A New Approach to Treating a Rare Endocrine Disorder

Most endocrinologists focus on the level of corticosteroids circulating in the bloodstream when treating conditions like the rare endocrine disorder Cushing syndrome. Sparrow Pharmaceuticals believes it is active intracellular steroids that are primarily responsible for causing toxicity in patients. It is developing therapies that target HSD-1, the key regulator of active intracellular steroids. We spoke to David Katz, founder and chief scientific officer of Sparrow Pharmaceuticals, about the company’s efforts to develop new approach to treating Cushing syndrome, how it works, and why this has the potential to address the unmet needs of patients with endogenous Cushing syndrome.