Dive Brief:An experimental drug co-developed by Teva and Sanofi met its main objectives in a mid-stage clinical trial in inflammatory bowel disease, showing what the partners claimed to be best-in-class potential.Around half of people with ulcerative colitis who received a high dose of the drug, duvakitug, in a Phase 2 trial had their symptoms resolve after 14 weeks, versus just over 20% of those on placebo. A similar, roughly 48% of Crohns disease patients given a high dose of duvakitug experienced meaningful improvement on a measure of disease severity, compared to 13% of people on placebo, Sanofi and Teva said Tuesday.The companies didnt provide details, which will be presented at a medical meeting next year. Still, they said the drugs effects were consistent across subgroups and rates of treatment-related side effects were similar between both study groups. The partners intend to start late-stage development, pending discussions with regulators.Dive Insight:While the results are from a short Phase 2 trial, Sanofi and Tevas findings suggest duvakitug could be the most potent drug among a handful of closely watched antibody therapies for inflammatory bowel disease, or IBD, wrote Jefferies analyst Peter Welford.These drugs are aimed at a protein called TL1A, which regulates inflammation and fibrosis. Theyve caught the attention of pharmaceutical companies because of their potential to drive hard-to-treat cases of IBD into remission more powerfully and durably than existing treatments.Merck & Co. spent nearly $11 billion on Prometheus Biosciences in April 2023 largely to get a hold of a TL1A blocker that had shown promise in Phase 2 testing for instance. Roche followed with a $7 billion purchase of Televant months later and, earlier this year, AbbVie joined the chase, too.Duvakitug trails Mercks and Roches prospects; Merck has already initiated Phase 3 testing. But Tevas executives have long argued the drug could prove superior and, in Oct. 2023, Sanofi bought in, paying Teva $500 million to collaborate on development. The drug has since become more important to both companies, giving Teva known for its generics a chance at a branded blockbuster medicine, and Sanofi an opportunity to build investor confidence in its pipeline.While cross-trial comparisons can mislead, duvakitugs performance in Phase 2 testing appears strong. Mercks drug led to a placebo-adjusted remission rate of 25% in a Phase 2 trial in ulcerative colitis. Roches therapy was associated with an 18 to 23 percentage-point difference versus placebo in a similar trial, depending on the dose.Duvakitugs roughly 27% delta, and higher rates of disease improvement in Crohns disease, suggest the drugs different design versus its peers could perhaps translate to better efficacy, wrote Jefferies analyst Welford.If the magnitude of effect persists in the Phase 3 program, we believe we will have a differentiated medicine for IBD, said Sanofi R&D chief Houman Ashrafian, in the companies statement.Teva shares surged nearly 20% in early Tuesday trading, while Sanofis climbed by almost 5%.The programs advancement into Phase 3 will trigger a $600 million milestone payment from Sanofi to Teva. '