bioprocess innovations advanced sustainable sourcing and lower‑surfactant delivery systems. Together these studies emphasize shifting clinical practice toward safer topical alternatives, reinforce the need for product-level hazard screening and exposure assessment, and highlight industrial-scale, greener routes to active ingredients.
Selected Articles
1. Efficacy and safety of topical delgocitinib cream versus oral alitretinoin capsules in adults with severe chronic hand eczema (DELTA FORCE): a 24-week, randomised, head-to-head, phase 3 trial.
In a multicenter, assessor‑masked phase 3 RCT (n=513), topical delgocitinib produced significantly greater HECSI improvement at 12 weeks and across 24 weeks compared with oral alitretinoin, while causing substantially fewer adverse events (49% vs 76%). Key symptomatic AEs such as headache and nausea were notably lower with delgocitinib, supporting a shift toward effective topical JAK inhibition for severe hand eczema.
Impact: A head‑to‑head phase‑3 trial in Lancet provides robust, practice‑changing comparative evidence that a topical JAK inhibitor can be more effective and safer than the only approved systemic agent for severe chronic hand eczema.
Clinical Implications: Delgocitinib cream may be adopted as a preferred first‑line option for severe chronic hand eczema, decreasing reliance on systemic retinoids; clinicians should evaluate patient suitability and monitor for class‑specific JAK inhibitor effects over longer follow‑up.
Key Findings
- Delgocitinib achieved greater HECSI reduction at week 12 (LS mean change -67.6) versus alitretinoin (-51.5); difference -16.1 (p<0.0001).
- Fewer patients on delgocitinib reported adverse events (49% of 253) than on alitretinoin (76% of 247).
- Specific systemic AEs were lower with delgocitinib: headache 4% vs 32% and nausea <1% vs 6%.
2. Fast unmasking toxicity of safe personal care products.
An imaging‑based chromatographic hazard‑profiling platform screened 140 marketed personal care products across 20 categories and identified genotoxic, cytotoxic, and estrogenic activities — including in nipple/wound creams and lipsticks — with dose–response quantitation. The method highlights product‑level safety gaps and the potential for systemic uptake via damaged skin or mucosa.
Impact: Introduces a rapid, multi‑endpoint, evidence‑based platform that uncovers hidden hazardous bioactivities in finished personal care products — a direct lever for regulators, manufacturers, and clinicians to prioritize testing and reformulation.
Clinical Implications: Clinicians should counsel patients to avoid applying unvetted products to damaged skin (e.g., nipple/wound creams, lip products near mucosa) and report suspected product‑related adverse events; regulators may use this approach to triage products for deeper toxicokinetic assessment.
Key Findings
- Developed an imaging‑based chromatographic hazard profiling applied to 140 products across 20 segments.
- Detected genotoxic, cytotoxic, and estrogenic activities — including previously unknown hazards — and quantified dose–response thresholds.
- Flagged high‑risk contexts: wound/nipple creams and lip products with potential for systemic entry via damaged skin or bleeding gums.
3. Developmental toxicity and skin sensitization potential of synthetic phenolic antioxidants and butylated hydroxytoluene transformation products: Insights from human embryonic stem cell models.
Using hESC differentiation and skin‑specific models, the study demonstrates that synthetic phenolic antioxidants (SPAs) and BHT transformation products perturb early germ‑layer specification, inhibit keratinocyte maturation, and induce pro‑inflammatory and psoriasis‑associated transcriptional signatures — indicating potential developmental toxicity and skin sensitization risks relevant to cosmetic exposure.
Impact: Provides mechanistic, human‑relevant preclinical evidence that widely used cosmetic antioxidants and their metabolites may pose developmental and skin sensitization hazards, prompting reconsideration of exposure limits and targeted in vivo validation.
Clinical Implications: Advise pregnant patients and those with inflammatory dermatoses to minimize exposure to SPAs until in vivo risk assessments are conclusive; prioritize biomonitoring and reformulation for high‑use products.
Key Findings
- SPAs and BHT transformation products upregulated neural ectoderm/neural crest genes and downregulated surface ectoderm/primitive streak genes during hESC differentiation.
- These compounds inhibited maturation of keratinocyte progenitors into mature keratinocytes in skin‑specific models.
- Transcriptional programs linked to psoriasis and pro‑inflammatory cytokines/chemokines were upregulated, suggesting skin sensitization potential.