Helpline
Need to talk, need support? What is our helpline for?
To begin with, you will have vedolizumab through a drip into a vein in your arm (intravenous infusion). After this, you might carry on having vedolizumab through a drip or you might change to an injection under your skin (subcutaneous injection).
If you are having infusions, you will have all of your doses in hospital.
If you are having injections, you will have your first two doses in hospital as an infusion. Then, either you or a family member will be trained to give the injection. You can then take the rest of your doses as injections at home.
Yes, if you are having injections.
No, if you are having infusions.
After your first two doses:
Infusions
Infusions are usually given every 4 or 8 weeks, depending on how well your symptoms are being controlled.
Injections
Injections are usually given every 2 weeks.
Some people may start feeling better within six weeks, but it may take longer. If you have Crohn’s, vedolizumab may take up to 14 weeks to work.
If you respond to vedolizumab and have no serious side effects, you are likely to carry on taking it for a year. After that, your treatment plan may be extended. Your IBD team will continue to check that vedolizumab is still working well for you.
None
In clinical trials:
39% of people with Crohn’s who were taking vedolizumab had their Crohn’s under control (in remission) after one year. 5% of people taking vedolizumab had some improvement in their symptoms, but not completely under control. These people had responded to vedolizumab induction treatment in the first 6 weeks.
42% of people with Colitis who were taking vedolizumab were in remission after one year. 15% of people taking vedolizumab had some improvement in their symptoms, but not completely under control. These people had responded to vedolizumab induction treatment in the first 6 weeks.
None.
We do not know if vedolizumab affects fertility.
There is not much information about the use of vedolizumab during pregnancy. Taking vedolizumab while you’re pregnant is not currently recommended by the manufacturer of vedolizumab. But experts agree that taking vedolizumab while you are pregnant is probably a low risk. You and your IBD team should discuss whether the benefits of taking it outweigh any risks to you and your baby.
Our effectiveness information is based on the best sources of evidence available at the time of writing. These are all calculated in different ways, and therefore they cannot be used to directly compare the effectiveness of different medicines.
Some of the different ways that the evidence is collected include:
Induction/maintenance treatment
Induction treatment is treatment that aims to reduce the inflammation in your gut and get your Crohn's or Colitis under control. Once your Crohn's or Colitis is under control, treatment aims to keep it under control. This is called maintenance treatment. Some clinical trials look at how well a medicine works as induction treatment. Some look at how well it works as maintenance treatment. Some look at how well it works for both.
Where the data comes from
The sources of evidence available for each medicine may be different. Some evidence will come from systematic reviews, which review all of the available data and results from studies on a specific topic. They use strict criteria and assess the quality of each study included. For new medicines, there may not be enough studies to conduct a systematic review yet. So, we use data from other studies such as pivotal trials. Pivotal trials are clinical trials that confirm that a new medicine is safe and works well.
People included in the studies
Sometimes studies look at how well a medicine works in people who have taken other medicines before, such as biologics, compared to people who haven’t taken those medicines. And other studies don’t. Different studies also include people with differing severity of Crohn’s or Colitis.
Length of treatment
Different clinical trials give people medicine for different lengths of time, meaning they can not be used to directly compare medicines against each other. Some clinical trials look at how well a medicine worked after a year, some look at how well a medicine worked after 58 weeks. Some may use a different length of time.
These are just some of the factors that mean we are unable to directly compare the effectiveness of different medicines.
All medicines can have side effects, but not everyone will get them. Some side effects can happen right away, others may happen later. Some side effects are mild and may go away on their own, or after you stop taking the medicine. Others may be more serious and could need treatment. Some side effects might mean that a medicine is not right for you.
This Medicine Tool does not include a full list of side effects. For more information about side effects of a medicine, search for the medicine on the Electronic Medicines Compendium (EMC) website to find the patient information leaflet. This link takes you to an external website.
We know it can be difficult to live with, or support someone living with these conditions. But you’re not alone. We provide up-to-date, evidence-based information and can support you to live well with Crohn’s or Colitis.
Our helpline team can help by:
Providing information about Crohn’s and Colitis.
Listening and talking through your situation.
Helping you to find support from others in the Crohn’s and Colitis community.
Providing details of other specialist organisations.
Please be aware we’re not medically or legally trained. We cannot provide detailed financial or benefits advice or specialist emotional support.
Please contact us via telephone, email or LiveChat - 9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday (except English bank holidays).
If you need specific medical advice about your condition, your GP or IBD team will be best placed to help.
Would you like to save the changes made to this page?
Your details were successfully saved.
