Abbott Crohn’s drug ‘reduces disease-related hospitalisation’

At the annual meeting of Digestive Disease Week, Abbott presented analysis of a clinical study relating to the use of Humira (adalimumab) in patients with moderate to severely active Crohn’s disease.

The data showed that patients administered with the compound were nearly 60 per cent less likely to be hospitalised as a result of their condition when compared to those receiving placebo.

Using the Crohn’s Disease Activity Index (CDAI) – an assessment of eight clinical factors in Crohn’s patients – the 56-week trial examined the efficacy of Humira in maintaining clinical remission of the disease in patients, calculated as a CDAI of lower than 150.

Abbott reports that hospitalisation is responsible for around 60 per cent of the cost of managing Crohn’s disease, with patients hospitalised for fever, vomiting, infections and intestinal obstruction.

Brian G Feagan, lead investigator of the analysis, said: “Patients on Humira throughout the one-year analysis were significantly less likely to be hospitalised because of their Crohn’s disease.”

He added that in this trial, administration with Humira was the sole independent factor that resulted in a reduction of hospitalisation in these patients.

Last month, Abbott reported that Humira had been granted a positive opinion as a treatment for Crohn’s disease from the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency.