Crohn's Disease: European Contenders Lead

Companies--in particular Europeans--are developing plenty of new biotech treatments for Crohn's disease. But the regulatory path is tough. This painful inflammatory bowel disease is complex and intermittent and responds well to placebo. As such, companies routinely miss primary endpoints-as was recently the case for Elan's Antegren and Schering's Leukine. But Antegren, Celltech's CDP-870, and Leukine could, if approved, reshape their owner's prospects-and potentially give Europe's small-and mid-sized firms the boost they need.