AGA launches patient-focused IBD Drug Guide

 AGA has introduced a free, web-based IBD Drug Guide designed to help patients and clinicians navigate the increasingly complex landscape of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment.

Historically, treatment strategies for Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis followed straightforward “step-up” or “top-down” approaches. Today, however, clinicians must weigh a broader range of biologics and small molecules, along with payer preferences and patient priorities.

While clinicians, insurers, and patients may each have their own preferences, optimal IBD care should center on a collaborative approach, noted Joseph D. Feuerstein, MD, Clinical Chief of Gastroenterology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, who chaired the effort to assemble the guide.

“What this should come down to is shared decision-making about what is the best drug for the patient,” he told GI & Hepatology News. Despite this need, he added, there has been no comprehensive, patient-friendly tool to guide those discussions. This prompted AGA to convene a multidisciplinary team of gastroenterologists, pharmacists, psychologists, and patients to develop the new resource.

Three core pillars

At the heart of the IBD Drug Guide is a structured framework that evaluates therapies based on three key factors: safety, efficacy, and convenience. Users complete a brief, two-minute quiz that captures disease severity, treatment goals, and personal preferences. The tool then ranks therapies, helping patients and clinicians compare trade-offs and identify best options.

“Everyone weighs those three pillars in different ways,” Dr. Feuerstein explained. “That’s really what is important as to how we think about this.”

The development process involved independent scoring of therapies by experts, followed by group review to reach consensus, an approach that yielded strong agreement across the panel.

Enhancing conversations in the clinic

The guide is designed for flexibility, allowing patients to use it before appointments or complete it alongside their clinician during visits. Dr. Feuerstein said he has already incorporated it into his own practice. In one example, a patient with severe disease might clinically benefit most from a highly effective biologic such as infliximab. However, if that patient prioritizes safety over efficacy, the tool may instead highlight alternatives with more favorable safety profiles.

“What’s remarkable is I actually find that it really always comes up with the top three drugs that I was thinking of anyway,” Dr. Feuerstein said, noting that the tool reinforces and clarifies clinical judgment while engaging patients in the process.

A living resource

The IBD Drug Guide officially launched in November 2025 and is intended to evolve alongside the field. “We’re going to work with AGA to continue to update it on a routine basis as new drugs come to market,” he said.

The initiative is supported by independent educational grants from AbbVie and Bristol Myers Squibb.