New data on relacorilant (Corcept Therapeutics), a selective glucocorticoid receptor modulator, revealed several cardiometabolic benefits for patients with hypercortisolism.
Researchers presented results from the GRACE and GRADIENT trials, which assessed relacorilant in adults with hypercortisolism. GRACE was an open-label trial that enrolled adults with endogenous hypercortisolism, whereas GRADIENT included those with adrenal hypercortisolism and randomly assigned participants to relacorilant or placebo.
Both trials demonstrated similar reductions in body weight. The relacorilant group in GRADIENT had a 3.6 kg reduction in body weight, and adults in GRACE reduced their body weight by 3.3 kg at 22 weeks.
“Relacorilant may improve many of the common features of hypercortisolism, which may provide a holistic benefit to our patients,” Oksana Hamidi, DO, MSCS, study investigator and associate professor in the division of endocrinology at UT Southwestern Medical Center, told Healio | Endocrine Today. “An interesting observation was that relacorilant can lead to weight loss, and that weight loss is mostly fat mass, with lean mass being preserved or even increasing. The ability to maintain muscle is particularly important for our patients.”
In a cardiometabolic analysis, adults with hypertension receiving relacorilant had greater reductions in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared with placebo. For adults with hyperglycemia at baseline, the relacorilant group had greater declines in fasting glucose and glucose area under the curve.
Corin Badiu, MD, study investigator, professor of endocrinology and head of the department of endocrinology IV in the National Institute of Endocrinology and “C.Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania, and fellow of the Romanian Academy of Medical Sciences, said the benefits of relacorilant may extend into additional areas that could be studied in the future.
“Apart from metabolic and cardiovascular improvements, we expect long-term improvements in bone mass, liver steatosis, mood, sleep and other behavioral aspects [that] are disturbed in hypercortisolism,” Badiu told Healio | Endocrine Today.
Irina Bancos, MD, MSc, professor of medicine in the division of endocrinology, metabolism and nutrition at Mayo Clinic, said relacorilant could provide benefits similar to mifepristone (Korlym, Corcept Therapeutics) for patients with hypercortisolism, but with fewer adverse events related to progesterone health. Bancos was not involved with the trial.
“Why is there a need for another medication in the same class by the same company? The major reason is to achieve the same metabolic impact as far as weight loss and improvement of hyperglycemia … but also to decrease the side effects,” Bancos told Healio | Endocrine Today.
Filed under: adrenal, Clinical trials, Cushing's, pituitary, Treatments | Tagged: adrenal hypercortisolism, GRACE trial, GRADIENT trial, Korlym, relacorilant | Leave a comment »
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