VIDEO: Recent developments in ulcerative colitis

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So, this is a very exciting time for ulcerative colitis and really for inflammatory bowel disease as a whole. I think altogether, we're going back to our patients and the symptoms that are being reported or what we call patient reported outcomes or PROs. We're recognizing specifically the significant impact that there is with fecal urgency. We're also recognizing the impact of all other symptoms, not just fecal urgency, but then incorporating this very early on, even within our clinical trials. So, at present, many of our clinical trials and development and assessment for ulcerative colitis is specifically including patient reported outcomes, fecal urgency, rectal bleeding, stool frequency, pain. Some of these additional clinical aspects, clinical reported symptoms that I think it's extremely important to better understand and adds a significant value for us when we talk about our therapeutic efficacies and the new medications are in the horizon, having that better understanding of the impact on PROs.

I think also what's new is that the medicine cabinet is expanding. And I think we are very excited about that. Certainly, we all want a cure for inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis included. But certainly, having more treatment options available for our patients is of interest. And that includes having an expansion of the mechanisms of action or MOAs. And specifically, having new treatment targets that we're now considering as another agent, another medication perhaps for our patients. We now have an additional S1P modulator. And this is in the addition to what we already have in the medicine cabinet. We have the JAK-inhibitors and another JAK-inhibitor that is added into that medicine cabinet for patients to be as considered as a potential option for their disease, for their ulcerative colitis. And then also we have p19 antibodies our interleukin-23 antagonist, again as a biologic, as a different mechanism of action that we now have available for patients who suffer with ulcerative colitis.

And then there's more, right? So, we certainly know that maybe there's a better understanding we could get with science, with research in regards to, for example, stem cell therapy or microbiome targeted treatments. And that's still in clinical development phases and studies. But another mechanism of action, or MOA, that is currently being evaluated in clinical trials is a different mechanism that respectively or specifically looks at the Toll-like receptor 9 or TLR-9 agonist. So again, more targeted treatments, different mechanisms of action, and hopefully an expanded medicine cabinet as treatment options for our patients.