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Ronny Allan
This is my live blog post covering new developments in the area of new Somatostatin Analogues and new delivery systems.
Abstract
As most of you will be aware, there are currently two main types of Somatostatin Analogues (SSA) in use for the treatment of mainstream Neuroendocrine Tumours (NETs) – Octreotide and Lanreotide. You can click on the links for information on both of these well-known NET treatments. This post will focus on the not so well known and anything in the pipeline including different delivery systems.
Those who have read the Octreotide/ Lanreotide patient leaflets will know those SSAs are also used in the treatment of a condition known as Acromegaly. You can see why the drug is used for both as they control the release of excess secretions of various substances, a problem that has an effect on both conditions. In the case of Acromegaly, the condition is typically caused by pituitary tumours that oversecrete the growth hormone leading to elevated levels of IGF-1. Like NETs, Octreotide/Lanreotide is currently the mainstay non-surgical treatment for this condition. For those not aware of Acromegaly there is a nice infographic explaining it here.
Delivery methods discussed in this post include: a smaller, faster and easier injection, capsules, a nasal spray. Other somatostatin analogues includes
It’s important to understand that NETs and other conditions including Cushing’s and Acromegaly, very often share the same hormone inhibiting drugs, thus why any development for these type of drugs is of interest to all physicians and patients in the associated conditions.
It’s also useful to understand that many of these drugs/delivery mechanisms are driven by availability of funding and are subject to the vagaries of the market. For example, one entry on the previous version of this article has been removed as the company manufacturing it went into administration (Solid Dose Injections).
Also check out some generic somatostatin analogues under new branding including the Bynfezia Pen.
Article feature:
New improved delivery system for Lanreotide
Exciting development announced 16th March 2022. Read more here or click on the picture below:
Article feature:
A version of octreotide long-acting which is prefilled and given subcutaneously and suitable for self inject
Exciting development. Read more here or click on the picture below:
Article feature:
Clinical trial for Octreotide capsules (Mycappsa) to begin Oct-Dec 2022 for NETs.
Click here or on the picture to read more:
Crinetics Pharmaceuticals Initiates Phase 1 Study of CRN01941 for the Treatment of Neuroendocrine Tumors
Updated 16 Mar 2022. Still listed on their website but trial marked as completed (no results posted yet)
Updated 21 May 2019. Click here to read about this exciting development.
New delivery system for Octreotide LAR – “Q-Sphera” (MDT201)
UPDATE: In March 2020, the decision was taken to terminate further in-house development of the MTD201 programme with immediate effect although the asset remains available for licensing. All activities connected with MTD201 have been wound down expeditiously and the manufacturing facilities in Bilbao have been closed. Following the termination of in-house development of MTD201, the Company realigned its strategy towards exploiting its Q-Sphera technology more broadly.
I will leave it here as someone may buy the work and proceed. Original Article below
Update 8th January 2020.
An unnamed Asian ‘pharma giant’ has signed a deal with Midatech Pharma Plc that will see it evaluate the latter’s Q-Sphera drug delivery platform.
Midatech’s Q-Sphera™ is an advanced microencapsulation and polymer-depot sustained release (SR) drug delivery platform produced using a novel and disruptive printing based process, with numerous and distinct advantages over conventional reactor based technologies. From a manufacturing perspective Q-Sphera™ is a precise, scalable, efficient, and environmentally friendly microparticle platform. From a clinical perspective Q-Sphera™ ensures monodispersed microparticles that release active drug compounds into the body in a superior linear tightly controlled and predictable manner over an extended period of time from 1 – 6 months. Most recent study has proven sustainability of the injection for up to 6-8 weeks (see full article for details). Read more here in my article dedicated to this project – click here
Intranasal administration of Octreotide Acetate
Updated 16 Mar 2022. Still showing as proof of concept on website here
Updated 14 May 2017. Dauntless Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of specialty therapeutics, announced the outcome of a Phase 1 clinical study to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of DP1038, a novel formulation of octreotide acetate for intranasal administration, compared to subcutaneous Sandostatin® (octreotide acetate) injection in healthy volunteers. DP1038 (octreotide acetate for intranasal administration) is being developed via the 505(b)(2) regulatory pathway for the treatment of acromegaly and neuroendocrine tumors. DP1038 leverages patented technology for enhanced intranasal absorption developed by Aegis Therapeutics, LLC, a drug delivery and drug formulation company that has successfully licensed its technology to leading pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical companies whose partners have multiple late stage clinical programs under development. The drug will most likely use an administration system patented by Aegis called Intravail® Aegis Therapeutics LLC announced last year that it has been awarded U.S. Patent No. 9,446,134 providing non-invasive metered nasal spray delivery of Octreotide (click here to view the announcement). The enabling Aegis Intravail formulation technology is broadly applicable to a wide range of small molecule and biotherapeutic drugs to increase non-invasive bioavailability by the oral, nasal, buccal, and sublingual routes and to speed attainment of therapeutic drug levels in cases where a non-invasive (i.e., non-injectable) form of the drug is unavailable or where speed of onset is important. A description of Intravail delivery systems can be found by clicking here.
About the Phase 1 Trial
The Phase 1 trial was designed to assess the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of DP1038, a novel formulation of octreotide acetate for intranasal administration, compared to subcutaneous Sandostatin® (octreotide acetate) Injection in healthy volunteers. In Part 1 of the study, each of 12 subjects received three doses of DP1038 plus 100 micrograms of subcutaneous octreotide acetate in a randomized 4 x 4 Latin square design. DP1038 was well tolerated across all doses and demonstrated a consistent, dose-proportional pharmacokinetic profile with significant nasal bioavailability. In Part 2 of the study, a single dose of DP1038, which was selected to exhibit a similar pharmacokinetic profile to subcutaneous octreotide acetate, was evaluated in 20 subjects in a cross-over design to compare the pharmacodynamic effect to 100 micrograms of subcutaneous octreotide acetate. Subjects were given a GHRH-arginine challenge, a standard test to stimulate growth hormone release, followed by administration of DP1038 or subcutaneous octreotide acetate. DP1038 showed comparable growth hormone suppression to the subcutaneous reference product. The news announcing the output from the Phase 1 clinical trial can be found by clicking here. Clearly, this is very early days and the product would need to go through the normal drug approval and acceptance routes etc. However, a Phase 1 trial using patients is very exciting.
New Somatostatin Analogue – Veldoreotide (COR-005)
Updated 16 Mar 2022. Still listed on the website here.
Updated 14 Dec 2017. There is another new drug in the pipeline currently known as Veldoreotide or COR-005 (although I can see the term ‘Somatoprim’ used on other searches). COR-005 is an investigational SSA in phase 2 development for treatment of patients with Acromegaly. Although the page on the manufacturer’s website does not mention NETs, an announcement of its progress has just been made at the Endocrine Society’s annual conference for 2016. The announcement states that the drug has “potential additional applications in Cushing’s syndrome and neuroendocrine tumors”. COR-005 targets somatostatin receptors 2, 4 and 5. Read about the drug here.
COR-005 has received orphan drug designation (only for Acromegaly) in the US and EU. There is not enough data to understand how this might benefit NETs and what the differences would be. Hopefully, an update will be available later which will result in an update to this post.
For those interested in Cushing’s Syndrome, (hypercortisolism or high levels of cortisol), the same manufacturer working on Veldoreotide is also working on a new drug in Phase 3 trials known as RECORLEV™ (Levoketoconazole). Not actually a somatostatin analogue, rather it’s a cortisol synthesis inhibitor
Oral Octreotide using RaniPill™
Added 9th Feb 2020. News of a successful phase 1 trial for a pill version of Octreotide. VERY exciting – read more here.
