Current and Emerging Targeted Therapies for Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis is one of the main entities of inflammatory bowel diseases. The clinical course of this immune-mediated disorder is marked by unpredictable exacerbations and asymptomatic remission, causing lifelong morbidity. Optimized anti-inflammatory treatment is a prerequisite to not only restore the quality of life of the affected patients but also halt progressive bowel damage and reduce the risk for colitis-associated neoplasia. Advances in understanding the underlying immunopathogenesis of ulcerative colitis have led to the advent of targeted therapies that selectively inhibit crucial molecular structures or signaling pathways that perpetuate the inflammatory reaction.

We will delineate the mode of action and summarize efficacy and safety data of current and emerging targeted therapies in ulcerative colitis, which encompasses representatives of the drug classes of antibodies, small molecules, and oligonucleotides. These substances have already been approved for induction and maintenance treatment or are being tested in late-stage clinical trials in moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis patients. These advanced therapies have enabled us to define and achieve novel therapeutic outcomes, such as clinical and endoscopic remission, histological remission, mucosal healing, and recently, also barrier healing as an emerging outcome measure.

Established and emerging targeted therapies and monitoring modalities broaden our therapeutic armamentarium and have enabled us to define novel therapeutic outcomes that have the potential to modify the individual disease course of patients with ulcerative colitis.