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Study wrapper · #958

German Cohort Observational Study to Investigate the Short- and Long-Term Safety and Clinical Effectiveness of Afamelanotide 16 mg (SCENESSE) in Patients With Erythropoietic Protoporphyria (EPP).

Homey B, Schelonke K, Schlegel CM, et al. Photodermatology, photoimmunology & photomedicine. 2025.
SupportedCohortMentions: Melanotan I

Editor's note

This is a substantial real-world post-authorisation safety study of afamelanotide (mapped here to melanotan-1) in 200 EPP patients, reporting significant quality-of-life gains and a safety profile consistent with clinical trials. As an observational cohort without a randomized control it cannot isolate treatment effect as cleanly as an RCT, but it is a large, directly relevant dataset on the approved peptide. Findings are framed as association within its regulatory indication.

Plain-language abstract

A German observational study of 200 patients found that afamelanotide was associated with a significant improvement in quality of life and a favorable real-world safety profile in erythropoietic protoporphyria, with 91% of patients continuing treatment.