The elagolix fix

All marketed endometriosis drugs have problematic side effects, especially when taken long term. Doctors would like to have a drug that can be taken safely over a long period of time, and Neurocrine Biosciences Inc. thinks its elagolix will fill the bill. The company recently released top-line Phase II data that it believes showed that once-daily oral elagolix can reach target estradiol levels without the side effects of marketed drugs, which include bone loss, weight gain and bleeding.

"There is a huge need in treating endometriosis pain. The goal is to have a long-term drug that wouldn't cause bad side effects like bone loss or weight gain," said Robert Schenken, chair of the department of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and former president of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine(ASRM)...