LONDON -(Dow Jones)- Abbott Laboratories' (ABT) top-selling arthritis drug Humira has been approved in Europe for ulcerative colitis, the U.S. drug maker said Wednesday. The decision makes Humira the first and only self-injectable biologic therapy for the treatment of moderately-to-severely active ulcerative colitis in adults, and marks the seventh indication for the therapy in the European Union since the product's first approval in 2003. Humira today generates nearly half of Abbott's total drug sales. Ulcerative colitis is a chronic type of inflammatory bowel disease that begins in the rectum and extends into areas of the colon and affects up to 1.2 million people in the EU. There is no known cure for the condition other than surgical removal of the colon. -By Sten Stovall, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 207 842 9292; sten.stovall@dowjones.com
