Abivax Announces Ulcerative Colitis Combination Therapy Strategy and Preclinical Data

Abivax SA, a clinical-stage biotechnology company, has provided an update on its Ulcerative Colitis (UC) Combination Therapy Program and released early preclinical data on the combination of obefazimod and etrasimod in an Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) mouse model. The data revealed that this combination improved body weight protection and Disease Activity Index, with a statistically significant reduction in cytokines such as TNF-alpha, IL-17, IL-6, and IFN-gamma, compared to treatments with each drug alone.

David Rubin, MD, emphasized the need for new combination therapies to overcome the current efficacy ceiling in IBD treatments. Marc de Garidel, CEO of Abivax, stated the company’s goal to develop a fixed-dose combination therapy for UC, targeting the late 2040s. This therapy is expected to offer high efficacy and a safety profile consistent with obefazimod, positioning it as an attractive candidate for combination with other mechanisms of action.

Chief Medical Officer Fabio Cataldi outlined the program's stages, with additional pre-clinical experiments planned for several other mechanisms of action. Abivax aims to select a candidate in 2025 for clinical development. The company plans to present its findings at an upcoming scientific conference and provide further updates by year-end.