Objectives To evaluate the effectiveness of ustekinumab in treating Crohn’s disease (CD) in a UK real-world setting.

Design This was a multicentre, retrospective observational study of patients (aged ≥18 years) with CD or inflammatory bowel disease of unclassified type (IBDU) starting ustekinumab between 11 November 2016 and 1 August 2020 across eight English hospitals. The primary objective was to determine the proportion of patients achieving corticosteroid-free remission at week 52 for patients with CD/IBDU following initiation with ustekinumab. Corticosteroid-free remission was defined as achieving a clinical Harvey-Bradshaw Index (HBI) score of ≤4 and corticosteroid-free status.

Results The analysis included 422 patients with CD/IBDU. Corticosteroid-free remission was 41% (68/166) at week 16, 41% (47/115) at week 30 and 48% (38/80) at week 52. Clinical remission was 51% (85/166) at week 16 and 50% (40/80) at week 52. Clinical response was 34% (43/125) at week 16 and 32% (17/53) at week 52. Objective remission was 40% (4/10) at week 16 and 70% (7/10) at week 52. Corticosteroid-free remission at week 52 was achieved in patients with previous exposure to 1–2 biologics and/or small oral molecules (56%; 35/63), those without surgical history (64%; 16/25), and those without penetrating disease (54%; 29/54). Patients who achieved clinical remission at week 16 were more likely to achieve corticosteroid-free remission at week 52 (70%; 14/20) versus those who did not (20%; 4/20). In total, 37 adverse events occurred in 21 patients.

Conclusion This multicentre study provides real-world experience of ustekinumab in patients with CD/IBDU in England.