Pasireotide (PRT)

Pasireotide is an orphan drug approved in the U.S. and Europe for the treatment of Cushing's disease in patients who fail or are ineligible for surgical therapy. It was developed by Novartis. Pasireotide is a somatostatin analog which has a 40-fold increased affinity to somatostatin receptor 5 than other somatostatin analogs.

The drug showed therapeutical potential in a recent study (PASPORT-CUSHINGS B2305) where 162 patients were treated with either 2x 600 µg or 2x 900 µg pasireotide s.c. daily. The effectiveness of the treatment was checked by the UFC-value (urinary free cortisol) after six months of treatment. The mean reduction of UFC after six months was 47.9%, which also lead to amelioration of clinical symptoms such as blood pressure, cholesterol value, and weight loss.