jeff,
re: Crohn's Disease, addition to Zeev's comments
Crohn's and Ulcerative Colitis are closely related and are grouped under the classification of IBD (Inflammatory Bowel Disease). In fact, researchers are not sure if they are actually separate diseases since both are linked to a misfire of the autoimmune system.
The number of people suffering from this disease is huge, like Zeev said. Also, it is a disease that strikes the relatively young (mostly 30-50 yrs. old), so these people have to live with the disease a long time (if they are fortunate).
The most typical treatment today is comprised of mesalamine (close relative to asprin), infliximab, corticosteroids (horrible side effects), and later, methotrexate (once steroids stop working, also horrible side effects). It seems nothing works for very long with most of the patients.
If this drug proves effective and is used in the clinical population at large, it would be a huge boon for both the investor and the patient. Also, keep in mind that there is a lot of work underway with microbial antigens. There are two other drugs in the pipeline (sorry, I don't know the producers) that i know of:
Rifaximin (gastrointestinal site-specific antibiotic)
CDP-870 (inhibits TNF-alpha, known to cause inflammation)
Not to mention uses in other autoimmune diseases mentioned by Zeev, although this is a bit of a long shot at this point in time.
My mom suffers with UC, so I have spent a lot of time trying to educate myself.
AI
