Takeda reports positive long-term ulcerative colitis data for Entyvio

Takeda has announced new clinical data showing the long-term effectiveness of its drug Entyvio as a treatment for ulcerative colitis.

Findings from the GEMINI Long-Term Safety study have indicated that patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis reported clinical improvements with approximately three years of treatment with the vedolizumab-based therapy.

Mucosal healing was also observed in patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis after long-term treatment with the drug over 152 weeks. This factor is generally correlated with lower disease activity levels.

Entyvio is the first and only biologic therapy to be approved for the treatment of adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis who are unable to benefit from other treatments.

Dr Michael Smyth, global brand medical director for gastroenterology at Takeda, said: "Takeda is committed to studying the long-term efficacy and safety of vedolizumab in order to equip the medical community with the best possible tools and data to address the needs of patients who are impacted with these diseases."

The drug was approved in Europe in 2014 and is now available in 48 countries.