Entyvio bests Humira in first ever head-to-head study in ulcerative colitis

Results from the head-to-head VARSITY study, the first prospective clinical study to directly compare the efficacy and safety of two commonly used biologic therapies in patients with ulcerative colitis, were released today at the 14th Congress of the European Crohn’s and Colitis Organization (ECCO) in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Results showed that Japan pharma major Takeda’s (TYO: 4502) Entyvio (vedolizumab) to be superior to Humira (adalimumab), the world’s biggest selling drug from AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), in achieving statistically-significant clinical remission (p=0.0061) and mucosal healing (p=0.0005) at week 52 in patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis.

This is an exciting time in the landscape of ulcerative colitis treatment, as head-to-head clinical data has not previously been available to guide treatment decisions around biologic therapies, the company noted.