Welcome to We are a privately held biopharmaceutical development company whose management has leadership experience from major pharmaceutical companies such as Roche, Merck, Aventis, and Novartis. Our team’s experience ranges through all aspects of drug development from research, safety assessment and manufacturing through regulatory affairs and commercialization. Our pipeline consists of first-in-class, composition-of-matter protected compounds acting within the ghrelin pathway. |
What is Ghrelin?
Ghrelin is a circulating peptide principally produced in stomach cells that is a ligand for the growth hormone secretagogue receptor-1 (GHS-R1a). Ghrelin exhibits a number of effects, including:
Ghrelin’s short half-life in humans (9-13 min.) and its breakdown in the digestive tract, requiring administration by injection, limits its therapeutic utility. To address this issue, Sapphire’s pipeline includes small molecule, composition-of-matter, patent-protected ghrelin mimetics that display a half-life consistent with once-a-day oral dosing. |
RC-1291 RC-1291 is a synthetic, small molecule ghrelin mimetic that is orally available and intended to be administered as a convenient once-daily treatment to cancer patients suffering from anorexia and cachexia. Intervention with RC-1291 is expected to improve appetite and food intake and attenuate or reverse ongoing weight loss and loss of lean body mass. Additional benefits may include improvements in functional performance and quality of life. RC-1291 Mechanism of Action (High bandwidth) RC-1291 Mechanism of Action (Low bandwidth) |
