Study: Humira cuts Crohn's hospital stays

ABBOTT PARK, Ill., May 22 (UPI) -- Abbott's Humira appears to reduce hospitalizations for people with Crohn's disease, suggests a new U.S. study.

The phase 3 CHARM study involving 854 patients with moderate to severely active forms of the inflammatory gastrointestinal condition showed patients given Humira were nearly 60 percent less likely to have a Crohn's-related hospital stay compared with placebo -- 5.9 percent of patients versus 13.9 percent.

"Maintaining treatment with Humira was the only independent factor in this analysis that helped patients reduce the risk of Crohn's related hospitalization," said lead researcher Brian Feagan of the University of Western Ontario in London, Canada.

Crohn's disease causes a variety of symptoms that often require hospitalization, including fever, vomiting and intestinal obstruction or infection, which sometimes needs surgery.

Studies show hospitalization accounts for about 60 percent of the disease's cost, Abbott noted, with the average cost per hospital stay for Crohn's estimated at $37,000 per patient.

Crohn's disease is primarily a disease of young adults, usually striking before age 40.