Key Takeaways on Emerging HS Landscape

Dr. Martina Porter emphasizes that the STOP HS results are consistent with prior HS phase 3 programs: patients experience substantial improvements in both lesion counts and quality of life, especially pain. For clinicians, she argues the most important step is simply being willing to offer advanced systemic therapies to appropriate HS patients.

She notes that the field’s expectations have evolved beyond HiSCR50; the true goal is deeper responses—HiSCR75, 90, even 100—which often require higher doses and longer treatment durations than a 12–16 week trial can fully capture. Long-term extension data in HS consistently show continued improvement over months to years. Povorcitinib adds a new mechanism of action (oral JAK1 inhibition) to the armamentarium, and its greater JAK1 selectivity may, in theory, translate into distinct long‑term efficacy and safety, though this remains to be proven.

Because there are no head‑to‑head trials and no reliable biomarkers to match patients to specific drugs, many individuals will realistically cycle through multiple agents before finding the one that fits. The panel stresses this should not be seen as failure by either the patient or the clinician; HS management is a multi‑year therapeutic journey, and when patients reach ≥75% improvement, the life change can be dramatic, often eliciting “you saved my life” reactions.

Dr. Hadar Lev‑Tov concludes that, if approved, povorcitinib would offer the first oral HS‑specific option, potentially allowing nuanced dose adjustments and serving as a valuable upstream mechanism for certain phenotypes. He is broadly reassured by the emerging safety profile, framing the key question not as if to use the drug, but how best to use it within individualized, long‑term HS care.

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