Bruce E. Sands, MD: The Return of Small Molecule Treatments for IBD

As new biologics continue to emerge in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), small molecule medicines also may have a place to fill an unmet gap of treatment needs.

In an interview with HCPLive®, Bruce E. Sands, MD, Chief of the Dr. Henry D. Janowitz Division of Gastroenterology at Mount Sinai Hospital and the Dr. Burrill B. Crohn Professor of Medicine (Gastroenterology), explained the value in using small molecule treatments for both ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

Some of the small molecule treatments that have been historically used to treat IBD were corticosteroids, immunomodulators, including azathioprine, 6-mercaptopurine and methotrexate, and aminosalicylates.

While these treatments have been historically effective, Sands said he expects future research to focus once again on this class of medicine to develop new treatments for patients who may not respond to biologics.

Sands recently chaired the HCPLive® State of the Science event in which he headlined a discussion on potential treatment classes for IBD.

Sands said events like Institutional Perspectives in Gastroenterology: Inflammatory Bowel Disease gives doctors and experts in the field an opportunity to come together and discuss their research and share ideas as to the direction of IBD care.