Vitiligo is neither contagious nor painful, but it is nonetheless difficult to live with.
It often takes time, and sometimes psychological support, to learn to accept the progressive depigmentation of the skin, sometimes very visible on the face or hands.
Good news: patients suffering from this autoimmune disease will benefit from a first authorized treatment reimbursed by Health Insurance, according to a decree published Wednesday in the Official Journal.
This treatment concerns Opzelura cream, developed by the American laboratory Incyte Biosciences, to treat “non-segmental vitiligo with facial involvement in adults and adolescents over 12 years of age”, according to the text.
An experimental measurement
It intervenes within the framework of a so-called “direct access” system, an experimental measure included in the social security financing law since 2022 so that certain medicines reach French patients more quickly.
Vitiligo causes a progressive breakdown of the cells producing skin pigments (melanocytes) which leads to depigmentation in the form of white spots on the face and body.
Former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe suffers from it and opened up about it in June 2020 to Paris Match.
Winnie Harlow, suffering from vitiligo since the age of 4, played on her illness by becoming the face of the Spanish brand Desigual.
Also read “I decided to love my vitiligo”: Nathalie Simon talks about the disease from which she has suffered for 25 years
The French Vitiligo Association estimates that around 1 to 2% of the world's population is affected by this very visible chronic disease which can lead to a "significant alteration in the quality of life, in relationships with others and with oneself." .
More than a million people in France are affected by this pathology, according to Incyte Biosciences, which employs 2,500 employees, including 50 in France.
Opzelura received marketing authorization valid throughout the European Union in April.
In October, the High Authority for Health issued a favorable opinion for its reimbursement.
The pharmaceutical company then turned to the Ministry of Health to request direct access, that is to say without waiting for price negotiation.
Repigmentation which can reach 75% after six months
The Opzelura treatment is already available in the United States, Germany and Austria.
“The patient will have to obtain the treatment in a hospital pharmacy” during the direct access period, the manufacturer's spokesperson in France, Claire Lhériteau-Calmé, told AFP.
By applying the cream twice a day, “the patient will see repigmentation gradually until almost 75% repigmentation after six months for the most part,” she added.
In December, a treatment for hemophilia B, marketed under the name Hemgenix by the CSL Behring laboratory, was the first indication to obtain coverage in France via direct access.