Two-Drug cocktail aims to tame stubborn Crohn's disease

NCT ID NCT07697547

What the study statuses mean

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Recruitment status, easiest to join first

Recruiting now
This trial is taking on new participants right now.
Not yet recruiting
Registered, but not yet taking participants.
By invitation only
Not open to general applications. Only people the study team invites can take part.
Paused
Paused for now. It may or may not start again.
Ongoing
Running, but no longer taking on new participants.
Completed This study
The trial has finished. Results may not be published yet.
Stopped early
Stopped early, before it reached the end. That can be for many reasons, including safety.
Cancelled
Cancelled before anyone took part.

Expanded access (not trials)

Expanded access
Not a trial. This treatment can be requested outside a study, case by case, for people who qualify.
Expanded access (paused)
Not a trial. The treatment can normally be requested outside a study, but is unavailable right now.
Expanded access (ended)
Not a trial. The treatment could once be requested outside a study, but no longer can.
Approved
The treatment has been approved, so it is available normally rather than through this programme.

When the status isn't known

Details not published
The full record has not been published yet, so there is little to show here.
Status unknown
This status has not been confirmed recently, so it may be out of date.

First seen Jul 13, 2026 · Last updated Jul 14, 2026 · Updated 1 time

Summary

This study looks at whether combining two drugs—upadacitinib and ustekinumab—at lower doses can help people with Crohn's disease that hasn't improved with standard treatments. Participants are adults aged 18 to 65 who have already tried and failed other therapies. The goal is to see if the combination can bring the disease under control and reduce gut inflammation.

What this could mean

Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.

Active substance
upadacitinib and ustekinumab
What this could lead to
If successful, this combination could offer a new treatment option for people with Crohn's disease who have not responded to other therapies.
What could go wrong
This is a small, retrospective study, not a large controlled trial, so results may not apply broadly. Combining two immune-suppressing drugs may increase infection risk.

This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.

Study facts

What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.

Participants

84 people

The number who actually took part.

Started

Jul 2023

Finished

Mar 2026

Lead sponsor

Other sponsor

The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.

Who can take part

This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.

Who is studied

Adult patients with refractory Crohn's disease from multiple inflammatory bowel disease centers in China who had prior anti-TNF therapy failure, intolerance, or contraindication and inadequate response to ustekinumab or upadacitinib monotherapy. Eligible patients received low-dose upadacitinib in combination with ustekinumab in routine clinical practice between July 1, 2023 and May 31, 2025, and were included in this retrospective real-world cohort study.

Ages

18 to 65 years

Sex

Anyone

Healthy volunteers

Not accepted

This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.

Show the full entry requirements

Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.

Inclusion Criteria: * Aged 18 to 65 years. * Patients with a confirmed diagnosis of Crohn's disease according to the European Crohn's and Colitis Organisation (ECCO) criteria. * Patients with prior failure, loss of response, intolerance, or contraindication to anti-TNF therapy, who subsequently had inadequate response to ustekinumab or upadacitinib monotherapy between July 1, 2023 and May 31, 2025. * Active Crohn's disease defined by Harvey-Bradshaw Index (HBI) \>4, or endoscopic disease activity with at least one segment having an SES-CD ulcer subscore ≥2. Postoperative endoscopic recurrence was defined as modified Rutgeerts score ≥i2b. For patients in whom the small bowel anastomosis could not be reached endoscopically, disease activity was assessed by the treating physician based on clinical symptoms, elevated inflammatory markers, and imaging findings. * Patients who required dose reduction during full-dose upadacitinib treatment because of adverse events, or who had persistent clinical symptoms, elevated C-reactive protein, active endoscopic disease, postoperative recurrence, or active disease on imaging despite upadacitinib treatment. * Patients with inadequate response or loss of response to ustekinumab treatment, defined by persistent clinical symptoms, elevated C-reactive protein, active endoscopic disease, postoperative recurrence, imaging evidence of active disease, or recurrence after initial response during maintenance therapy. * Availability of inflammatory markers and imaging results within 3 months before initiation of combination therapy. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients receiving upadacitinib in combination with biologics other than ustekinumab. * Patients receiving full-dose upadacitinib 45 mg/day in combination with ustekinumab. * Patients with contraindications to upadacitinib, including hypersensitivity to the active substance or excipients, active tuberculosis or severe infection, malignancy, thromboembolic events, or severe hepatic impairment. * Patients with severe infection, malignancy, pregnancy, or lactation. * Patients with severe intestinal stricture, perforation, or intra-abdominal abscess that might require surgery and interruption of drug therapy during the study period. * Patients considered unsuitable for the above treatment by the treating physician. * Patients with incomplete data, inability to complete follow-up, or loss to follow-up.

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Conditions

The condition(s) this trial relates to.

As listed by the trial registrant

The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.

Contacts and locations

Locations

  • The Tenth People's Hospital of Shanghai

    Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, 201505, China

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Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.