Clinical Trials Offer Relief for Crohn’s Disease Patients

The New England Journal of Medicine reports that two international Phase III clinical trials called GEMINI I and GEMINI II found that investigational drug vedolizumab is effective in treating patients with these inflammatory bowel conditions.

This provides further treatment option for those whose symptoms have not been relieved by other forms of medication.

Lead investigator Dr Brian Feagan, a professor of medicine and epidemiology and biostatistics at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry at Western University in London, Canada explained what these results could mean to people suffering from Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis.

He said: “The publication of these study findings [is] important since the results support the potential for vedolizumab, if approved, to help manage symptoms in some patients for whom previous treatments have failed.”

The two conditions are some of the most common types of inflammatory bowel disease and can be chronic and debilitating conditions which affect millions of people worldwide.