A genetically engineered molecule has done well in a trial against ulcerative colitis, the painful disease caused by an immune system attack on the body’s intestinal tissue.A third of the patients who received daily injections of the molecule had remissions after six weeks, more than twice the rate for patents who got a placebo, according to a report in the June 16 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.The test is a second step in the series of trials designed to bring a drug to market, explained Dr. Nancy Simonian, senior vice president for clinical, medical and regulatory affairs at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, the biotechnology firm that created the molecule and sponsored the trial.