New Somatostatin Analogues
Somatostatin Analogue – Pasireotide
Updated 14 Dec 2017. Not really new but I wanted to include it because it’s not very well-known. Pasireotide is also known as Signifor and SOM230. This drug is already in the pipeline but only for Acromegaly and Cushing’s Syndrome. I found it interesting that is able to function as a multireceptor-targeted SSA by binding with high affinity to 4 of the 5 somatostatin receptors (sstrs 1, 2, 3 and 5), with the highest affinity for sstr5, resulting in inhibition of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) secretion (Octreotide only binds to sstrs 2, 3 and 5). In fact, Signifor represents the first specific treatment for ACTH-secreting pituitary adenomas. Moreover, it is the first approved medical treatment for Cushing’s disease. If you’ve read my blog on NET Syndromes, you will see the connection – both involve pituitary tumours and this drug is designed to cater for scenarios where surgery has not solved the problem or is not an option. Interestingly Novartis describes it as a second generation SSA, inferring that Octreotide is first generation. It comes in short and long acting (LAR) forms with a similar delivery system to Octreotide. It is a US FDA approved orphan drug and is also approved for use in the EU. Novartis has also submitted additional regulatory applications for Signifor LAR worldwide. You can read more by clicking here.
However, there have been studies in its use for advanced NETs where Octreotide is not working or has not sufficiently controlled the effects of the syndrome. You can read a full text article about the study results by clicking here (you will recognise some of the authors including Edward M Wolin, Christos Toumpanakis, John Ramage, Kjell Öberg). My interpretation of the trial conclusion is that there does not appear to be any significant advantages of Pasireotide over Octreotide. The attachment also confirmed studies are ongoing including a potential combination treatment of Pasireotide and Everolimus (Afinitor). There does not appear to be a study comparing it to Lanreotide.
Jonathan R. Strosberg, MD, associate professor at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, discussed pasireotide as a potential treatment for patients with neuroendocrine tumors (NETs). He said “Pasireotide is a somatostatin analog similar to octreotide (Sandostatin) and lanreotide (Somatuline). However, pasireotide targets 4 out of the 5 somatostatin receptor subtypes, which may provide it with an advantage over the other 3 agents. Thus far, there has not been enough evidence showing that pasireotide has a progression-free survival benefit over the other 2 therapies. It is also associated with hyperglycemia. Pasireotide may be an appropriate choice for patients in later lines of therapy. In the future, he envisions that patients could be selected for therapy based on their somatostatin receptor profile.”
Summary
This information is provided for information only. There is no intent to indicate at this point that these new drugs will eventually be approved for NETs. However, it’s another indication that people are working on new treatments which might end up being available at some stage.
The pipeline for new treatments and methods of delivery continues to grow!
Disclaimer
I am not a doctor or any form of medical professional, practitioner or counsellor. None of the information on my website, or linked to my website(s), or conveyed by me on any social media or presentation, should be interpreted as medical advice given or advised by me.
Neither should any post or comment made by a follower or member of my private group be assumed to be medical advice, even if that person is a healthcare professional.
Please also note that mention of a clinical service, trial/study or therapy does not constitute an endorsement of that service, trial/study or therapy by Ronny Allan, the information is provided for education and awareness purposes and/or related to Ronny Allan’s own patient experience. This element of the disclaimer includes any complementary medicine, non-prescription over the counter drugs and supplements such as vitamins and minerals.
General Clinical Trials Disclaimer
Choosing to participate in a study is an important personal decision. Talk with your doctor and family members or friends about deciding to join a study. To learn more about this study, you or your doctor may contact the study research staff using the contacts provided in the clinical trials document. It’s very important to check the trial inclusion and exclusion criteria before making any contact. If you need questions, the articles here is very useful Questions to Ask About Clinical Trials | Cancer.Net
The inclusion of any trial within this blog should not be taken as a recommendation by Ronny Allan.
Finally
Whenever I post about a trial or study, some people get excited without understanding that these new treatments and capabilities can very often take years to come to fruition and it’s also possible that clinical trials can be halted, or that national approval agencies will not approve the final product. Plus, not everyone will be eligible, so always check the exclusion and inclusion criteria in the relevant clinical trials document. Please bear that in mind when reading studies/clinical trials posted on RonnyAllan.NET
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Thanks Ronny. Interesting to read a piece linking Cushing’s with other NETs.
yes, I have some other stuff somewhere
Always heartwarming to see the erstwhile ‘separate’ diseases gradually being pulled under the hormonal umbrella
Interesting read thankyou Ronny