Understanding Atopic Dermatitis
(Eczema)
Atopic dermatitis (commonly known as eczema) is an inflammatory skin condition with links to your immune system. Much more than a rash, it can deeply impact your everyday life. Knowledge is a powerful tool, and learning more about eczema and its underlying causes may help you navigate your journey.
About Atopic Dermatitis (Eczema)
Eczema is known for causing intense itchiness and painful skin irritation. An inflammatory skin condition, it’s long-lasting — also known as chronic. If you have eczema, you may experience cycles when your symptoms get better and “flares” when they become worse. Eczema isn’t contagious, and people of all ages can have it.1,2
Eczema can look like many other conditions. Unfortunately, it’s often undertreated and misdiagnosed.3
Symptoms include:
- Intense itchiness.
- Rashes or dry skin patches that may be scaly, cause pain, ooze or bleed. These patches can appear on many different areas of your body. They are often red for those with lighter skin and gray, purple or brown for those with darker skin. If you have darker skin, you may also be more likely to have small, rough bumps.
- Thickened or hardened skin.2,5
Mild, Moderate and Severe Eczema
Your experience with eczema can vary. If you have mild eczema, you may have small patches of dry, itchy skin, and your symptoms may be easy to manage. If your eczema is moderate, larger areas of your skin are affected, and your symptoms are more intense and disruptive. With severe cases, widespread areas of your skin may be painfully inflamed, extreme itchiness can be daily, and your eczema may have a major impact on your life.6
Your Immune System and What Causes Eczema
Researchers are still uncertain about exactly what causes eczema. There may be a combination of causes. The immune system can play a key role as well as factors in your environment. Also, if eczema runs in your family, your chances of having eczema may be higher.1,5
If you have eczema, the protective part of your skin — the skin barrier — may not be working as well as it should to keep your skin healthy. At the same time, your immune system may not be working properly. Your immune system keeps you safe from things like viruses and bacteria. But with eczema, it can overreact to “triggers”— everyday things in your environment. This overreaction can lead to inflammation and the irritating, painful symptoms of eczema. Triggers can include things like pollution, scratchy fabric, your skin care routine or sweat, and they can be different for everyone.1,5
Kymera is doing research to create an investigational oral medicine (a treatment taken by mouth that is not a steroid) for eczema. We aim to develop an effective, safe, easy-to-take pill that gets to one of the roots of eczema. Our focus is on the immune system’s overreaction and inflammation.
Proteins are the building blocks of your body. They help you function and stay healthy. But they can sometimes cause problems in your immune system. Kymera’s eczema treatment is designed to use one of your body’s natural systems to remove unhelpful proteins related to the immune system’s inflammation. Our approach is called targeted protein degradation, or TPD.
Kymera’s Clinical Trials
A clinical trial is a research study of people with a condition or disease to test if new medicines are safe and effective. Kymera is conducting clinical trials to test a potential investigational oral medicine for eczema. Talk with your doctor about whether a clinical trial is right for you. Learn more about Kymera’s ongoing trials below.
The safety and efficacy of these investigational agents have not been established. These agents are not approved by any regulatory body for any indication.
KT-621 is an investigational oral degrader in development for the treatment of immunological and inflammatory diseases
The KT-621 BROADEN2 Phase 2b randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, dose-ranging trial is evaluating the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of orally administered KT-621 in adult patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD), a common form of eczema.
The KT-621 BroADen Phase 1b single-arm, open label trial is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and clinical activity of orally administered KT-621 in adult patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis (AD), a common form of eczema.
The Phase 1 trial is to evaluate the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of orally administered KT-621 in healthy volunteers. The study includes double-blind, placebo-controlled single ascending dose (SAD) and multiple ascending dose (MAD) cohorts.
Kymera’s investigational drugs are currently at a stage in development where we are focused on enrolling patients in our clinical trials and continuing to learn more about our investigational drugs’ safety and efficacy. At this time, Kymera is not able to make expanded access available to its investigational drugs. For more information, please read our full expanded access policy.
Eczema can have a large impact on your everyday life — physically, socially and emotionally. It can all be hard to manage. The discomfort of intense itching can be very challenging to deal with, and eczema can affect your ability to sleep, focus during the day, or take part in activities. It can impact your confidence and mood.5,7 There is also a link between eczema and anxiety and depression.8
Eczema can be difficult in ways others may not always realize, but you are not alone.
Patient Resources
Kymera is proud to partner with groups dedicated to people living with eczema. Visit the sites below for trusted information and support.
The National Eczema Association (NEA) provides resources for people with eczema and their families.
The International Eczema Council is a global nonprofit led by experts in atopic dermatitis that supports research, education and treatment.
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Atopic Dermatitis. National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. November 2022. Accessed July 29, 2025. https://www.niams.nih.gov/health-topics/atopic-dermatitis
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Mayo Clinic Staff. Atopic dermatitis (eczema) – Symptoms and causes. Mayo Clinic. May 15, 2024. Accessed July 29, 2025. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/atopic-dermatitis-eczema/symptoms-causes/syc-20353273
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Weidinger S, Nosbaum A, Simpson E, Guttman E. Good practice intervention for clinical assessment and diagnosis of atopic dermatitis: Findings from the atopic dermatitis quality of care initiative. Dermatol Ther. 2022;35(3):e15259. doi:10.1111/dth.15259
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A study about how many people around the world have atopic dermatitis. Br J Dermatol. 2024;190(1):e6. doi:10.1093/bjd/ljad462
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Atopic Dermatitis. National Eczema Association. January 27, 2025. Accessed July 29, 2025. https://nationaleczema.org/types-of-eczema/atopic-dermatitis
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What is Moderate to Severe Eczema? Allergy & Asthma Network. Accessed July 29, 2025. https://allergyasthmanetwork.org/what-is-eczema/moderate-to-severe-eczema
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McCleary K. More Than Skin Deep: Understanding the Lived Experience of Eczema “Voice of the Patient” Report on the Eczema Patient-Focused Drug Development Meeting; 2020.
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Schonmann Y, Mansfield KE, Hayes JF, et al. Atopic eczema in adulthood and risk of depression and anxiety: A population-based cohort study. J Allergy Clin Immunol Pract. 2020;8(1):248-257.e16. doi:10.1016/j.jaip.2019.08.030