David Hudesman, MD: Where Drug Development is Going in IBD

The emergence of biologics have transformed care in inflammatory bowel disease in the last half decade.

Whether it is ustekinumab, rizankizumab, or vedolizumab, patients with either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis now have a bevy of treatment options boosting impressive safety and efficacy data.

But is a clear hierarchy emerging and where is drug development going to go in the next few years?

In an interview with HCPLive®, David P. Hudesman, MD, Medical Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Center at NYU Langone Health, explained where he believes drug development will move toward in the coming years and how new biologics are most likely on the table.

“I think there will be in the next 1-5 years more biologics that come to market,” Hudesman said. “A lot of them are going to be similar mechanisms of action and different options for the patient, as well as biosimilars.”

Hudesman also said a lot of the current early phase studies in IBD have focused more on oral small molecules.

Another area likely to see some action in the next few years is with interleukin-23 inhibitors. Earlier this year, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Risankizumab, the first and only IL-23 treatment for patients with Crohn’s disease.

Hudesman said he expects future research to focus on IL-23’s for patients with IBD.