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Once-a-month jab can ease agony of debilitating acne after trials showed a 50 per cent reduction in symptoms

Patients blighted by a distressing skin condition that causes agonising abscesses and severe scarring have been thrown a lifeline, thanks to a drug that’s just been made available on the NHS.

The jab, secukinumab, was given the green light after trials showed at least a 50 per cent reduction in symptoms of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) after four months.

People battling with the condition – also known as acne inversa – have historically ‘lost faith in medicine’ due to the lack of treatment options, says a spokesman for health watchdog the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).