New hope for ulcerative colitis patients who failed biologics?
NCT ID NCT07513181
First seen Jun 25, 2026 · Last updated Sep 21, 2026 · Updated 2 times
Summary
This study tests an experimental drug called ATH-063 in 120 adults with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis who have not responded to or can no longer use biologic therapies. Participants will receive either the drug or a placebo for 12 weeks to see if it can reduce symptoms and inflammation. The goal is to find a new treatment option for this hard-to-treat group.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- ATH-063 (an experimental drug taken as capsules)
- What this could lead to
- If successful, this could offer a new treatment option for people with ulcerative colitis who haven't responded to other advanced therapies.
- What could go wrong
- This is an early Phase 2b study with only 120 participants, so results may not apply to everyone. The drug may not work better than placebo or could cause side effects.
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.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 120 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Apr 2026
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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A company
The lead sponsor is a pharmaceutical, biotech, or medical-device company.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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18 to 75 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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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 Hide 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: * Able to understand and willing to provide informed consent and able to comply with the trial procedures and restrictions. * Male or female (assigned at birth, inclusive of all gender identities) participants 18 to 75 years of age, inclusive, at the time of informed consent. * Male or female participants must be postmenopausal/surgically sterile, sexually abstinent, or using 2 forms of protocol-specified contraception, including 1 physical barrier method (condom or diaphragm) plus 1 highly effective method (ie, hormonal contraception., intrauterine device, intrauterine hormone-releasing system, bilateral occlusion, vasectomy, or complete sexual abstinence). Women of childbearing potential (WOCBP) must also be nonpregnant and not breastfeeding. * Has a diagnosis of UC confirmed by endoscopic and histologic evidence at least 4 months before screening. If confirmation is not available in source documentation, the screening endoscopy and histology reports for this trial may serve as evidence. * Has moderately to severely active UC, defined as a UCDSS of 5 to 9, with an EMA subscore of 2 to 3 (obtained during the central review of the screening video endoscopy). * Has active UC that extends \>15 cm beyond the anal verge, as identified at the screening colonoscopy. * Has documentation of moderately to severely active UC that is refractory (inadequate response - signs and symptoms of persistently active disease despite induction treatment at the approved induction dosing indicated in the product label; or loss of response - recurrence of signs and symptoms of active disease during maintenance dosing following prior clinical benefit \[discontinuation despite clinical benefit does not qualify as having failed biologic therapy\]) to 1 to 2 prior approved biologic/advanced UC therapies (ie, biologic therapies, such as antitumor necrosis factor \[TNF\], anti-integrin, and anti-interleukin \[IL\]-12/23 therapies; or advanced therapies, such as sphingosine 1-phosphate \[S1P\] receptor modulators and Janus kinase \[JAK\] inhibitors \[eg, tofacitinib\]; one of which must have been an anti-TNF therapy; the other, if applicable, may have had the same or a different mechanism of action) when given at doses approved for the treatment of UC. * Has documentation of an inadequate response, loss of response, or intolerance to conventional standard-of-care therapy with corticosteroids (ie, prednisone and budesonide), 5-ASAs (ie, mesalamine, sulfasalazine), or other immunomodulators (ie, thiopurines, methotrexate, cyclosporine, and tacrolimus). * Any prior therapy, including any investigational drug, not permitted as concomitant standard-of-care therapy must have been discontinued for at least 4 weeks or 5 half-lives prior to screening, whichever is longer, or the participant must have no active drug detected at the start of screening, as determined by therapeutic drug monitoring. * Has screening laboratory test results within the following parameters: 1. Hemoglobin ≥8 g/dL 2. White blood cell (WBC) ≥3×103/μL 3. Neutrophil count ≥1.5×103/μL 4. Platelet count ≥100,000/μL 5. Serum creatinine ≤1.5 mg/dL and/or creatinine clearance \>80 mL/min 6. Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) values must be within 2× the upper limit of normal (ULN) for the laboratory conducting the test 7. Total bilirubin ≤1.5×ULN at screening in participants who do not have Gilbert's syndrome 8. Total bilirubin ≤2×ULN at screening in participants with Gilbert's syndrome Exclusion Criteria: * Clinically significant abnormal medical history, or abnormal findings on physical examination, vital signs, ECG, or laboratory tests at screening, that the investigator judges as likely to interfere with the objectives of the trial or the safety of the participant. * Surgery (eg, stomach bypass) or medical condition that might significantly affect absorption of oral medicines (as judged by the investigator). * Hospitalization for exacerbation of UC requiring intravenous (IV) corticosteroids (ie, UC flare) within 12 weeks prior to screening. * Current evidence of fulminant colitis, toxic megacolon, or recent history (within 6 months prior to screening) of toxic megacolon, or bowel perforation. * Investigator judgment that the participant is likely to require a colectomy within 12 weeks of the start of trial medication administration. * Has UC that is limited to the rectum or right colon. * Presence or history of an enteric fistula consistent with Crohn's disease (CD). * History of ischemic colitis. * History of indeterminate colitis or microscopic colitis. * History of radiation colitis. * History of CD. * History of colonic stricture. * Positive stool test result for Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile), bacterial infection, or ova and parasites at screening (for bacterial infections, only exclusionary if the active infection requires antibiotic treatment). * History or evidence of any extensive colonic resection or subtotal or total colectomy (with or without presence of a stoma or ileoanal pouch) that would prevent adequate evaluation of trial intervention on clinical disease activity, as per the investigator's judgment. * Current colonic adenomas, dysplasia, or past confirmed colonic dysplasia that has not been eradicated (participants who have had UC \>8 years should have had a colonoscopy to screen for dysplasia within 1 year prior to the screening visit, or this can be performed as part of the screening colonoscopy). A participant with prior history of adenomatous polyps will be eligible if the polyps have been completely removed (documented), and the participant is free of polyps and does not have evidence of dysplasia on histologic evaluation at screening. * Any current malignancy judged by the investigator not to be in full remission (except for basal cell and in situ squamous cell carcinomas of the skin that have been fully excised and resolved). Prior malignancy must have been in remission for \>2 years prior to screening. * Exposure to \>2 prior approved biologic/advanced UC therapies (as defined in Inclusion Criterion) when given at doses approved for the treatment of UC. * Use of agents that deplete B or T cells (eg, rituximab) within 12 months of first trial medication administration. * Participants with potentially active hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection or at risk of reactivation of HBV infection; hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody (anti-HCV) or HCV RNA (unless history of HCV that has been cleared and documented with sustained virologic response for \>2 years); or human immunodeficiency virus antibodies (anti-HIV)1/2 at screening. * Has severe, progressive, or uncontrolled renal, hepatic, hematologic, endocrine, pulmonary, cardiac, neurologic, psychiatric, or cerebral disease; or signs or symptoms thereof. * History of, or concurrent, unstable ischemic heart disease or severe congestive heart failure (New York Heart Association Class III or IV). * History of alcohol or drug abuse or dependence within 1 year before screening that, in the opinion of the investigator, would impair the ability of the participant to comply with trial protocol requirements. * Female participants who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or planning to become pregnant during the trial. * Receiving tube feeding, defined formula diets, or total parenteral alimentation. * History of bleeding disorders or recent use of antiplatelet or antithrombotic agents that in the investigator's judgment preclude safely performing endoscopic procedures and biopsy within the timeframe outlined in the trial protocol. * Use of drugs that are inhibitors of P-glycoprotein (P-gp; eg, amiodarone, clarithromycin, cyclosporine, ketoconazole, ritonavir, verapamil) or breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP; eg, Cyclosporin A, tacrolimus, gefitinib). * Any other condition that precludes adequate understanding, cooperation, and compliance with trial procedures or any condition that could pose a risk to the participant's safety (including any known hypersensitivity to the trial medication products), as per the investigator's judgment.
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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.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
4 sites. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Cleveland Clinic Foundation
RECRUITINGCleveland, Ohio, 44195, United States
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GCP Clinical Research
RECRUITINGTampa, Florida, 33609, United States
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Gastroenterology Consultants, P.C.
RECRUITINGRoswell, Georgia, 30076, United States
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Miami Clinical Research
RECRUITINGMiami, Florida, 33155, United States
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