4% nicotinamide vs clindamycin for acne (RCT, 1995)

Seventy-six people were randomly given either 4% nicotinamide gel or 1% clindamycin gel twice daily for eight weeks. 82% improved on nicotinamide and 68% on clindamycin, and lesion counts fell in both. None of the differences between the two reached statistical significance, so the honest reading is that they performed comparably — not that nicotinamide won. That still matters, because it means a non-antibiotic option held its own against an antibiotic.