Pasireotide, sold under the brand name Signifor, is an

orphan drug An orphan drug is a pharmaceutical agent developed to treat medical conditions which, because they are so rare, would not be profitable to produce without government assistance. The conditions are referred to as orphan diseases. The assignment of ...

approved in the United States and the European Union Text was copied from this source which is © European Medicines Agency. Reproduction is authorized provided the source is acknowledged. for the treatment of

Cushing's disease Cushing's disease is one cause of Cushing's syndrome characterised by increased secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) from the anterior pituitary (secondary hypercortisolism). This is most often as a result of a pituitary adenoma (speci ...

in patients who fail or are ineligible for surgical therapy. It was developed by

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss-American multinational pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland and Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States (global research).name="novartis.com">https://www.novartis.com/research-development/research-loc ...

. Pasireotide is a

somatostatin Somatostatin, also known as growth hormone-inhibiting hormone (GHIH) or by several other names, is a peptide hormone that regulates the endocrine system and affects neurotransmission and cell proliferation via interaction with G protein-couple ...

analog Analog or analogue may refer to: Computing and electronics * Analog signal, in which information is encoded in a continuous variable ** Analog device, an apparatus that operates on analog signals *** Analog electronics, circuits which use analog ...

with a 40-fold increased affinity to

somatostatin receptor 5 Somatostatin receptor type 5 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''SSTR5'' gene. Somatostatin acts at many sites to inhibit the release of many hormones and other secretory proteins. The biological effects of somatostatin are probably ...

compared to other somatostatin analogs. The most common side effects include hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar levels), diabetes, diarrhoea, abdominal pain (stomach ache), nausea (feeling sick), cholelithiasis (gallstones), injection site reactions, and tiredness. Pasireotide was approved for Cushing's disease by the

European Medicines Agency The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is an agency of the European Union (EU) in charge of the evaluation and supervision of medicinal products. Prior to 2004, it was known as the European Agency for the Evaluation of Medicinal Products or Euro ...

(EMA) in April 2012 and by the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

(FDA) in December 2012. Pasireotide LAR (the long-acting-release formulation) was approved by the FDA for treatment of

acromegaly Acromegaly is a disorder that results from excess growth hormone (GH) after the growth plates have closed. The initial symptom is typically enlargement of the hands and feet. There may also be an enlargement of the forehead, jaw, and nose. Other ...

in December 2014, and had been approved for this indication by the EMA in September 2014.

References

External links

* Orphan drugs Peptides Somatostatin receptor agonists Novartis brands {{systemic-hormonal-drug-stub