TiumBio, a Kosdaq-listed R&D company focusing on rare diseases, said on Tuesday its investigational treatment for endometriosis, TU2670, has been officially registered by the World Health Organization (WHO) under the International Nonproprietary Name (INN), "merigolix."

Merigolix is a gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) antagonist. Tiumbio aims to enhance its convenience and effectiveness by developing it as an oral formulation. 

This approach is expected to offer greater convenience in administration compared to existing injectable treatments, the company said. The investigational drug seeks to optimize the regulation of sex hormones by delivering them at optimal doses, thereby minimizing the side effects associated with bone loss.

The WHO assigns INNs to pharmaceutical substances to prevent prescription misuse and improve information communication and convenience; therefore, pharmaceutical products containing TU2670 should now be labeled as "merigolix."

Merigolix is a composite term derived from "meri," evoking a sense of "merry" connoting cheerfulness and energy, and the suffix "golix," representing a member of the "gonadotropin-releasing hormone antagonist" (GnRH antagonist) class, TiumBio said.

The company is conducting phase 2a clinical trials of merigolix for endometriosis in five countries in Europe -- Italy, Poland, the Czech Republic, Russia, and Ukraine.

"After the start of the trial in 2021, the Russia-Ukraine conflict erupted. So, most of enrollments took place in the other three countries," said a TiumBio official. 

TiumBio CEO Kim Hun-taek said the company expects to get top-line results of the phase 2a trials in the first half of 2024 and license out merigolix additionally to Europe.

In August 2022, the company licensed out TU2670 to China’s Hansoh Pharmaceutical in a $170 million deal, including a $4.5 million upfront payment, for the exclusive license to develop and commercialize TU2670 within China.