Emerging therapies for the treatment of ulcerative colitis

Introduction: Ulcerative colitis (UC) is a chronic idiopathic autoimmune inflammatory disorder, primarily affecting the gastrointestinal system. There are many patients affected that do not respond well to therapy and many others to which there is a loss of efficacy every year. The proportion of patients who have already experienced anti-TNF therapy is constantly increasing, making the development of new drugs with alternative mechanisms of action an important need for the treatment of UC. Areas covered: This review aims on emerging drugs in the treatment of UC and reviews data on their efficacy and safety. Expert opinion: UC, for many years, comparatively to CD, received little attention for several possible reasons, especially because it was not considered as a progressive disease able to induce irreversible bowel damage. This has led to lower investments by the scientific community and a slower development of therapeutic options for UC. In the past few years, this trend has started to change. In fact, new promising drugs have been developed and others are emerging with positive results. Although many treatment modalities have recently been approved, additional drugs are currently being investigated and will probably be part of the UC treatment regimen in the coming years.