One day after Bristol Myers Squibb announced the commercial launch of the multiple sclerosis drug Zeposia (ozanimod), the company said the medication demonstrated statistically significant efficacy as a potential induction and maintenance therapy for ulcerative colitis.

A high dose of filgotinib, the JAK1 inhibitor under long-term development by Gilead Sciences Inc. and Galapagos NV, proved effective in a Phase IIb/III study as a treatment for patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis.

Recently published research in the journal Nature Genetics found significant insight into this question: Why does a patient with an autoimmune disease become a type 1 diabetic rather than have rheumatoid arthritis?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Janssen’s Stelara (ustekinumab) for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis.

Japan’s Takeda Pharmaceutical presented more data from the company’s Phase IIIb head-to-head VARSITY clinical trial of Entyvio compared to AbbVie’s Humira in ulcerative colitis.

Novartis agreed to pay $310 million upfront, with the possibility for more later, for some research assets of Boston-based inflammation specialist IFM Therapeutics as the Swiss drugmaker expands the company’s immunology pipeline.

Abivax – a biotechnology company harnessing the immune system to develop a functional cure for HIV, as well as treatments for inflammatory/autoimmune diseases and cancer – today announced top-line results from its Phase 2a clinical trial, ABX464-101.

Pfizer Inc. announced that the European Commission approved Xeljanz (tofacitinib citrate) 10 mg twice daily for at least eight weeks, followed by Xeljanz 5 mg BID or 10 mg BID, for the treatment of adult patients with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis who have had an inadequate response, lost response, or were intolerant to either conventional therapy or a biologic agent.