ABBV-466 shows higher endoscopic remission than monotherapy in Phase IIa Crohn’s disease study

AbbVie has reported new Phase IIa data showing that ABBV-466 achieved higher rates of endoscopic remission than either anti-IL-23 p19 or anti-α4β7 monotherapy in patients with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease.

The findings come from the ongoing TARGET-CD study and are being presented as a late-breaking abstract at United European Gastroenterology Week 2026 in Barcelona.

ABBV-466 is an investigational dual-targeting therapy designed to inhibit both IL-23 p19 and integrin α4β7.

The treatment combines risankizumab, which targets IL-23 p19, with trosunilimab, an α4β7 inhibitor.

TARGET-CD enrolled 300 patients with moderate to severe Crohn’s disease across a broad range of disease severity and prior treatment experience.

A total of 94 patients received risankizumab monotherapy, 100 received trosunilimab monotherapy and 106 received ABBV-466.

Around 25% of participants were biologic-naive, while 75% had previously failed at least one advanced therapy.

This included 9.3% who had previously failed an IL-23 treatment and 12% who had failed a JAK inhibitor.

A quarter of patients had failed three or more advanced therapies.

At week 12, 30.2% of patients receiving ABBV-466 achieved the primary endpoint of endoscopic remission.

This compared with 21.3% of patients receiving risankizumab alone and 18.0% of those receiving trosunilimab alone.

The treatment difference widened further at week 24.

At that point, 40.5% of patients receiving ABBV-466 achieved endoscopic remission compared with 22.4% in the risankizumab group and 20.0% in the trosunilimab group.

AbbVie also reported findings from gene expression analyses.

At week 12, ABBV-466 treatment was associated with changes consistent with colonic epithelial repair and restoration of the intestinal barrier.

By week 24, additional tissue remodelling and metabolic changes were observed.

AbbVie said these biological changes were generally not seen with either monotherapy.

Kori Wallace, MD, Vice President and Global Head of Immunology Clinical Development at AbbVie, said the programme was designed around evidence that α4β7-driven inflammation may remain active despite IL-23 p19 inhibition.

She said combining the two mechanisms may help address the complex biology of Crohn’s disease more effectively.

Remo Panaccione, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of the Inflammatory Bowel Disease Unit at the University of Calgary, said many patients continue to have active intestinal inflammation despite moving through several advanced therapies.

He said the higher endoscopic remission rates observed with the dual-targeting approach were notable in a heavily pretreated population.

Serious adverse events were reported in 10.4% of patients receiving ABBV-466, compared with 9.6% with risankizumab and 9.0% with trosunilimab.

In the ABBV-466 and trosunilimab groups, the most common adverse events occurring in at least 5% of patients were Crohn’s disease and nausea.

In the risankizumab group, the most common adverse events were Crohn’s disease and arthralgia.

The results support continued development of ABBV-466 as a potential dual-mechanism treatment for Crohn’s disease.

---

---

Related Topics and Keywords

ABBV-466, AbbVie, advanced therapy, alpha 4 beta 7, Biopharma, clinical trials, Crohn's disease, dual-targeting therapy, endoscopic remission, gastroenterology, IBD, IL 23 p19, Immunology, inflammatory bowel disease, pharma news, Phase IIa, risankizumab, TARGET-CD, trosunilimab, UEG Week 2026