November 03, 2026

1 min read

Key takeaways:

  • Obefazimod improved ulcerative colitis symptoms within 1 week.
  • Symptom improvements continued regardless of prior therapy use.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Treatmet with obefazimod resulted in clinically meaningful improvements in ulcerative colitis symptoms within 1 week of treatment with increased improvement over time, according to a presentation at the ACG Annual Scientific Meeting.

“[Obefazimod] is an oral agent that is thought to restore mucosal immune balance through regulation of TH-17 cells and activated macrophages, which we know are drivers of active ulcerative colitis,” Bruce E. Sands, MD, MS, FACG, Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, told attendees.



Woman grabbing stomach

Source: Shutterstock.

Sands and colleagues conducted a subgroup analysis of the ABTECT phase 3 program evaluating once daily obefazimod (Abivax) 25 mg (n = 319) and 50 mg (n = 636) compared with placebo (n = 317) in patients with ulcerative colitis.

In pooled data from both ABTECT 1 and 2, patients on obefazimod 25 mg had 13% and those on 50 mg had 16% clinical remission at 8 weeks. In addition, those on either dose of obefazimod also experienced higher clinical response, symptomatic remission, endoscopic improvement and HEMI compared with those in the placebo group.

As early as 1 week after treatment, symptomatic response and symptomatic remission both steadily rose for patients in the obefazimod groups compared with the placebo group.

Over 8 weeks, researchers observed a rising symptomatic response rate before plateauing while symptomatic remission continued to rise for the obefazimod groups.

“Symptomatic improvement consistently increased over time, regardless of whether the patient had prior inadequate response to advanced therapies or by the class of advanced therapy received,” Sands said.

Sources/Disclosures

Source:

Sands BE. Rapid and progressive improvement with obefazimod in ulcerative colitis in the ABTECT induction program: Subgroup analysis by prior advanced therapy failure status and therapeutic class. Presented at: ACG Annual Scientific Meeting; Oct 12-14, 2026; Nashville, Tenn. (hybrid meeting).


Disclosures:
Please see the study for all authors’ relevant financial disclosures.

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