US FDA approval for Janssen Biotech Inc.’s Stelara (ustekinumab) for the treatment of Crohn’s disease puts the interleukin 12 (IL-12) and IL-23 inhibitor on equal second-line footing with anti-tumor necrosis factor (TNF) therapies – the indication’s leading class of biologics.
Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, noted that Stelara is the first drug targeting IL-12 and IL-23 that’s approved to treat Crohn’s. But while more than 30 potential new therapies are being developed to treat the disease, TNF inhibitors will be Stelara’s biggest competition
