Category: Crohn's

Centocor, Inc. and Schering-Plough Corporation (NYSE: SGP) today announced that the European Commission has approved a new indication for REMICADE(R) (infliximab) allowing for the treatment of severe, active Crohn’s disease (CD) in pediatric patients aged 6 to 17 years, who have not responded to conventional therapy including a corticosteroid, an immunomodulator and primary nutrition therapy, or who are intolerant to, or have contraindications for, such therapies.

In the largest ever study published to date, a consortium of UK scientists has discovered over 20 genes and regions of the human genome that contribute to diseases such as diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and coronary heart disease.The Wellcome Trust Control Consortium’s 9 million pound study is a collaboration of 200 UK scientists from 50 teams at dozens of UK institutions.

In Crohn’s disease, the lining of the small intestine is abnormally colonized by E. coli organisms that are able to adhere to and invade intestinal epithelial cells. In a study appearing online in advance of publication in the June print issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Arlette Darfeuille-Michaud and colleagues from Universite d’Auvergne, France, show that the adherent-invasive E.

Results from an international multi-center Phase II clinical trial suggest that extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) may be effective in treating patients with clinically active (OR symptomatic) Crohn’s disease who cannot tolerate or are refractory to immunosuppressants and/or anti-TNF agents.

Abbott today announced results from a post-hoc analysis of a pivotal study presented at the Digestive Disease Week annual meeting in Washington, D.C. showing patients with moderate to severely active Crohn’s disease treated with HUMIRA® (adalimumab) maintenance therapy were almost 60 percent less likely than patients on placebo to be hospitalised due to their disease at one year (5.9 percent versus 13.9 percent; p

Researchers at Jefferson Medical College have shown that capsule endoscopy is effective in diagnosing gastrointestinal bleeding and small bowel Crohn’s disease in children. The technology has been used successfully at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital for more than five years to diagnose unexplained abdominal bleeding in adults.

UCB announced today that new data presented at Digestive Disease Week 2007 (DDW) demonstrated long-term response and remission in Crohn’s disease patients treated with CIMZIA(TM) (certolizumab pegol), the only Fc-free PEGylated, Fab’ fragment anti-TNF. The study, called PRECiSE 3 (P3), is a long-term open label continuation of the Phase III PRECiSE Program for CIMZIA(TM).

Crohn’s disease is a chronic relapsing inflammatory disorder of the intestinal tract that affects an estimated 0.15% of people in the developedworld. Common symptoms include abdominal pain and diarrhea, but the disorder is often associated with debilitating clinical complications. Researchersfrom the University of Liège, Belgium, have now uncovered an important clue to the susceptibility of individuals to this disease.

A study led by Mayo Clinic found that adalimumab (HUMIRA®)) is an effective treatment for adults with Crohn’s disease who do not respond to infliximab (REMICADE®) therapy. These findings were published online by Annals of Internal Medicine.Crohn’s disease is an inflammatory disorder of the gastrointestinal tract that affects an estimated 500,000 people in the United States. Symptoms include abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting, weight loss and diarrhea.

A new study in The American Journal of Gastroenterology suggests that smoking may determine which part of the intestinal tract is attacked in those who suffer from Crohn’s disease. Where the disease is located often determines whether the patient will eventually require surgical treatment. “In patients who smoke, Crohn’s disease tends to appear more frequently in the small intestine, rather than the colon,” says study author Dr. Marian Aldhous.