Adalimumab appears promising in pediatric crohn’s disease

by Bruce Sylvester – Emerging uses of FDA Approved Drugs –

Adalimumab appears to be effective in maintaining remission among some pediatric patients with Crohn’s disease.

Researchers from the largest double-blind study of an anti-tumour necrosis factor (anti-TNF) agent in children with Crohn’s disease reported this finding on August 6, 2012 in Gastroenterology.

The investigators enrolled 192 subjects aged 6 to 17 years.  They were assigned to receive either adalimumab 40 mg every other week or adalimumab 20 mg every other week (or 10 mg every other week, depending on body weight).

They found that that over 80% of children with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease responded to adalimumab within 1 month. Response was defined as a decrease in Pediatric Crohn’s Disease Activity Index ≥15 points from baseline.

At 6 months, approximately 34% of subjects were in clinical remission.  At 1 year, 28.4% were in remission.

The investigators reported that more children in the high-dose group were in remission at week 26, compared with those in the low-dose group. However difference was not statistically significant.