Bristol's High Profile TYK2 Inhibitor Disappoints In Ulcerative Colitis

Bristol Myers Squibb Company has ambitious development plans for its first-in-class selective tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2) inhibitor deucravacitinib in a wide range of autoimmune diseases, but one proof-of-concept study has come up short. The company announced on 7 October that a Phase II trial testing deucravacitinib in ulcerative colitis failed to meet the primary efficacy endpoint of clinical remission at Week 12, and missed the secondary efficacy endpoints, including clinical response, endoscopic response and histological improvement at Week 12.

The news raises some concern about the broad potential of deucravacitinib in a wide range of diseases, particularly in inflammatory bowel diseases, where BMS has been looking to develop the drug for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. The company is hoping to build out a gastrointestinal disease franchise, starting with Zeposia (ozanimod), which was recently approved for ulcerative colitis