Oct 19 (Reuters) – Gilead Sciences said on Monday its experimental once-daily pill reduced symptoms of a chronic bowel illness in more patients than placebo in a mid-stage trial.
• The drug, emvistegrast, was being tested in adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition that causes inflammation and ulcers in the digestive tract
• The pill is designed to block the α4β7 integrin pathway, a target already validated in inflammatory bowel disease
• After 12 weeks, 66% of patients taking a 200 mg dose of the drug saw their disease symptoms improve, compared to 37% on placebo, meeting the trial’s main goal
• Also, 31% of patients receiving the treatment achieved clinical remission, compared to 8% of those in the placebo group
• BMO Capital Markets analysts said they view the data as “an incremental positive for Gilead’s inflammatory strategy that establishes emvistegrast as a credible oral α4β7 option”
• The drug was generally well tolerated, with overall side-effect rates comparable between the treatment and placebo groups, and no serious side effects were linked to the study medication
• Gilead said it plans to initiate a late-stage monotherapy study of the pill in 2027
(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)
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