Vitiligo is an autoimmune skin disease presenting with distinct, patchy areas of depigmentation that can appear anywhere on the body. These white patches occur when autoreactive, cytotoxic CD8+ T cells promote the elimination of melanocytes, the pigment-producing cells of the epidermis (Frisoli et al., 2020). Vitiligo affects approximately 1% of the global population equally across races and sexes and frequently presents before the age of 20 years (Taïeb and Picardo, 2009).

Currently, there are no US Food and Drug Administration–approved medical treatments to promote repigmentation in vitiligo, whereas topical immunosuppressants and phototherapy are moderately effective when used off-label (Frisoli et al., 2020). Recent studies report the efficacy of the Jak inhibitors (JAKis) tofacitinib (tofa) and ruxolitinib (rux) in patients with vitiligo through case reports and case studies as well as ongoing clinical trials (Craiglow and King, 2015, Harris et al., 2016, Kim et al., 2018, Liu et al., 2017). However, studies also reported a rapid relapse of the disease after stopping both conventional treatments (Cavalié et al., 2015) and JAKi (Harris et al., 2016, Liu et al., 2017).