Eli Lilly and Co said on Tuesday its experimental treatment for an inflammatory bowel disease succeeded in a late-stage trial.
The 12-week study was testing the efficacy and safety of mirikizumab in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon that leads to ulcers causing abdominal pain, bloody stools and incontinence.
Mirikizumab met the main goal of reducing colon inflammation and frequency of stools in patients compared to placebo.
In addition, mirikizumab demonstrated rapid improvement in patient symptoms as early as four weeks after initiating treatment and met all secondary goals of the study, the company said.
(Reporting by Mrinalika Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)