A GH secretagogue receptor agonist (LUM-201) elicits greater GH responses than standard GH secretagogues in subjects of a pediatric GH deficiency trial

LUM-201 (ibutamoren, formerly MK-0677) is an orally administered GH secretagogue receptor agonist under development for treatment of pediatric growth hormone deficiency (PGHD).The GH response to a single dose of LUM-201 and to other GH secretagogues used for diagnosis of PGHD were compared in 68 pediatric subjects participating in a trial for growth hormone deficiency.LUM-201 elicited greater GH responses than observed in GHD diagnostic tests with arginine, glucagon, clonidine, L-dopa, and insulin-induced hypoglycemia [median and interquartile ranges 15.0 ng/mL (3.5, 49) vs. 5.5 ng/mL (1.8, 7.6) (p < 0.0001)]. The difference between responses was greatest in subjects with higher baseline IGF-I concentrations and higher GH responses to standard GH stimuli.LUM-201 elicits greater GH responses than standard stimuli in subjects with higher peak GH in response to conventional testing and is potentially an orally administered treatment alternative to injectable rhGH in a subset of patients with adequate responses to an acute dose of LUM-201.