Fujisawa has launched the immunosuppressant tacrolimus extensively for use in organ transplantation. The compound has also been developed for the treatment of atopic dermatitis, for which it has been launched in the US, Japan, Switzerland, Canada and Germany [425053], [426616], [435668], [447770]. Tacrolimus has also been developed for chronic rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and several other autoimmune diseases [351891], [352195], [360717]. By March 2002, tacrolimus had entered phase III trials for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Japan [442503]. This evaluation will focus on the development of tacrolimus for this indication.