The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence recommended Allergan's Truberzi for irritable bowel syndrome with diarrhea, making it the first such treatment to be recommended for use by the agency, Pharma Times reports.
Here's what you should know:
1. NIH recommends the treatment to people who have not responded to or who cannot receive similar treatments.
2. Truberzi slows down food movement in the gut.
3. In its phase III trial, Truberzi significantly reduced abdominal pain and diarrhea in IBS-D patients. The drug's effects are evident in a week and last for six months.
4. United Kingdom-based University Hospitals of North Midlands gastroenterologist Adam Farmer, MD, said to Pharma Times, "Until now doctors have had limited options when it comes to treating IBS-D and unfortunately this has been to the detriment of patients, many of whom endure debilitating symptoms on a daily basis. For doctors to now be able to prescribe Truberzi, a targeted treatment, this will signify real change for IBS-D sufferers."