Allakos is committed to developing innovative therapies that transform patients’ lives
We strive to understand the needs of patients living with inflammatory conditions and are committed to collaboration with key stakeholders in order to incorporate their needs and perspectives into our development programs. Our focus is for the treatment of chronic spontaneous urticaria.
Chronic urticarias are a group of inflammatory skin diseases that are believed to be caused by the inappropriate activation of mast cells in the skin. Symptoms of urticaria include severe itching, hives, and edema with episodic flares for many years. It is estimated that 0.5 to 1.0% of the U.S. population suffers from a form of chronic urticaria. Chronic spontaneous urticaria means that no readily identifiable cause or “trigger” is evident and is defined by the presence of urticaria/hives on most days of the week, for a duration of six weeks or longer.
Chronic spontaneous urticaria affects up to 3 million adults in the U.S., and approximately 2 million are managed by a specialist. First-line treatment consists of H1 antihistamine medication; however, a significant number of patients do not receive adequate benefit even at up to four times the labeled dose. There are an estimated 800 thousand adults with chronic spontaneous urticaria that have moderate-to-severe disease despite antihistamines usage, yet only ~10% are currently on a biologic.