08:45 AM EDT, 10/07/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Johnson & Johnson ( JNJ ) said Tuesday its icotrokinra drug candidate met the primary endpoint in a phase 2b study that evaluated the oral peptide in adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, an inflammatory bowel disease.

The company said that at 12 weeks, patients treated with 400 milligrams of icotrokinra once a day showed a clinical response rate of 63.5%, compared with 27% in the placebo group, while patients treated with 200 mg and 100 mg of icotrokinra once a day had 58.1% and 54.7% response rates, respectively.

Across multiple secondary endpoints, patients in the 400 mg icotrokinra group reported "significantly" greater proportions of clinical remission, symptomatic remission, and endoscopic improvement at 12 weeks compared with those who were given the placebo, the company said.

It added that the 200 mg and 100 mg dosing groups also showed "meaningful" improvements in these secondary endpoints relative to placebo.

The company said that based on results from this study, it has begun a phase 3 protocol in adults and adolescents with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis, as well as a phase 2b/3 protocol in adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease.