Ebglyss Clears Hand and Foot Eczema in 53% of Patients at 16 Weeks

Fifty-three percent of patients with moderate-to-severe eczema confined to their hands and feet achieved clear or almost clear skin after 16 weeks of Ebglyss (lebrikizumab-lbkz), versus 27 percent on placebo. The ADtouch trial results, presented at the 2026 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV) Congress in Vienna, offer the first dedicated injection data for a form of atopic dermatitis that topicals often fail to control.

The burden is easy to underestimate. Up to 60 percent of people with atopic dermatitis have involvement on their hands, and about 30 percent have it on their feet. Even when the affected area is small, itch and pain can disrupt basic daily tasks. None of the 221 trial participants — adults and adolescents 12 and older — had gotten adequate relief from topical treatments.

How the trial was built

ADtouch ran for 16 weeks and randomized patients roughly half and half. One arm received Ebglyss injections every two weeks after an initial loading dose; the other received placebo. Everyone in both arms continued using moisturizer on their hands and feet.

The co-primary signals — itch and pain — moved substantially:

• Itch: 57 percent of the Ebglyss group reported a meaningful reduction, compared with 19 percent on placebo. Some participants saw improvement as early as week 2.
• Pain: 59 percent achieved a meaningful reduction, versus 19 percent on placebo.
• Skin clearance: 53 percent reached clear or almost clear hands and feet, against 27 percent for placebo.

Patient-reported outcomes tracked the clinical ones. Among participants who were unhappy with how their hands looked at baseline, 77 percent of those on Ebglyss reported being satisfied or very satisfied by week 16, compared with 40 percent on placebo. Rescue medication was needed by only 6 percent of the treatment group, versus 18 percent of the placebo group.

Safety held up. Side effects were mild or moderate, with colds and upper respiratory infections the most common. The investigators reported no new safety concerns.

What does this change for dermatologists?

The data argue for measuring symptoms, not just surface area. "For people with hand and foot atopic dermatitis, a relatively small area of affected skin can have an outsized impact on daily life," said Shawn G. Kwatra, MD, chair of dermatology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Kwatra noted that the findings show why it matters to assess pain and itch directly rather than rely on the percentage of body surface area involved — a patient whose eczema covers only a few square centimeters of palms can still be functionally disabled by it.

Mechanistically, nothing here is new. Ebglyss blocks IL-13, a cytokine that drives atopic dermatitis inflammation. The FDA has already approved it for adults and children 12 and older weighing at least 88 pounds (40 kg) with moderate-to-severe eczema that topical prescriptions haven't controlled, or when those treatments aren't advisable. That means clinicians can already prescribe it off-label for hand- and foot-dominant disease today.

What's pending is the label. Manufacturer Eli Lilly has submitted the ADtouch data to the FDA, seeking an update that would explicitly cover moderate-to-severe eczema concentrated on the hands and feet — a change that typically smooths prior authorization and payer coverage for this specific indication. Until it lands, the practical move for patients whose hand or foot eczema isn't responding to creams is to raise it directly with their dermatologist.