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Hello ,
We start the week with big news:
The vitiligo treatment map just shifted |
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For years, vitiligo’s modern treatment story revolved around one approved topical medicine.
Now, three oral systemic programs have reported positive Phase 3 results. One has crossed the regulatory finish line in Europe. Two more are moving toward it.
This is the news our community have been waiting for.
And it arrived with another signal: June 25 is becoming the date when the vitiligo world is expected to show its work. |
| Inside this issue The treatment map expanded June 25: From awareness to accountability Herbs, wine and the antioxidant puzzle World Vitiligo Day continues in Goa Two surveys worth your time |
💊 Treatment landscape
From one topical to three oral drugs
On July 29 the European Commission approved Rinvoq (upadacitinib) from AbbVie. It became the first systemic medicine approved specifically for vitiligo in the EU, for patients aged 12 and older.
One day later Pfizer reported positive Phase 3 results for Litfulo (ritlecitinib). Pfizer now plans regulatory filings for adults.
A third oral therapy, povorcitinib from Incyte, had already produced positive Phase 3 results. Regulatory filings are planned for the first half of 2027.
Rinvoq (AbbVie): approved for vitiligo in the EU.
Litfulo (Pfizer): positive Phase 3 results; regulatory filings planned.
Povorcitinib (Incyte): positive Phase 3 results; filings planned for 2027.
These are not miracle pills.
Some people will see meaningful change. Others will see less. Safety checks, long-term monitoring, cost and the usual insurance maze all still matter.
But systemic treatment is no longer something we talk about in the future tense. It has finally entered real-world medicine. Read what just happened → |
🇪🇺 The fixed point
June 25: From awareness to accountability
On June 25 — World Vitiligo Day — the European Medicines Agency’s scientific committee gave its positive recommendation for Rinvoq.
The same day the European Parliament’s Committee on Public Health quietly turned its attention to the nearly 100 million people living with the vitiligo.
For fifteen years June 25 was the day we asked the world to notice us.
It is starting to feel like the day the world is expected to show up with something real.
Read the full story → |
📚 Three recent reads
Herbs, wine and the antioxidant puzzle
Every now and then the same three ideas show up in my inbox, like distant relatives who refuse to leave the party:
"Natural" must be safe. An interesting study equals a treatment. More antioxidants in a capsule must mean better results.
We spent some time looking at why. Each piece has a short companion podcast if you’d rather listen while walking.
The herbal paradox
Why popular "Immune Boosters" may be working against you. Some herbs and skin-brightening products may interfere with pathways involved in pigment production. That does not prove harm, but "natural" is not a free pass.
Read The Herbal Paradox in Vitiligo →
Red wine and vitiligo
Genetic research has found an intriguing association between red wine and lower vitiligo risk. It does not prove that wine prevents or treats vitiligo — and it is no reason to start drinking — but the evidence is unmistakable.
Read Red Wine and Vitiligo →
Why food may beat the capsule
Whole foods are complete biological systems — with metabolism, gut and blood vessel effects, and hundreds of interacting compounds working together. A capsule usually brings one lonely molecule and asks it to perform miracles on its own.
Read Why Berries, Coffee and Wine Work Better Than Capsules →
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🎙 Listen to Deep Dive in Vitiligo
Three new episodes — and the one everyone keeps downloading
Nails, herbs and the stubborn fantasy that one antioxidant capsule can outsmart a whole food. Vitiligo rarely runs out of plot twists.
Splinters, ridges & half-moons (Ep. 70)
Nails may hold small clues about vitiligo: ridges, white spots, splinter hemorrhages and missing half-moons. Usually mild. Often overlooked. More interesting than anyone expected.
Listen to Episode 70 →
Red wine, black coffee & missing antioxidants (Ep. 69)
Why do coffee, berries and moderate red wine show protective signals while isolated antioxidant pills often fall flat? Biology, it seems, prefers the orchestra to one lonely molecule.
Listen to Episode 69 →
Herbs that secretly bleach your skin (Ep. 68)
Some herbs praised as immune boosters may also interfere with pigment production. Natural does not always mean helpful — and your melanocytes remain stubbornly unimpressed by the packaging.
Listen to Episode 68 →
Most downloaded episode of 2026 so far
From karma to bakuchi (Ep. 66)
Karma, Ayurveda, Amazonian traditions, chronic stress, T-cells and JAK inhibitors enter the same conversation. Not to choose sides between spirituality and science, but to refuse the false choice.
Listen to the year’s most downloaded episode →
Browse all episodes → |
☀️ Goa · October 31–November 1
World Vitiligo Day continues
June 25 was the deadline. It was never the finish line.
This June, World Vitiligo Day HQ in Chandigarh focused on science and emerging treatments. Goa now turns toward daily life: diagnosis, treatment choices, emotional health, family, education, work and relationships.
The meeting will launch the National Vitiligo Atlas of India, introduce the Global Vitiligo Observatory and announce the host city for World Vitiligo Day 2027.
Science tells us what may work. Goa asks what life with vitiligo actually looks like. Read about Goa → |
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📣 Your voice matters
Two surveys worth your time
Good science begins by listening. These two projects do that in different ways.
VIPOC Vitiligo Patient Views Survey
VIPOC is collecting the everyday realities of living with vitiligo — and caring for someone who has it. The global survey takes about 20–30 minutes. Its findings will help shape a white paper intended to support policy change.
Take the VIPOC survey →
Paid Vitiligo Survey · U.S. only
Most surveys make people squeeze their lives into checkboxes. Brox.AI asks them to talk. Participants share their experiences through short, conversational video responses. The process takes about one hour.
Those participants from the U.S. who qualify and complete the study may earn reward points redeemable for a $120 e-gift card from major brands, including Visa, Amazon, Walmart and Starbucks.
Start the survey →
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| One last thought
One systemic treatment has been approved in Europe. Two more are advancing. June 25 has become an accountability point. Goa is carrying the conversation from clinical science into daily life. And patients are being asked to help shape their own future.
Vitiligo has spent long enough waiting at the edge of medicine.
The map moved. Now we move with it.
Stay tuned for what comes next.
— Yan Valle
CEO, Vitiligo Research Foundation
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🙏 Keep this newsletter free
Independent information still needs someone to pay for the coffee.
This newsletter stays free so anyone living with vitiligo can read it without hitting a paywall. That only works if enough people decide the work is worth supporting.
If you find it useful, buy us a coffee and a muffin. Technically that is a small donation. Practically it keeps the research, the fact-checking and the writing moving.
Free to read. Independent by design. Support the newsletter → |
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