New Drug Therapies on the Horizon for IBD

IBD are diseases of the GI tract causing important morbidity. Several anti-TNF-alpha agents are currently used to treat Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis. Although these molecules have dramatically improved the treatment of IBD, up to half of the patients have no sustained benefit due to nonre-sponse, loss of response or intolerance. New anti-TNF strategies are under development. Novel therapies targeting other immune pathways are under study, such as antibodies targeting the IL-12/IL-23 pathway, and have shown interesting preliminary results. In parallel, antiadhesion therapies limiting the recruitment of cells to the gut will reach the clinic in the coming years. Small molecules inhibiting the production of proinflammatory cytokines are already used in the clinic for rheumatoid arthritis, and Tofacitinib, a Janus kinase inhibitor, seems to have great potential to treat ulcerative colitis. In this review we focus on the novel molecules that are likely to reach the clinic in the near future for the treatment of IBD. Copyright (C) 2012 S. Karger AG, Basel