# Drug for Irritable Bowel Achieves Goals in Trial



## Jeffrey Roberts

*September 13, 2010**Drug for Irritable Bowel Achieves Goals in Trial**By ANDREW POLLACK*An experimental drug can reduce abdominal pain and increase bowel movements in people with irritable bowel syndrome, a condition that affects millions of Americans, the drug's developer said Monday.The developer, Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, said the drug, linaclotide, met all the goals in the first late-stage trial testing it as a treatment for the type of irritable bowel syndrome accompanied by constipation. If the drug succeeds in a second Phase 3 trial, with results expected by the end of the year, Ironwood plans to file for regulatory approval next year.As many as 20 percent of American adults have some symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome, according to the National Institutes of Health. The condition is poorly understood and somewhat vaguely defined, so estimates are not very precise. About one-third of the cases involve constipation, another third diarrhea and the rest both constipation and diarrhea, according to Dr. William D. Chey, an expert at the University of Michigan....Jeffrey D. Roberts, president and founder of the I.B.S. Self Help and Support Group, said the results of the trial were significant because of the "very limited" number of approved treatments.The full article is here.Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company


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