The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.
(Questions from industry analysts are provided in full, but answers are omitted - download the transcript to see the full question-and-answer session)
Question: Daniel G. Wolle - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst
: I have a couple of questions. But first, does the data from the active extension period, particularly in the DFK to DFK patient group indicate a
deepening of response with longer treatment? If so, what is the biological rationale for such an observation? And I have a couple of other questions.
Question: Daniel G. Wolle - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst
: Okay. Maybe for the physicians, like other pruritus indications, are NP patients subdivided by their itch into mild, moderate or severe groups?
Question: Daniel G. Wolle - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst
: Got it. Yes, it does. And I guess following up for the company, how does that fit the 650,000 addressable patients when you don't need to classify
them by this grouping.
Question: Daniel G. Wolle - JPMorgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Analyst
: Okay. Got it. And one last question. Given the findings shown here by Dr. Kim in animal models of AD, where DFK doesn't seem to drive changes
in inflammatory mediators, how should we think about the company's efforts in atopic dermatitis? How much of the NAB is neuroplastic versus
this inflammatory.
Dr. Brian Kim
Sure. I'll just address it from this clinical and is that all itch has to go through the peripheral nerves. So to some degree, all itch is a neuropathic
process. When we see neuropathic itch, we mean that it's primarily neuropathic and meaning that it's primarily that the nerves have gone a ride.
So in theory, you could actually neuromodulate your way out of anything. It's just that with atopic dermatitis, I think if you have a tremendous
amount of inflammation in moderate to severe -- particularly severe cases, it can be much more challenging to neuromodulate our way out of it.
And I think that's why I'll leave it to the company, but I think the strategy personally I think is better is to get a population that's been less well
addressed, which is in the more kind of low moderate to high mild, which actually is a much bigger population.
Question: Sumant Satchidanand Kulkarni - Canaccord Genuity Corp., Research Division - Analyst
: I have 3. The first 2 are for the experts and the third is for the company. So first, when diagnosing an itch is (inaudible) the last stop by process of
elimination and location of the itch or could there be other types of unexpanded? In other words, how confident are physicians in the clinical
community of a definitive diagnosis of NPE?
Question: Sumant Satchidanand Kulkarni - Canaccord Genuity Corp., Research Division - Analyst
: And then a conceptual question. In terms of preclinical margins, are there known cases of NP in other animals or nonhuman primates? And are
there any good alternatives to mouse margins?
Dr. Brian Kim
It's a good question. I'm not aware of NP in other -- the only animals I would want to consider is primates for this. I suspect that this condition is
arising from the kind of modern epidemic of inactivity and bad posture and bad kind of occupational habits. So I would suspect that this would
be much less likely in other species.
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