Drug For Treatment Of Inflammatory Bowel Disease - New Formula Allows For Greater Absorption, Fewer Doses

Main Category: Irritable-Bowel Syndrome
Also Included In: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology;  Crohn's
Article Date: 16 Jul 2008 - 7:00 PDT

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Physician-scientists from NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell, involved in clinical trials for a new drug for those who suffer from inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), say it is the best option among available drugs. Gaizo is a reformulation of the active ingredient 5-ASA in currently available drugs. However, the researchers found that 99 percent of the active ingredient in the new pill is released in the colon compared to only 70 percent in other common IBD drugs.

Dr. Ellen Scherl -- the Jill Roberts Associate Professor of IBD and director of the Jill Roberts Center for IBD at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center -- led the trial, and found that the greatest benefit to Gaizo is the lowered pill burden for patients. Because there is more of the active drug per pill, patients can take the drug less frequently. In the past, patients would have to take three pills between three and four times each day. But now, patients only need to take the drug twice daily. This is especially important because most IBD-sufferers are young teens or in their 20s, and are the most likely patient-group to miss a dose.

IBD includes two diseases: ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Both cause inflammation in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, leading to bloody diarrhea, abdominal pain and weight loss. Drugs to treat IBD are designed to decrease the inflammation in the mucosal lining of the colon.

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, located in New York City, is one of the leading academic medical centers in the world, comprising the teaching hospital NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical College, the medical school of Cornell University. NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell provides state-of-the-art inpatient, ambulatory and preventive care in all areas of medicine, and is committed to excellence in patient care, education, research and community service. Weill Cornell physician-scientists have been responsible for many medical advances -- from the development of the Pap test for cervical cancer to the synthesis of penicillin, the first successful embryo-biopsy pregnancy and birth in the U.S., the first clinical trial for gene therapy for Parkinson's disease, the first indication of bone marrow's critical role in tumor growth, and, most recently, the world's first successful use of deep brain stimulation to treat a minimally-conscious brain-injured patient. NewYork-Presbyterian, which is ranked sixth on the U.S.News & World Report list of top hospitals, also comprises NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center, Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian, NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Westchester Division and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/The Allen Pavilion. Weill Cornell Medical College is the first U.S. medical college to offer a medical degree oversees and maintains a strong global presence in Austria, Brazil, Haiti, Tanzania, Turkey and Qatar. For more information, visit http://www.nyp.org and http://www.med.cornell.edu.

To read Science Briefs on the Web, please visit: http://med.cornell.edu/science.

Weill Cornell Medical College