Eli Lilly and Co (NYSE:LLY) announced on Thursday that its drug development candidate, mirikizumab, met the main goals of a late-stage study to test it as a treatment for moderately to severely active Crohn's disease, which causes inflammation in the digestive tract.
The drug maker said mirikizumab helped 54.1% of the patients achieve a state where they were no longer experiencing any gastrointestinal symptoms after 52 weeks, compared with 19.6% who received the placebo.
"Mirikizumab demonstrated robust efficacy across subgroups and particularly in patients for whom prior biologic therapy had failed," Eli Lilly senior vice president of immunology development Lotus Mallbris said in a statement.
The drug was also shown not to be inferior to Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ)'s Stelara in helping symptoms of the disease disappear, Reuters reported.
The media outlet noted that mirikizumab is among Lilly's potential growth drivers for this decade alongside tirzepatide for obesity, lebrikizumab for atopic dermatitis or eczema and pirtobrutinib for cancer.
Eli Lilly stated that it plans to submit data from the late-stage study in 2024 to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as other global health regulators.
In April, the FDA declined to approve use of mirikizumab in adults with ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease, citing issues related to its proposed manufacturing but had no issues with the clinical data or the drug’s safety.
Shares of Eli Lilly climbed nearly 5% to close at $605.28 on Wednesday and have gained 66% year to date.
Contact Sean at sean@proactiveinvestors.com