Eli Lilly Reports More than 50% Remission Rate in Crohn's Treatment Trial

By Dean Seal

Eli Lilly reports that more than half of Crohn's disease patients achieved clinical remission after a year of treatment with mirikizumab in a recent trial.

The pharmaceutical company said Tuesday that the Phase 3 trial of mirikizumab in patients with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease achieved statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements across multiple endpoints at one year compared with a placebo.

At one year, clinical remission was achieved by 54.1% of patients taking mirikizumab and endoscopic response, another important treatment target, was achieved by 48.4% of patients.

Those are significantly higher rates compared with patients taking the medicine ustekinumab. The overall safety profile of mirikizumab was also consistent with the known safety profile in patients with ulcerative colitis, and serious adverse events occurred more often in the placebo group than in the group taking mirikizumab, Eli Lilly said.

The company has already submitted a supplemental biologics license application for mirikizumab as a Crohn's disease treatment to both the Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency.

Mirikizumab is currently sold as a treatment for ulcerative colitis.

Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 21, 2024 08:49 ET (12:49 GMT)

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