Gilead’s pill succeeds in mid-stage bowel disease trial

Oct 19 (Reuters) – Gilead Sciences said on Monday its experimental once-daily pill reduced symptoms of a chronic bowel illness in more patients than placebo in a mid-stage trial.

• The drug, emvistegrast, was being tested in adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, a chronic condition that causes inflammation and ulcers in the digestive tract

• The pill is designed to block the α4β7 integrin pathway, a target already validated in inflammatory bowel disease

• After 12 weeks, 66% of patients taking a 200 mg dose of the drug saw their disease symptoms improve, compared to 37% on placebo, meeting the trial’s main goal

• Also, 31% of patients receiving the treatment achieved clinical remission, compared to 8% of those in the placebo group

• BMO Capital Markets analysts said they view the data as “an incremental positive for Gilead’s inflammatory strategy that establishes emvistegrast as a credible oral α4β7 option”

• The drug was generally well tolerated, with overall side-effect rates comparable between the treatment and placebo groups, and no serious side effects were linked to the study medication

• Gilead said it plans to initiate a late-stage monotherapy study of the pill in 2027

(Reporting by Kamal Choudhury in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)