Elagolix

Endometriosis develops when tissue that is similar to the kind that is normally located in the uterus starts to grow outside of the uterus. Such growth leads to various symptoms like pain during periods, pelvic pain between periods, and pain during sexual intercourse. The growths themselves are referred to as lesions and frequently develop on the ovaries, fallopian tubes, and other areas around the uterus, including the bowel or bladder. The growth of these lesions is dependent upon the estrogen hormone.

Elagolix is an orally-administered, nonpeptide small molecule gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor antagonist that inhibits endogenous GnRH signaling by binding competitively to GnRH receptors in the pituitary gland. Administration of elagolix results in dose-dependent suppression of luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), leading to decreased blood concentrations of the ovarian sex hormones, estradiol and progesterone.