antagonist
An antagonist is a character in a story who is presented as the main enemy or rival of the protagonist and is often depicted as a villain.''N''-terminal domain (NTD) of the
androgen receptor
The androgen receptor (AR), also known as NR3C4 (nuclear receptor subfamily 3, group C, member 4), is a type of nuclear receptor that is activated by binding any of the androgenic hormones, including testosterone and dihydrotestosterone, in th ...
(AR), which is under development for the treatment of
prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...
. The compound was developed as a successor of previous drugs in the EPI series such as
EPI-001
EPI-001 is the first inhibitor of the androgen receptor amino-terminal domain. The single stereoisomer of EPI-001, EPI-002, is a first-in-class drug that the USAN council assigned a new stem class "-aniten" and the generic name "ralaniten". This ...
,
ralaniten
Ralaniten (developmental code name EPI-002) is an N-terminal domain antiandrogen which was never marketed. It is a derivative (chemistry), derivative of bisphenol A and one of the four stereoisomers of EPI-001. A prodrug of ralaniten, ralaniten a ...
in vitro
''In vitro'' (meaning ''in glass'', or ''in the glass'') Research, studies are performed with Cell (biology), cells or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in ...
'' ( = 535 nM vs. 9,580 nM, respectively), as well as greater stability in human
hepatocyte
A hepatocyte is a cell of the main parenchymal tissue of the liver. Hepatocytes make up 80% of the liver's mass.
These cells are involved in:
* Protein synthesis
* Protein storage
* Transformation of carbohydrates
* Synthesis of cholesterol, bi ...
clinical trial
Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...
s in 2020. Preliminary results of a phase I/ II clinical trial were published in 2023.