Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc., the global leader in serving science, has announced the launch of the international CorEvitas Adolescent Alopecia Areata (AA) Registry. This initiative addresses a significant unmet need for real-world, adolescent-specific data on alopecia areata, an autoimmune disease that causes patchy or complete hair loss on the scalp and other parts of the body.
The new registry aims to provide researchers with structured evidence about the burden of disease, treatment patterns, and safety and effectiveness of newly approved therapies for adolescents with AA. By collecting detailed data, it will support research to better understand the impact of AA on adolescent patients, including their physical and psychosocial health.
The registry is already active in Europe and the U.S., with its first patients enrolled in late 2024. It complements another CorEvitas registry for adults with AA, which was launched in 2023.
“This first-of-its-kind registry will provide researchers with real-world, concrete evidence about the health status and treatment patterns of these patients,” said Peter Wahl, Sc.D., Global Head of Scientific Affairs, CorEvitas clinical research, Thermo Fisher Scientific. “The research community will be able to contextualize both the effectiveness and safety of newly approved treatments for adolescents with AA.
About Alopecia Areata (AA) and the Registry
AA is a chronic autoimmune condition estimated to affect around 2% of the global population, or about 160 million people. While it impacts individuals of all ages, its prevalence is higher among children and adolescents, with many experiencing their first episode of hair loss during adolescence. In addition to hair loss, patients may develop nail pitting and experience a negative impact on their psychosocial functioning, which often leads to challenges in school and social settings.
Diseases such as asthma and atopic dermatitis are more common in individuals with AA, and the disease also increases the risk of developing other autoimmune conditions. This makes long-term data collection vital for understanding the broader impact of AA on young patients.
The CorEvitas Adolescent Alopecia Areata Registry brings a unique approach by focusing on collecting real-world, longitudinal data on adolescents. It will prospectively study:
- The incidence of safety events related to treatments.
- Medication utilization patterns and their comparative effectiveness.
- Patient history and disease progression over time.
This registry benefits from the scientific guidance of leading dermatologists—Britt Craiglow, M.D. (Yale School of Medicine), Maryanne Senna, M.D. (Harvard Medical School), and Brett King, M.D., Ph.D. (Connecticut Dermatology Physicians).
CorEvitas’ Commitment to Patient-Centered Research
The Adolescent Alopecia Registry is part of Thermo Fisher Scientific’s CorEvitas program, which operates 12 independent registries focused on autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. These registries provide high-quality, regulatory-grade clinical data to over 500 investigator sites and track more than 100,000 patients longitudinally.
Through these efforts, CorEvitas is driving research to improve patient outcomes and guide healthcare decisions for autoimmune diseases, including adolescent alopecia areata. With its focus on adolescents, this registry marks a significant step forward in understanding and treating a condition that has both physical and emotional challenges for young patients worldwide.
