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What happened to the PMDD-specific treatment (Sepranalone) that was being developed?
What happened to the PMDD-specific treatment (Sepranalone) that was being developed?

Keywords: Asarina Pharma. Research. Clinical trials. Allopregnanolone. GABA. GABA-A.

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Written by IAPMD
Updated over a week ago

Sepranalone was a PMDD-specific treatment developed by Asarina Pharma. It was a treatment that came in injection form and inhibited the effects of the GABA steroid allopregnanolone on a GABA-A receptor in the brain. This was to prevent PMDD symptoms from emerging. Sepranolone is a highly specific treatment, only inhibiting the effect of allopregnanolone on the receptor.


September 2021 Update

You may recall that the much-anticipated release of the topline findings on Sepranalone (a PMDD-specific treatment) back in April 2020 were met with disappointment from the PMDD community - while clinical trials initially looked very promising, sadly a statistically significant difference compared to placebo was not observed for the study’s primary and secondary endpoints, due to the unexpectedly high placebo effect. From this point, the development of Sepranalone as a treatment for PMDD was no longer continued by Asarina Pharma, but they continued its development programs for Sepranolone in menstrual migraine and Tourette syndrome.

In September 2021, The publication of Asarina Pharma’s phase IIb study, including a post hoc analysis by leading PMDD experts, demonstrated that Sepranolone in a 10 mg dose did have a significant treatment effect compared with placebo when examined in an extended 9-day analysis of symptom reduction.

Read the full paper HERE

So what does that mean?

While this update is good news in terms of knowing that Sepranolone does significantly improve the symptoms of PMDD - the ongoing development of Sepranolone for PMDD can only move forward with a collaboration between Asarina Pharma and a large pharmaceutical partner. A new study (clinical trial) would need to involve at least 6 months of treatment (clinical trials) and several hundred patients - an expensive procedure which is not possible for Asarina Pharma alone, so, currently the development of PMDD as a treatment for PMDD has been shelved for the time being. There is still hope that in the future this research will be picked up and continue, but at present, this will depend on future partnerships with a pharmaceutical company with the means to continue this vital research.

We will continue to update this page with any developments.


June 2021 Update - Topline results from its Phase IIa study of Sepranolone for the treatment of menstrual migraine showed a 25% reduction in menstrual migraine days was achieved across the patient population. However, a statistically significant difference compared to placebo was not obtained for the study’s primary and secondary endpoints and so this treatment will no longer continue to be developed at this time for menstrual migraines.

Asarina Pharma will continue its development program for Sepranolone as a treatment for Tourette syndrome.


January 2021: A further update from Asarina Pharma regarding the placebo effect and PMDD has been released and can be found here.


April 2020 Update - Clinical trials were looking very promising, with studies demonstrating a positive safety and tolerability profile for Sepranolone, and whilst a substantial reduction in PMDD symptoms was achieved across the patient population, sadly a statistically significant difference compared to placebo was not observed for the study’s primary and secondary endpoints, due to the unexpectedly high placebo effect.

From this point, the development of Sepranalone as a treatment for PMDD was no longer continued by Asarina Pharma, but they continued its development programs for Sepranolone in menstrual migraine and Tourette syndrome.

Watch the Asarina Pharma press release on the news of the Stage 11b clinical trials results (April 2020) here:


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