Alopecia could be subdivided into two main groups of diseases: non-scarring alopecia, such as
male pattern baldness, or alopecia areata (AA), in which hair follicles are preserved, yet
quiescent, and scarring alopecia, also known as cicatricial alopecia (CA), in which hair
follicles are irreversibly destroyed. CA leads to scarred areas, most commonly on the scalp,
that cannot re-grow hair. Despite being a long-term condition, that often has significant
impact on patients' well-being, available effective treatments for these diseases are
lacking. In addition, the molecular abnormalities causing CA are largely unknown. The study
team's research involves administrating patients a new investigational drug (a combined
TYK/JAK inhibitor) which has been shown to be safe and well tolerated in clinical studies to
date, and is being investigated in other conditions, such as AA. CA patients will be asked to
provide small samples of skin and blood throughout the treatment period, to find out how they
respond to the drug, and to attempt to better understand these diseases.