Recent developments

Hidden behind the subscription wall of The Wall Street Journal is a nice summary of the current status of the various Crohn's treatment options. That article has now made its way into the free world via the naplesnews.com.

Amongst developments not yet reported in this blog is news of medicine which is potentially better than the highly-regarded anti-TNFs gaining popularity today. These include arthritis drug Orencia, interleukin-12 and interleukin-23 (interleukin has been mentioned previously), and a drug using adult stem cells.

Besides anti-TNFs, there is a rheumatoid arthritis drug from Bristol-Myers Squibb, called Orencia, that is being studied for Crohn's disease. The drug works on inflammation earlier in the process than do anti-TNFs. Bristol started the final phase of human testing of Orencia against Crohn's last month and is currently enrolling patients in a trial.
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J&J and Abbott are working on drugs that inhibit two proteins called interleukin-12 and interleukin-23. Both companies are in the middle stages of human testing. Strober, of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, says the benefit could be tackling inflammation much earlier in its development than the anti-TNFs do, but that the drugs could carry an increased risk of infection.
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Osiris Therapeutics, based in Baltimore, just got approval from the FDA to go into the third and final phase of human testing on a Crohn's drug that uses adult stem cells. The company says the agency gave the drug fast-track status, which means it could come to market as early as 2008.

The drug is thought to work by correcting inflammation only where it's taking place — which could help avoid excessive immune suppression.