NICE UK has approved for the first time a single anti-Stelara targeting IL-12/IL-23 for the treatment of ulcerative colitis.

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) has approved Janssen's Stelara (ustekinumab) for the treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe active ulcerative colitis (UC) who are insatiable to conventional therapies or biologics, who do not respond or lose their response after treatment.
Stelara is the first biotherapy approved by NICE for the treatment of UC targeting leucin (IL)-12 and IL-23 cytokines.
il-12 and IL-23 play a key regulatory role in inflammatory and immune responses.
photo source: Tumor Necrotologist (TNF)-alpha-multibead monoantigen is the most commonly used biologic agent for the treatment of UC.
Stelara and Vido bead monoantigen have similar safety and are different from the mechanism of action of TNF-alpha inhibitors.
clinical trials have shown that Stelara is more effective than placebo in treating patients with moderate to severe active ulcerative colitis.
in the first eight weeks of treatment, indirect comparisons suggest that Stelara may be more effective than TNF-alpha inhibitors, but there is no significant difference between the two biologics for maintenance therapy.
NICE has previously recommended the drug for the treatment of people with plaque psoriasis, psoriasis arthritis and Crohn's disease.
146,000 people in the UK have UC, a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the rectum and large intestine and is currently incurable.
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