Extended-release Formulation of Minocycline in the Treatment of Moderate-to-severe Acne Vulgaris in Patients Over the Age of 12 Years.

Oral antibiotics continue to play an important role in the treatment of moderate-to-severe acne. Minocycline is widely used in moderate-to-severe acne. Minocycline has anti-inflammatory properties, activity against Propionibacterium acnes and lipophilicity. An extended-release formulation of minocycline has been introduced. Extended-release minocycline is not bioequivalent to nonmodified release minocycline products and exhibits dose-proportional pharmacokinetics. Food or dairy products did not influence absorption. Efficacy is not dose-dependent, while the incidence of acute vestibular adverse events increases with dose suggesting an optimal dose of 1mg/kg. In two Phase 3 clinical trials, mean percent improvement in inflammatory lesions after 12 weeks of treatment with extended-release minocycline was 43.1 and 45.8 percent compared to 31.7 and 30.8 percent with placebo (P=0.001 and P<0.001, respectively) while the incidence of acute vestibular adverse events was comparable to placebo.