Jan Wehkamp, MD: An Update From the QUASAR Study

There has been plenty of data over recent years on the benefit of ustekinumab (STELARA) and the 2022 American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Annual Meeting in Charlotte was no different.

During the recent conference, there were several studies presented on the value of the treatment in patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

In an interview with HCPLive®, Jan Wehkamp, MD, vice president, Gastroenterology Disease area leader, Janssen Research & Development, discussed the value of ustekinumab and what research still needs to be done for the biologic.

He said the data on efficacy and safety continues to be extremely positive and there is now a need for long-term extension studies on the drug.

Ustekinumab was 1 of several studies presented at ACG. Also included was data from the QUASAR study, showing that guselkumab resulted in greater reductions in C-reactive protein (CRP) and fecal calprotectin (FeCal) for patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis.

In the 313 patient study, investigators observed greater median reductions in CRP and FeCal at week 4 with guselkumab, which continued to week 12, compared to placebo. The median changed from baseline to week 12 in CRP were -1.86 mg/L for the combined guselkumab group compared with 0.06 mg/L for placebo (nominal P < 0.001), while the median changes from baseline to Week 12 in FeCal were -684.00 mg/kg and 0.00 mg/kg for the combined guselkumab group and placebo, respectively (nominal P <0.001)