Crohn’s disease hopes
Watchdog backs treatment to relieve symptoms
THOUSANDS of patients with an incurable digestive disorder can be prescribed a drug found to suppress symptoms after Scotland’s medicines watchdog approved it for use on the NHS.
Sufferers of moderate to severe Crohn’s disease will be able to get vedolizumab, brand name Entyvio, from their GP for the first time after the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) passed the drug for routine use on the health service.
Crohn’s disease is a life-long, re-lapsing condition that tends to strike young people in their late teenage years or early 20s.
There are nearly 10,380 sufferers in Scotland, one of the highest incidences in Europe, while famous faces with the condition include the actor Ken Stott and comic book writer Mark Millar.
Scotland and West Bromwich Albion captain Darren Fletcher suffered from the similar condition ulcerative colitis, for which Entyvio is already prescribed.
The drug will be available to adult patients who have become intolerant or unresponsive to existing treatments, known as TNF alpha inhibitors, and to those who found the current medications ineffective.
Crohn’s disease causes chronic inflammation of the gut wall, especially in the intestines, which can result in painful ulcers, abdominal aches and debilit ating symptoms such as urgent diarrhoea, rectal bleeding and extreme fatigue.
Patients also suffer malnutrition and weight loss as a result of painful flare ups which make digesting food extremely difficult.
The inflammation can lead to narrowing of the bowel and, in severe cases, potentially fatal complications such as a complete blockage or perforation of the bowel, requiring life-changing surgery at a point in life when many patients are studying, finding their first job and trying to establish their adult lives.
Another famous Crohn’s disease sufferer is Sam Faiers, the former cast member of the Essex-based reality show The Only Way Is Essex, who was hospitalised by the condition.
Clinical trials have shown vedol- izumab to provide long-term relief from symptoms by suppressing the gut’s immune system.
It is administered as a 30-minute intravenous infusion given every eight weeks
Dr Charlie Lees, consultant gastroenterologist at the Western General Hospital, Edinburgh, said: “Getting patients into remission and keeping them there longterm is the primary goal of treatment. Clinical trials have confirmed that vedolizumab provides long-term remission from symptoms.”
In clinical trials, 28 per cent of patients who had failed to manage the disease with TNF alpha inhibitors were still in remission from Crohn’s symptoms a year after being started on vedolizumab, compared to 13 per cent of patients in the control group.
It is unclear exactly what causes Crohn’s disease, but it is far more common in highly sanitised Western societies than in developing nations which has led to suggestions that a lack of exposure to bacteria has led our guts to become over-sensitive.
Adam Zaeske, managing director of drug manufacturer Takeda UK and Ireland, said it was “an important milestone in our ambition to address high unmet need amongst patients living with Crohn’s disease in Scotland”.
Cl‘inical trials have confirmed that vedolizumab provides long-term remission from symptoms