Building on momentum from the 2025 AAD meeting, AAD 2026 saw CLINUVEL’s ambition translate into deeper engagement with the medical community, with the Pavilion now an established hub for meaningful scientific exchange and candid dialogues. The CLINUVEL team welcomed thousands of visitors, including many returning physicians eager to review the progress of the Company’s clinical programs.
The Pavilion of Photomedicine
Step inside CLINUVEL’s Pavilion of Photomedicine and experience the energy of AAD 2026 through an exclusive look behind-the-scenes of construction, expert insights from the CLINUVEL team and immersive visuals of guests engaging within the Pavilion.
New insights in vitiligo therapy
The 2026 meeting reflected a maturing dialogue regarding the standard of care and potential of new therapies for patients with vitiligo. While the recent focus in the field has been on immune-suppressing JAK inhibitors, clinicians are increasingly identifying the practical challenges of long-term treatment dependency and the prevalence of relapse upon cessation of treatment. This shift in treatment discourse highlights an increasing demand for therapies that prioritise sustained stability and patient safety over the long term.
CLINUVEL’s investigational approach offers a fundamentally different path. The Company’s ongoing Phase III vitiligo study (CUV105) is evaluating afamelanotide as a systemic therapy with adjunct narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) phototherapy to stimulate repigmentation and stabilise the disease, rather than suppressing the body’s immune system. Afamelanotide, a linear peptide administered in a controlled-release injectable implant – is not currently approved for vitiligo anywhere in the world.
At the Global Vitiligo Foundation (GVF) Annual Symposium, Professor Antoine Bertolotti (University Hospital of La Réunion) presented patient case studies from CUV105, reporting repigmentation following 20 weeks of afamelanotide with adjunct NB-UVB. Crucially, the data showed that patients with darker skin types (Fitzpatrick IV–VI) maintained their pigmentation up to the six month follow-up visit subsequent to withdrawal of therapy. Notably, even patients with active disease (i.e. where the condition is actively spreading) showed a response to therapy in these clinical cases.
Holistic patient care
While CLINUVEL’s primary clinical focus remains its rigorous path toward regulatory approval in vitiligo, the Company’s work at the Pavilion highlighted a holistic philosophy that extends beyond the clinic. Unlike standard models, CLINUVEL takes a long-term view of patient care by creating dedicated spaces for patients to share their experiences and advocate for improvements in clinical trial diversity and mental health support.
The three-day speaker program emphasised this commitment, featuring patients, physicians, and even healthcare partners coming together to exchange insights on topics ranging from fostering inclusivity when engaging with patient communities, to the regulatory and cultural differences in managing vitiligo in different parts of the world.
Technology and digital impact: creating a global buzz
The innovations showcased in Denver extended into the digital sphere, creating significant engagement across social media. CLINUVEL’s outreach efforts reached over 314,000 unique users, with daily wrap-up content generating thousands of interactions. This digital buzz mirrors the energy at the Pavilion, where the Company introduced its proprietary Vitiligo Visual Algorithm (VVA) – an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven tool designed to objectively assess pigmentation using standardised clinical photographs, tracking an individual patient’s treatment progress over time. This tool is now being refined with the assistance of physicians, patients and researchers.