Millennium expands IBD drug franchise

The USA's Millennium Pharmaceuticals' MLN3126, a selective antagonist of CCR9, is about to progress into Phase III testing. The agent blocks a chemokine receptor known to be important in the migration of inflammatory cells into the gastrointestinal tract. Along with MLN0002, an antibody targeting the alpha4beta7 integrin, MLN3126 expands the company's inflammatory bowel disease franchise. The agent has already demonstrated the ability to induce clinical remission in patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease and is expected to enter pivotal Phase III trials in late 2008 or early 2009 in both indications. In preclinical models, MLN3126 has shown to be potent and selective in vitro and active as an orally-administered molecule in an animal model of IBD. The compound is expected to enter Phase I clinical trials in early 2009.