By Admin – Steroidal.com
A long-acting and effective human growth hormone (hGH) variant has been produced and is being commercialised by a major pharmaceutical company.
The long-acting hGH variant was first produced by Israeli pharmaceutical company – Biotech Opko Health Inc – and named hGH-CTP.
The hGH variant was produced for the treatment of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) in adults and children. Often when this occurs, stunted growth is evident and exogenous hGH injections are given to aid in the growth of muscle mass, bones and other tissues. A well-known athlete with GHD is Barcelona and footballing superstar – Lionel Messi.
The new long-acting formula is in the latter stages of human testing by Opko Health and has showed very promising results for the treatment of stunted growth and gestational age (SGA) in children. hGH-CTP is currently in Phase III testing in adults and Phase II testing in children, it also has orphan drug designation in the U.S and Europe for the treatment of GHD.
The longer acting formula is injected once per week and means daily hGH injections could be a thing of the past. Whether hGH is used medically or by bodybuilders, often it means daily injections of GH and sometimes more frequently, such as in the morning, post-workout and before bed in bodybuilding protocols.
The major pharmaceutical company that has taken an interest in hGH-CTP is Pfizer. Pfizer is known for bringing the erectile dysfunction drug – Viagra – to the market and looks set to bring this hGH variant to the mass market.
Pfizer will receive the exclusive license for the commercialisation of hGH-CTP, if the deal goes through, thought to be an upfront payment of $295m and then further payments of around $275m if certain regulatory requirement milestones are met.
OPKO will lead the development programs of Adult and Pediatric GHD and Pediatric SGA, whilst Pfizer will pick up all commercialisation costs and future marketing studies.
The global hGH market is around $3 billion, with Pfizer’s Genotropin a market leader and well-known brand. Even on the black market, Genotropin is known as a very high quality hGH. HGH-CTP may be added to their Genotropin group of products.
OPKO’s CEO, Phillip Frost, M.D said: “We believe this collaboration will help advance our commitments to patients with Adult and Pediatric Growth Hormone Deficiency as we believe Pfizer’s strengths, expertise and presence in the human growth hormone space makes them the ideal partner for our hGH-CTP program. Our long acting human growth hormone is our most advanced product candidate utilizing our CTP technology to extend the half-life of a broad range of therapeutic peptides and proteins. By reducing the number of injections, our technology can improve patient compliance.”
What this means for bodybuilders and those who use hGH for performance-enhancement is unclear. To be effective at treating medical conditions, the GH must raise serum levels of IGF. IGF levels are also what enhance muscle growth and aid in fat loss, so it would be logical to assume bodybuilders would benefit from hGH-CTP and only have to inject the product once per week.
At such early stages in development and commercialisation of hGH-CTP is years away from being available on the black-market, but like most effective drugs in demand, will be supplied by underground sources and illegal suppliers eventually.
Source:
Weinreb, G. (December 15, 2014). Pfizer buys Israel-developed hormone drug from Opko. Retrieved from http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-pfizer-buys-israel-developed-hormone-treatment-from-opko-1000993744.
