GH receptor Inhibitors
11 drugsAbout GH receptor
The Growth Hormone receptor (GHR) is a transmembrane protein mediating growth hormone effects, influencing growth, metabolism, and immune function.
GHR is a therapeutic target with strong genetic support (max score 0.92) linking it to 27 diseases including Laron syndrome (0.92) and growth hormone insensitivity syndrome (0.83). Loss-of-function variants increase disease risk, suggesting activation strategies may be beneficial.
Nine approved drugs target GHR, all biologics, including GENOTROPIN, NUTROPIN, and NORDITROPIN. These are marketed by seven companies including Novo Nordisk, PHARMACIA and Roche.
GH receptor Genetic Evidence Strong
Strong genetic evidence supports GHR's role in multiple diseases.
High genetic scores suggest increased confidence in clinical trials targeting GHR.
💡 Why activation?
- • Loss-of-function variants increase disease risk (OR > 1) — restoring function may help
- • 100% directional consistency across 3 traits
- • Strong signal in endocrine system disease, genetic, familial or congenital disease pathways
Cross-Disease Effects
Trade-off: LowDirection of Effect
100% alignedEvidence Across Diseases
20 totalGWAS and other genetic studies link GHR to 27 diseases.
Loss-of-function causes disease; activation may help
Loss-of-function causes disease; activation may help
🔗 Colocalization Evidence 20 strong
max H4: 1.00eQTL/pQTL signals for GHR colocalize with these GWAS traits, providing causal evidence that gene expression changes drive disease risk.
Understanding these scores
Association Score (0-1): Combines all evidence types (genetic, literature, drugs, animal models). Higher = more evidence linking target to disease. This is a ranking heuristic, not a confidence score.
L2G Score: Open Targets uses a machine learning model (Locus-to-Gene) to predict which gene is causal at each GWAS locus. L2G=0.5 means ~50% probability of being the causal gene. Only associations with L2G > 0.05 are included.
Odds Ratio (OR): From gene burden studies (UK Biobank, AstraZeneca PheWAS). Measures how loss-of-function variants affect disease risk. OR<1 = protective (inhibiting target may help), OR>1 = risk (losing function causes disease).
Beta (β): Effect size for continuous traits. β<0 = protective, β>0 = risk.
Clinical Translation (~1.8x): Based on Nelson et al. 2015: drug targets with genetic evidence have ~2x higher success rates in clinical trials. We estimate: Strong support (score ≥0.7) → ~1.8x, Moderate (0.3-0.7) → ~1.3x, Weak → baseline.
Colocalization (H4): Tests whether a GWAS signal and an eQTL/pQTL signal share the same causal variant. H4 is the posterior probability that both traits are associated AND share a causal variant. H4 > 0.8 = strong evidence that gene expression/protein levels drive disease risk. This links genetic variation → gene expression → disease, supporting the target-disease connection.
Top GH receptor Drugs
Seven companies have approved drugs targeting GHR.
The presence of multiple established players indicates a competitive market.
| Drug | Company | Approved | Indications |
|---|---|---|---|
| NORDITROPIN FLEXPRO | Novo Nordisk | 2000 | 6 |
| OMNITROPE | Novartis | 2006 | 5 |
| GENOTROPIN | PHARMACIA | 1995 | 5 |
| ZOMACTON | FERRING | 1995 | 5 |
| NGENLA | Pfizer | 2023 | 1 |
| SOMAVERT | PHARMACIA | 2003 | 1 |
| SAIZEN | EMD SERONO INC | 1996 | - |
| NUTROPIN AQ NUSPIN | Roche | 1995 | - |
GH receptor Drug Modality Landscape
Modalities
Routes of Administration
GH receptor requires biologic approaches (biologic (other)), likely due to its structure or location.
Exploring small molecule GHR modulators could offer a novel therapeutic approach.
GH receptor Clinical Trials 97 trials
Phase 1-4 trials started in 2008 or later that test an FDA-approved drug acting on GH receptor. Source: ClinicalTrials.gov. How we count
Completion by Phase
| Phase | Total | Completed | Stopped | Active | Completion |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Phase 1 | 27 | 22 | 4 | 1 | 85% |
| Phase 2 | 25 | 12 | 6 | 7 | 67% |
| Phase 3 | 33 | 25 | 3 | 5 | 89% |
| Phase 4 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 82% |
Top Sponsors
By Modality
Top Conditions
Top Drugs
GH receptor Drug Approval Timeline (1995 - 2023)
GHR-targeting drugs have been approved since 1995, with the most recent in 2023.
Continued approvals suggest ongoing innovation and market demand in this area.
Pro Intelligence Preview
Deep insights for drug target analysis
Competitive Landscape
- • 8 companies competing
- • Market share by company
Full Drug Portfolio
- • All 11 approved drugs
- • Approval dates & indications
Genetic Validation
- • Full genetic evidence table
- • Effect sizes & directions
Approval Timeline
- • Full 11-drug timeline
- • First-of-modality markers
Clinical Trials Analysis
- • Sponsors: 49 (20 companies)
- • Completion rates by condition
Full summary • All drugs • Genetic evidence • Trials • Timeline
How We Count Trials
- Trials: phase 1-4 interventional trials on ClinicalTrials.gov that started in 2008 or later and test an FDA-approved drug acting on GH receptor. A trial counts if an approved drug acting on GH receptor is in any arm, including as a comparator, and a trial that tests two such drugs counts once. Trials that test only unapproved drugs are not counted. A trial listed as phase 1/2 counts as phase 1, and phase 2/3 as phase 2.
- Active: recruiting, not yet recruiting, enrolling by invitation, or active and no longer recruiting.
- Completion rate: of the trials that have ended, the share marked Completed rather than Terminated or Withdrawn. Completed means the trial ended as planned; it does not mean the drug worked. Suspended trials are not counted as ended.
- Stopped: terminated or withdrawn. Trials stop for many reasons, including slow enrolment and business decisions, not only safety or efficacy.
- Sponsors: the lead sponsor of each trial. Companies are the sponsors ClinicalTrials.gov classes as industry; the rest are universities, hospitals, cooperative groups, government bodies and individuals.