Corcept Presents Data from Treatment Phase of CATALYST Trial at American Diabetes Association’s 85th Scientific Sessions with Simultaneous Publication in Diabetes Care
- Treatment with a cortisol modulator significantly improves glucose control in patients with hypercortisolism and difficult-to-control diabetes, accompanied by reductions in body weight, waist circumference and glucose-lowering medications
- CATALYST’s prevalence phase identified hypercortisolism in 24 percent of patients with difficult-to-control type 2 diabetes
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–
Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (NASDAQ: CORT), a commercial-stage company engaged in the discovery and development of medications to treat severe endocrinologic, oncologic, metabolic and neurologic disorders by modulating the effects of the hormone cortisol, today presented data from the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled treatment phase of its CATALYST trial of Korlym® in patients with hypercortisolism (Cushing’s syndrome) and difficult-to-control type 2 diabetes at the American Diabetes Association’s 85th Scientific Sessions.
CATALYST met its primary endpoint. Patients who received Korlym exhibited a clinically meaningful and statistically significant improvement in hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), which decreased 1.47 percent from baseline, compared to a 0.15 percent decrease in patients who received placebo (p-value: < 0.001). Of the 91 patients in the treatment group, 65 (71%) received at least 600mg of Korlym and 28 (31%) received 900mg. Patients who received 900mg of Korlym had an improvement in HbA1c of 2.01 percent, compared to a 0.16 percent decrease in patients who received placebo (p-value: < 0.001). The trial also met its secondary endpoints, as patients who received Korlym exhibited significantly reduced body weight (5.1 kg; p-value: 0.001) and waist circumference (5.1 cm; p-value: 0.002), compared to patients who received placebo. Patients receiving Korlym achieved these improvements despite reducing or discontinuing their glucose-lowering medications. Adverse events in CATALYST were manageable and consistent with Korlym’s known safety profile. The most common adverse events (> 20% of participants receiving Korlym) were hypokalemia, fatigue and nausea.
The conference presentations can be found here. Results were published simultaneously in Diabetes Care, in an article titled “Inadequately Controlled Type 2 Diabetes and Hypercortisolism: Improved Glycemia With Mifepristone Treatment.”
CATALYST is the largest and most rigorous trial ever conducted to determine the prevalence of hypercortisolism in patients with difficult-to-control type 2 diabetes and assess the effect of treating patients found to have hypercortisolism with a cortisol modulator. The initial prevalence phase of the trial screened 1,057 patients with difficult-to-control type 2 diabetes (i.e., patients with HbA1c greater than 7.5 percent despite receiving multiple glucose-lowering medications, including best-in-class therapies such as GLP-1 agonists) at 36 sites in the United States. Based on results from a standard 1-mg dexamethasone suppression test, 24 percent of the patients screened were found to have hypercortisolism and were eligible to enter the trial’s treatment phase, where they were randomized, 2:1, to receive either Korlym or placebo for 24 weeks. One hundred thirty-six patients enrolled in the treatment phase.
“Many people with type 2 diabetes do not respond adequately to conventional glucose-lowering therapies,” said John Buse, M.D., Ph.D., director of the University of North Carolina’s Diabetes Center. “CATALYST shows that these patients should be screened for hypercortisolism and that treatment with a cortisol-directed therapy can confer significant clinical benefits, including meaningful reductions in HbA1c, body weight and waist circumference. These powerful findings provide important guidance for physicians treating patients with difficult-to-control type 2 diabetes.”
“We urgently need all physicians, not just endocrinologists, to develop a greater understanding of Cushing’s syndrome,” said Leslie Edwin, President of the Cushing’s Support & Research Foundation. “As a person who has lived with the complex and far-reaching effects of Cushing’s syndrome for almost two decades, it is difficult to see that some things have been slow to change. Patients are still spending years on average searching for the cause of deceptively common symptoms, like elevated blood sugar, weight gain, depression and anxiety treated as individual diagnoses instead of parts of a bigger, more burdensome problem that carries tremendous health risk. The CATALYST data will help physicians identify and treat patients more quickly and accurately through earlier screening, and that is such an exciting prospect for all of us in the Cushing’s community.”
“The CATALYST results will help physicians more accurately diagnose and treat people with hypercortisolism, a serious and deadly disease that too often goes undetected,” said Bill Guyer, PharmD, Corcept’s Chief Development Officer. “One in four patients with difficult-to-control type 2 diabetes have hypercortisolism and treatment with a cortisol modulator can be highly effective in improving many of their signs and symptoms. Corcept is thankful to the patients who participated in CATALYST. We hope these data can help all patients with this disease.”
About Hypercortisolism (Cushing’s Syndrome)
Hypercortisolism is caused by excessive activity of the hormone cortisol. Symptoms vary, but most patients experience one or more of the following manifestations: hypertension, central obesity, elevated blood sugar and difficult-to-control type 2 diabetes, severe fatigue and weak muscles. Irritability, anxiety, depression and cognitive disturbances are common. Hypercortisolism can affect every organ system and can be lethal if not treated effectively.
IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION
INDICATIONS AND USAGE
Korlym (mifepristone) is a cortisol receptor blocker indicated to control hyperglycemia secondary to hypercortisolism in adult patients with endogenous Cushing’s syndrome who have type 2 diabetes mellitus or glucose intolerance and have failed surgery or are not candidates for surgery.
IMPORTANT LIMITATIONS OF USE
Do not use for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus unrelated to endogenous Cushing’s syndrome.
