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Schering-Plough's Remicade effective for patients with ulcerative colitis

Date published: 08/12/2005

Trials of Schering-Plough's Remicade have shown that the drug can significantly improve the condition of ulcerative colitis (UC). The ACT 1 and ACT 2 phase III studies, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed that patients treated with Remicade experienced significant improvements in clinical response, remission and mucosal healing. Two-thirds achieved an improvement in symptoms, whilst one third went into remission.

UC affects over 1.2 million people in the US and Europe. The disease causes ulceration and inflammation of the colon, and can bring on weight loss, diarrhoea and frequent pains. Remicade is the first biologic treatment for the disorder.

"Achieving and maintaining improvements over time are challenging goals in the treatment of ulcerative colitis, particularly in patients that do not respond to conventional medications such as steroids," said Paul Rutgeerts, lead investigator of the ACT 1 study.

"Remicade has, for several years, demonstrated efficacy in the treatment of Crohn's disease, and now has proven its ability to be an effective therapy for patients with ulcerative colitis, for which there are limited treatment options."

A total of 728 UC patients who had failed to respond to treatment previously were involved in the study.

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