William Sandborn, director of the Center for Inflammatory Bowel Disease at the University of California, San Diego, conducted a study on the effectiveness of vedolizumab, an antibody produced by a Japanese pharmaceutical company Takeda. The results of these clinical trials were published in the New England of Medicine.
“A new molecule, vedolizumab from the Japanese laboratory Takeda, offers new hope to four million people with Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, these autoimmune pathologies“, announces William Sandborn.
3,000 people (1,900 had Crohn’s disease and 1,100 ulcerative colitis) participated in these clinical trials. Patients, a control group of whom took a placebo, were treated for one year and the effects were seen after six weeks.
” The antibody administered intravenously contains a molecule that targets immune cells in the intestine that release proteins responsible for inflammation and tissue damage in the large and small intestines. Explains the researchers.
” These clinical trials have shown very encouraging results for patients suffering from Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis for whom conventional treatments, such as steroids or immune system suppressants, are ineffective.“, welcomes Dr William Sandborn to AFP.” With the advantage that this very targeted treatment limits the risk of side effects while traditional treatments are accompanied by side effects such as weight loss, nausea and headaches “, Add the researchers.
Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis are chronic inflammatory bowel diseases. It is the so-called “intestinal” bacteria which are precisely the cause of this disorder. The symptoms of this disease, which are extremely unpleasant for the patient, are well known: strong outbreaks followed by phases of remission, abdominal pain, diarrhea and fevers. These diseases can lead to serious complications such as bowel obstruction, malnutrition or colon cancer, sometimes requiring surgical removal of parts of the intestines.
The Japanese laboratory Tadeka has requested official authorizations from the American and European drug agencies for the release of vedolizumab.