BOXED WARNING: TERMINATION OF PREGNANCY
Mifepristone is a potent antagonist of progesterone and cortisol via the progesterone and glucocorticoid (GR-II) receptors, respectively. The antiprogestational effects will result in the termination of pregnancy. Pregnancy must therefore be excluded before the initiation of treatment with Korlym and prevented during treatment and for one month after stopping treatment by the use of a nonhormonal medically acceptable method of contraception unless the patient has had a surgical sterilization, in which case no additional contraception is needed. Pregnancy must also be excluded if treatment is interrupted for more than 14 days in females of reproductive potential.
DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION
Obtain a negative pregnancy test prior to initiating treatment with Korlym in females of reproductive potential, or if treatment is interrupted for more than 14 days.
Administer once daily orally with a meal. The recommended starting dose is 300 mg once daily. Renal impairment: Do not exceed 600 mg once daily. Mild-to-moderate hepatic impairment: Do not exceed 600 mg once daily. Do not use in severe hepatic impairment. Based on clinical response and tolerability, the dose may be increased in 300-mg increments to a maximum of 1200 mg once daily. Do not exceed 20 mg/kg per day.
Concomitant use of Korlym with a strong CYP3A inhibitor resulted in a 38% increase in mean plasma concentration of mifepristone. For patients already being treated with a strong CYP3A inhibitor, start with a Korlym dose of 300 mg per day and titrate to a maximum of 900 mg per day if clinically indicated. When a strong CYP3A inhibitor is administered to patients already receiving Korlym, adjust the dose as follows: for patients receiving a daily dose of 600 mg, reduce dose to 300 mg. For patients receiving a daily dose of 900 mg, reduce dose to 600 mg. For patients receiving a daily dose of 1200 mg, reduce dose to 900 mg. Titrate if clinically indicated and do not exceed a Korlym dose of 900 mg in combination with a strong CYP3A inhibitor.
CONTRAINDICATIONS
Pregnancy; patients taking simvastatin or lovastatin and CYP3A substrates with narrow therapeutic ranges; patients receiving systemic corticosteroids for lifesaving purposes; women with a history of unexplained vaginal bleeding or endometrial hyperplasia with atypia or endometrial carcinoma; patients with known hypersensitivity to mifepristone or to any of the product components.
WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS
Adrenal insufficiency: Patients should be closely monitored for signs and symptoms of adrenal insufficiency.
Hypokalemia: Hypokalemia should be corrected prior to treatment and monitored for during treatment.
Vaginal bleeding and endometrial changes: Women may experience endometrial thickening or unexpected vaginal bleeding. Use with caution if the patient also has a hemorrhagic disorder or is on anticoagulant therapy.
QT interval prolongation: Avoid use with QT interval-prolonging drugs, or in patients with potassium channel variants resulting in a long QT interval.
Use of strong CYP3A inhibitors: Concomitant use increases mifepristone plasma levels. Adjust Korlym dose as described in Dosage and Administration. Use only when necessary and do not exceed a Korlym dose of 900 mg.
ADVERSE REACTIONS
Most common adverse reactions in Cushing’s syndrome (≥20%): nausea, fatigue, headache, decreased blood potassium, arthralgia, vomiting, peripheral edema, hypertension, dizziness, decreased appetite, endometrial hypertrophy.
DRUG INTERACTIONS
Drugs metabolized by CYP3A: Administer drugs that are metabolized by CYP3A at the lowest dose when used with Korlym.
CYP3A inhibitors: Caution should be used when Korlym is used with strong CYP3A inhibitors. Adjust Korlym dose as described in Dosage and Administration. Use only when necessary, and do not exceed a Korlym dose of 900 mg.
CYP3A inducers: Do not use Korlym with CYP3A inducers.
Drugs metabolized by CYP2C8/2C9: Use the lowest dose of CYP2C8/2C9 substrates when used with Korlym.
Drugs metabolized by CYP2B6: Use of Korlym should be done with caution with bupropion and efavirenz.
Hormonal contraceptives: Do not use with Korlym.
USE IN SPECIFIC POPULATIONS
Lactation: Mifepristone is present in human milk, however, there are no data on the amount of mifepristone in human milk, the effects on the breastfed infant, or the effects on milk production during long term use of mifepristone.
About Corcept Therapeutics
For over 25 years, Corcept has focused on cortisol modulation and its potential to treat patients with a wide variety of serious disorders and has discovered more than 1,000 proprietary selective cortisol modulators and glucocorticoid receptor antagonists. Corcept is conducting advanced clinical trials in patients with hypercortisolism, solid tumors, ALS and liver disease. In February 2012, the company introduced Korlym®, the first medication approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of patients with endogenous hypercortisolism. Corcept is headquartered in Redwood City, California. For more information, visit Corcept.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements based on our current plans and expectations that are subject to risks and uncertainties that might cause our actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, those related to our ability to: operate our business; study and develop Korlym®, relacorilant, miricorilant, dazucorilant and our other product candidates; those molecules’ clinical attributes, regulatory approvals, mandates, oversight and other requirements; and the scope and protective power of our intellectual property. These and other risks are set forth in our SEC filings, which are available at our website and the SEC’s website.
In this press release, forward-looking statements include: the impact of CATALYST on the medical field’s practices regarding the screening for and treatment of hypercortisolism. We disclaim any intention or duty to update forward-looking statements made in this press release.
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KEYWORDS: United States North America California
INDUSTRY KEYWORDS: Science Biotechnology Research Pharmaceutical Oncology Health Diabetes Clinical Trials
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