Andrea Banty, NP, DNP: Navigating New Developments in IBD Therapeutics

The inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment landscape has experienced several major developments in recent years, providing patients with more therapeutic options than ever and prompting providers to reevaluate how they approach Crohn disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) management.1

The most recent pipeline development in IBD was the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of guselkumab (Tremfya) for UC on September 11, 2024. Paired with the plethora of other FDA approvals in recent years and drugs progressing through clinical development programs showing promise for FDA approval in the future, the CD and UC treatment armamentariums are expected to continue to grow at unprecedented rates.

In a session at the 2024 annual Gastroenterology and Hepatology Advanced Practice Providers (GHAPP) conference in National Harbor, Maryland, Andrea Banty, NP, DNP, a nurse practitioner at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, reviewed some of the most notable advancements in CD and UC and explained how providers can navigate the expanding IBD treatment landscape.

“It's always helpful to have more options, and there's been a huge drive to find new options to improve efficacy, improve side effect profile help patients with administration… good for insurance coverage,” Banty told HCPLive. “Having different medications with different mechanisms and actions can help patients find that throughout that works for their type of IBD.”

Acknowledging that having so many treatment options may be overwhelming for patients, Banty explained how she typically starts by asking patients if there are any forms of treatment administration they want to avoid as well as what their treatment goals are. She noted many patients want to avoid steroid use, so finding a quick-acting medication is often important to prevent the need for a bridge with steroids.

Banty called attention to the importance of considering treatment positioning based on exposure to biologics, also pointing out the need to assess potential safety risks in each patient.

“A number of things go into the conversation, which makes the conversation really, really important to make sure the patient goals are aligned with what the provider is sharing with the patient,” Banty said.

Reference

1. ^{Brooks, A. FDA Approves Guselkumab (Tremfya) for Ulcerative Colitis. HCPLive. September 11, 2024. Accessed September 13, 2024. https://www.hcplive.com/view/fda-approves-guselkumab-tremfya-for-ulcerative-colitis}