Crohn’s & Colitis Congress 2021: Incorporating IBD Therapies 

Announcer:
Welcome to Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation Perspectives on ReachMD. Here’s your host, Dr.Charles Turck.

Dr. Turck:
This is Dr. Charles Turck from ReachMD, here talking to several faculty from the upcoming Crohn’s and Colitis Congress, a Partnership of the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation and the American Gastroenterological Association. Joining me to talk about some of the highlights from his upcoming presentation at the congress is Dr. Stephen Hanauer from Northwestern University. Dr. Hanauer, it’s great to have you with us.

Dr. Hanauer:
Thank you, Dr. Turck. Great to be here.

Dr. Turck:
So, you’ll be speaking on emerging IBD therapies at the congress, and I’d love to hear a quick overview of the topics you’ll cover during your presentation.

Dr. Hanauer:
Well, the majority of the novel therapies that are going to be coming forth over the next several years are really evolutions of our current treatment, for instance if I'm talking about mechanistically, so we have had ustekinumab and IL-12/23 inhibitor on the market for IBD for the past several years. The next iteration of this will be IL-23 inhibitors that have already been approved for other immunologic indications, such as psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis. Another mechanism of action has been the lymphocyte trafficking agents and the success of vedolizumab in the treatment of ulcerative colitis and also Crohn’s disease has led to an extension of other lymphocyte trafficking agents, and I think one of the more exciting are known as the S1P agents that actually trap lymphocytes, not in the bloodstream as vedolizumab does, but instead in the lymph nodes, and already ozanimod has been approved for the treatment of multiple sclerosis and is well under way or on the way, in phase 3 studies that have been completed for eventual approval for the treatment of ulcerative colitis and then in the future hopefully Crohn’s disease, and I think this exciting advance will offer another oral therapy non-biologic to patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis. So, for the most part, what we’re seeing is evolving from one series of agents to another, and that’s also somewhat problematic because there’s a limited efficacy to each of these individual therapies.

Dr. Turck:
And what do you feel will be the key takeaway from your presentation?

Dr. Hanauer:
Well, we're going to see how some of these new therapies actually play in action in the communities. And of course, insurance companies are going to be a major factor on our ability to get our patients access to some of these new treatments. At the moment I see that they're going to have some improvement on both efficacy and in safety but we'll really have to see how they do play out in the real world once they do reach the market place.

Dr. Turck:
Now, from your perspective, how can your peers best incorporate what they’ll learn from your presentation into practice?

Dr. Hanauer:
My peers are going to learn from publication of phase 3 results as they come to fruition, and in symposia we’re going to be giving highlights and really high level results from the new treatments. It is gonna take some real-world data as we’re starting to assimilate with our current treatments to really get a perspective on the effectiveness rather than the efficacy of these agents in clinical trials and learn how they really can be used when they’re out in the community.

Dr. Turck:
Dr. Hanauer, thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us today. We’re, we’re eager to hear what your we’re eager to hear your presentation and the other great content from the 2021 Crohn’s and Colitis Congress taking place January 21st through 24th.

Dr. Hanauer:
Thank you for having me and I so much look forward to the Congress.

Dr. Turck:
Learn more about this and other presentations at www.crohnscolitiscongress.org. I’m Dr. Charles Turck with ReachMD. Thank you for joining us.

Announcer:
This episode was brought to you in collaboration with the Crohn’s & Colitis Foundation and the American Gastroenterological Association. To learn more about the Crohn's & Colitis Congress, please visit crohnscolitiscongress.org. Thanks for listening!