Corcept tries to repeat the glucocorticoid trick
Nenocorilant features among the latest industry projects newly into phase 1.
Nenocorilant features among the latest industry projects newly into phase 1.
After Corcept’s glucocorticoid receptor antagonist relacorilant propelled this biotech to a multi-billion dollar valuation an attempt is being made to repeat the success with a similarly acting project, nenocorilant. The latter’s first-in-human study has appeared on the clinicaltrials.gov registry, and is set to start enrolling solid tumour patients this month.
New listings also reveal two radiotherapeutics entering human studies for the first time. One is from Lantheus, and hits LRRC15 – a target with very little industry competition – while the other is from Telix, which has a key presence in CAIX inhibition, but is now moving to hit this with the radioisotope astatine-211 in place of lutetium-177.
Corcept’s decision to advance nenocorilant, a follow-on glucocorticoid receptor antagonist, is based on its claim that this molecule features improved properties, which allow dosing on a regular basis and make it better suited for combining with PD-1 inhibitors than is the case for relacorilant.
Indeed, the phase 1/2 study just listed on clinicaltrials.gov will test a combination with Bristol Myers Squibb’s Opdivo. In March relacorilant succeeded in the phase 3 Rosella study in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer, and on the basis of this a US filing has been submitted, with an 11 July 2026 FDA action date.
Still, glucocorticoid receptor antagonism is an unusual mechanistic approach in oncology, and the Rosella win came with some caveats. Relacorilant, Corcept’s lead asset, is also awaiting approval for Cushing syndrome, and the company is sitting on an $8.5bn market cap.
Recently disclosed first-in-human studies*
| Project | Mechanism | Company | Trial | Scheduled start |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TQB3122 | PARP1 inhibitor | Chia Tai Tianqing | Solid tumours | Dec 2025 |
| Nenocorilant | Glucocorticoid receptor antagonist | Corcept | + Opdivo in solid tumours | Dec 2025 |
| LNTH-2403 | LRRC15 radioconjugate (uses Lu-177) | Lantheus | Solid tumours | 30 Jan 2026 |
| VG2062 | Oncolytic virus | Virogin Biotech | Solid tumours | Jan 2026 |
| BTM-3566 | OMA1 activator | Bantam Pharmaceutical | Solid tumours | Jan 2026 |
| TD001 | PSMA ADC | T.O.A.D. Oncology | PSMA+ve prostate cancer | Feb 2026 |
| ATO-101 | CAIX radioconjugate (uses At-211) | Telix | Perseverance, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer | Feb 2026 |
Note: *these projects were first listed on the clinicaltrials.gov database between 2 and 11 Dec 2025.
Elsewhere, it will come as no surprise that radiopharmaceuticals remain a popular oncology approach. Telix is a specialist in this field, and already has a lutetium-177 radiolabelled version of the anti-CAIX MAb girentuximab in pivotal trials; now comes the Australian company’s astatine-211 radiolabelled anti-CAIX project ATO-101, due to enter human testing in February.
Another radiopharma specialist, Lantheus, is advancing into clinical trials the anti-LRRC15 radioconjugate LNTH-2403. Targeting LRRC15 has no clinical-stage industry competition, according to OncologyPipeline, with AbbVie carrying out no further work on samrotamab vedotin since this anti-LRRC15 ADC yielded modest efficacy in a phase 1 study back in 2019.
Lantheus shows that interest in this target nevertheless continues; Lumiphore is another player, having worked preclinically on a thorium-227 radiolabelled project. Perhaps the most notable recent move into LRRC15 came in January, when Zai Lab tied up with MediLink over a preclinical ADC.
One target with absolutely no competition, clinical or otherwise, is OMA1. Here Bantam Pharmaceutical is due to take into the clinic BTM-3566, a molecule profiled at this year’s AACR, and said to activate the OMA1-ATF4 integrated stress response, a mitochondrial homeostasis pathway. This apparently has utility in solid tumours with low FAM210B RNA expression.
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