Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) announced results from two phase 2b studies evaluating JNJ-4804, an experimental therapy targeting both interleukin-23 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha, in patients with moderate to severe ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease who have not responded adequately to existing treatments.

The DUET-CD study showed JNJ-4804 achieved clinical remission rates of 50.8% compared to 25.4% for golimumab at week 48. Endoscopic response rates were 38.1% versus 19.8% for golimumab. The rates were also numerically higher than those achieved with guselkumab.

In the DUET-UC study, JNJ-4804 demonstrated clinical remission rates of 41.0% compared to 11.5% for golimumab at week 48, and numerically higher rates than guselkumab at 34.0%.

For patients who had inadequate response to two or more systemic therapy classes, JNJ-4804 showed improvements across multiple clinical and endoscopic measures in both conditions compared to the comparator treatments.

JNJ-4804 combines guselkumab and golimumab in a single injection. The therapy is designed to block two inflammatory pathways involved in inflammatory bowel disease.

Safety findings were generally consistent with the known profiles of the component therapies, according to the company's statement.

Based on these results, Johnson & Johnson plans to initiate phase 3 trials for both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. The data was presented at Digestive Disease Week 2026.