Cushing's disease is far from a cushy disease to treat. In fact, there aren't any treatments that have passed phase 3 trials in patients with the hormonal imbalance disease.
Until now.
Novartis
The drug's efficacy is good enough for an approval, but its side-effect profile is pretty ugly:
Side Effect |
Percent of Patients Experiencing the Side Effect |
---|---|
Diarrhea |
58.0% |
Nausea |
46.9% |
Hyperglycemia (low blood sugar level) |
38.9% |
Cholelithiasis (gallstones) |
29.6% |
Abdominal pain |
20.4% |
Diabetes |
17.9% |
Fatigue |
11.7% |
Increased glycosylated hemoglobin (a sign of diabetes) |
10.5% |
Source: company release.
There wasn't a control group, so we don't know exactly how many of those side effects are truly due to the drug. Considering that Cushing's disease is potentially fatal and most of those side effects are manageable, Novartis should have a good argument for approval.
That's one of the advantages of treating life-threatening diseases. Whether you're talking about Valeant Pharmaceuticals
Until something that works better or has less side effects comes along -- Corcept Therapeutics
Now here's a stock you can stand on.