Vedolizumab has potential to offer improvement over infliximab in UC

Surveyed US and EU5 gastroenterologists agree that new moderate to severe ulcerative colitis (UC) therapies that offer improved effect on maintenance of remission over current therapies would be well received and poised for strong uptake, according to a new study by advisory firm Decision Resources.

While available clinical data and thought leader opinion indicate that the currently available therapies azathioprine (GlaxoSmithKline/Prometheus Laboratories/UCB's Imuran, Eisai's Imurek, generics) and adalimumab (AbbVie/Eisai's Humira) and the emerging therapies golimumab (Janssen/Merck & Co/Mitsubishi Tanabe's Simponi) and tofacitinib (Pfizer's Xeljanz) offer comparable or lower efficacy than sales-leading infliximab (Janssen/Merck/Mitsubishi Tanabe's Remicade) on this attribute, Takeda's emerging agent vedolizumab has the potential to offer improvement in maintenance of remission, based on Phase III data. Interviewed thought leaders report that some of their patients experience loss of response to infliximab over time.

The DecisionBase 2013 report, titled Ulcerative Colitis: Which Clinical Attributes Will Most Effectively Position Emerging Agents Against Infliximab in the Moderate to Severe Patient Segment? also finds that vedolizumab may more effectively reduce the need for corticosteroids than infliximab and offers potential safety advantages over the sales leader.