Jump to main content

Starting
Treatment

Guiding you from
the very first step

Patient Portrayal

What are the first steps to your treatment?

Though no 2 paths are the same, there are a few key steps that everyone who’s been prescribed ENTYVIO must go through. If you’ve received the Starter Kit, you’re already on your way. Up next is signing up for EntyvioConnect, getting coverage authorization, and scheduling your IV starter doses.

Sign up for EntyvioConnect

EntyvioConnect is a patient support program designed to help make your journey as stress-free as possible, offering resources and guidance from a caring team of experts, including help navigating insurance processes like coverage authorization and obtaining a co-pay card.

If you’ve been prescribed the ENTYVIO Pen, be sure to ask your Patient Support Manager to send you the self-injection training kit.

Get coverage authorization

After getting prescribed ENTYVIO, your health insurance provider must approve your coverage for ENTYVIO. These 2 steps are typically handled by your doctor's office.

1: Benefits Investigation

Your doctor's office will work with your insurance company to determine if ENTYVIO can be covered under your benefit plan.

2: Prior Authorization

Your doctor's office will submit a request to your health insurance company to get approval for you to start treatment with ENTYVIO.

Keep in mind that the authorization process may take several weeks. Your doctor's office will be in touch if they need additional information. Once your coverage is approved, you'll be ready to receive your starter doses.

What are starter doses like?

Whether you’ve been prescribed intravenous (IV) infusion or the ENTYVIO Pen as maintenance therapy, everyone who starts ENTYVIO will have at least 2 IV starter doses.

Your healthcare provider will administer ENTYVIO as an infusion through a needle placed in a vein in your arm, either at their office, at an infusion center, or in your home. Infusions last approximately 30 minutes. They will also monitor you during and after the infusion to see if you have a reaction to the treatment.

If you haven’t already, reach out to your healthcare provider and make sure your starter doses are scheduled.

Want to hear from other patients about what it’s like to have an infusion? Watch the video below.

Watch real ENTYVIO patients describe what it’s like to get an infusion and get tips for what to bring to your infusion appointment.

Dan, a real patient on ENTYVIO®, explains what it's like to have an infusion.

What's it
like to have
an infusion?

05:27

Click here for Medication Guide

Sheila:
Some people are afraid of needles or injections.

I wouldn't be nervous about the infusion, um, it's, it's not hard.

Dan:
Yeah, it's not that scary. Uh, you go, and you get the line in, and um after the IV line's in and the, the bag's hooked up, it just takes about 30 minutes and the infusion center I went to, they had a little TV... so I was able to watch the news when I was getting my infusion done.

Kate:
Sometimes you end up meeting people who happen to be there at the same time... and it's nice to see those familiar faces again. I made a friend who had Crohn's disease... and we would actually be infusion buddies. So we would schedule our infusions at the same time and then go have lunch together.

Ron:
So you, you do have to go in for infusions every eight weeks... and that, that little bit of fear and anticipation of having to go in and have a needle stuck in you... The advice is... it's all worth it... If this medication works for you, it's worth it.

ENTYVIO is a prescription medicine used in adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease when certain other medications have not worked well enough or cannot be tolerated.

Important Safety Information about ENTYVIO® (vedolizumab)

  • Do not receive ENTYVIO if you have had an allergic reaction to ENTYVIO or any of its ingredients.
  • ENTYVIO may cause serious side effects, including:
    • Infusion-related and serious allergic reactions can happen while you are receiving ENTYVIO or several hours after treatment. You may need treatment if you have an allergic reaction. Tell your healthcare provider or get immediate medical help if you get any of these symptoms during or after an infusion of ENTYVIO: rash, itching, swelling of your lips, tongue, throat or face, shortness of breath or trouble breathing, wheezing, dizziness, feeling hot, or palpitations (feel like your heart is racing).
    • ENTYVIO may increase your risk of getting a serious infection. Before receiving and during treatment with ENTYVIO, tell your healthcare provider if you think you have an infection or symptoms of an infection, such as fever, chills, muscle aches, cough, shortness of breath, runny nose, sore throat, red or painful skin or sores on your body, tiredness, or pain during urination.
    • People with weakened immune systems can get progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML) (a rare, serious brain infection caused by a virus). Although unlikely while receiving ENTYVIO, a risk of PML cannot be ruled out. PML can result in death or severe disability. There is no known treatment, prevention, or cure for PML. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms: confusion or problems thinking, loss of balance, change in the way you walk or talk, decreased strength or weakness on one side of the body, blurred vision, or loss of vision.
    • Liver problems can happen in people who receive ENTYVIO. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you have any of the following symptoms: tiredness, loss of appetite, pain on the right side of your abdomen, dark urine, or yellowing of the skin and eyes (jaundice).
  • The most common side effects of ENTYVIO include common cold, headache, joint pain, nausea, fever, infections of the nose and throat, tiredness, cough, bronchitis, flu, back pain, rash, itching, sinus infection, throat pain, and pain in extremities. These are not all the possible side effects of ENTYVIO. Call your healthcare provider for medical advice about side effects.
  • Before receiving ENTYVIO, tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you: have or think you may have an infection or have infections that keep coming back; have liver problems; have tuberculosis (TB) or have been in close contact with someone with TB; have recently received or are scheduled to receive a vaccine; or if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, plan to become pregnant, or plan to breastfeed.

Please see accompanying full Prescribing Information, including the Medication Guide, for ENTYVIO and talk with your healthcare provider.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA.

Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.

Uses of ENTYVIO® (vedolizumab)

ENTYVIO is a prescription medicine used in adults for the treatment of:

  • moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis
  • moderately to severely active Crohn's disease

Safety Considerations

Do not receive ENTYVIO if you have had an allergic reaction to ENTYVIO or any of its ingredients. Infusion-related and serious allergic reactions can happen while you are receiving ENTYVIO or several hours after treatment. ENTYVIO may increase your risk of getting a serious infection.

Please see additional Important Safety Information below.

Starter dose schedule

Depending on which maintenance option you’ve been prescribed, your starter dose schedule may vary.

IV starting treatment schedule

Week 0
Week 2
Week 6

You will receive ENTYVIO by infusion at Weeks 0, 2, and 6.

ENTYVIO Pen starting treatment schedule

Week 0
Week 2

You will receive ENTYVIO by infusion at Weeks 0 and 2.*

*Your healthcare provider will determine if it's appropriate to transition to self-administration with the ENTYVIO Pen after at least 2 IV doses.

Wondering if there’s an infusion center close to home?

Use our Infusion Center Finder to locate one that’s convenient for you.

Next step? Maintenance doses

Once you’ve received your starter doses of ENTYVIO, you’ll start receiving follow-up doses, known as maintenance doses. You’ll undergo a maintenance evaluation with your healthcare provider to discuss different options—either IV infusion or self-administered injection under the skin (subcutaneous). Be open with them and ask any questions that you have!

What does the full ENTYVIO treatment experience look like?

Explore the Journey