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Abstract
Introduction: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is essential for the development of ovarian follicles. Urinary-derived and recombinant FSH (rFSH) preparations are widely used in infertility treatment but have to be administered daily to achieve steady-state serum levels. Corifollitropin alfa is a hybrid molecule with a prolonged half-life.
Areas covered: The development and clinical testing of corifollitropin alfa, including the pharmacodynamics and kinetics, efficacy and drug safety. Searches were performed using the Medline database.
Expert opinion: Corifollitropin alfa is composed of the FSH α-subunit and a hybrid of the FSH β-subunit and the C-terminal peptide (CTP) of the human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) β-subunit. The rationale of developing such a molecule was to reduce patient burden, by reducing the number of injections required to sustain multifollicular growth. Two strengths of corifollitropin are available (for patients ≤ 60 kg and > 60 kg). Compared with a daily dose of 200 IU of rFSH, 150 mcg of corifollitropin is equivalent in safety and pregnancy outcomes in women > 60 and < 90 kg using an antagonist protocol. Another RCT in women ≤ 60 kg also confirmed safety and efficacy of follicular stimulation (100 mcg of corifollitropin versus 150 IU of rFSH), but it was not powered to demonstrate equivalence in terms of pregnancy rates.
Declaration of interests
L Rombauts was clinical advisor for and has received education grants and unrestricted research funds from Merck-Serono and Merck-Schering-Plough. He also is a minority shareholder in Monash IVF. A Talmor has no competing interests to declare and has received no funding in preparation of this manuscript.
Notes
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