Eli Lilly Advances As Inflammatory Bowel Disease Drug Reinforces Long-Term Confidence

Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY) shares are trading higher on Tuesday as the company is reporting new data on its treatment for ulcerative colitis (UC).

Omvoh Shows Durable Disease Clearance

Disease clearance was evaluated among patients who achieved clinical remission with Omvoh at one year in the LUCENT-2 maintenance study and continued treatment in LUCENT-3, an open-label extension study.

Eli Lilly’s recent data from the LUCENT-3 clinical trial shows that over 63.5% of patients treated with Omvoh (mirikizumab-mrkz) maintained disease clearance after four years.

This is a significant milestone, as it marks the first time an interleukin-23p19 inhibitor has demonstrated such durable disease clearance in patients with UC.

Stringent Measures Reinforce Long-Term Efficacy

Even at the most stringent measure — requiring endoscopic normalization in addition to symptomatic and histologic remission — 61.3% of patients who achieved it at one year maintained it through four years.

The long-term safety profile in patients with moderately to severely active UC was consistent with the known safety profile of Omvoh, with no new safety signals observed. 

Of patients who completed one year of blinded Omvoh maintenance therapy in LUCENT-2 and continued to LUCENT-3, 12% reported a serious adverse event, while 7% discontinued treatment due to an adverse event.

Expanding Label Across Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

In January 2025, the FDA approved Omvoh (mirikizumab-mrkz) for moderately to severely active Crohn's disease in adults.

Omvoh received U.S. approval for two types of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In October 2023, it received approval as a first-in-class treatment for moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis (UC) in adults.

In February, the U.S. drugmaker released promising long-term data regarding its treatment for Crohn's disease, reporting that more than 90% of patients maintained steroid-free remission for three years with Omvoh.

The latest data from Eli Lilly's Phase 3 VIVID-2 study revealed clinical remission of 92.4%, and Corticosteroid-free clinical remission of 91.2%.

Price Action

Eli Lilly shares were up 0.13% at $969.20 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

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