MEDIA CONTACT: Liz Crown at (312) 503-8928 or e-crown@northwestern.edu

October 7, 2003

Drug May Block Crohn’s Inflammation

CHICAGO --- An investigational drug under study by Alan Buchman, M.D., of Northwestern University may block the intense abdominal pain, diarrhea, bleeding and other symptoms of Crohn’s disease, a condition of unknown cause that affects up to 1 million Americans.

After receiving the experimental drug, called CNI-1493, Lynn Rogers, who has Crohn’s disease, experienced a complete remission of her disabling symptoms for over eight months.

Rogers, 40, who is a third-grade teacher in Corpus Christi, Texas, and was one of the first people in the United States to receive the drug, was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease in 1997.

None of the standard treatments for Crohn’s disease Rogers received, including corticosteroids, imfliximab (Remicade®) and medications that suppress the immune system -- which normally are used for transplant patients -- was effective.

CNI-1493 is a mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitor, a substance that prevents an enzyme from causing white blood cells to produce chemicals that cause inflammation.

Buchman, an associate professor of medicine at the Feinberg School of Medicine, is conducting a new study of CNI-1493, but only Crohn’s disease patients who have never received the drug are eligible to participate.