‘Nutropin Depot’ begins to walk tall

Abstract

The availability of somatropin [recombinant human growth hormone] has afforded the opportunity for achievement of normal physical stature to thousands of growth-deficient children. However, a major downside of the therapy has been the need for daily injections of the hormone. An advance in drug delivery may greatly improve the acceptability and compliance with somatropin regimens. A microencapsulated formulation of somatropin has been developed to reduce the need for injections from daily to once or twice a month. Results of a phase III multicentre clinical trial showed that the microencapsulated formulation achieved growth improvement comparable to that of conventional daily injections, according to a report at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Endocrine Society [ San Diego, US; June 1999 ].