New treatment for menopause side effects raises hopes

Elinzanetant, a new treatment developed by the pharmaceutical company Bayer, has shown very good results in combating persistent symptoms of menopause, France Inter learned on Friday, August 30. This drug has passed clinical trials and is now awaiting marketing authorization.

There are already treatments to combat the side effects of menopause (hot flashes, night sweats, intense sweating, redness, etc.), but the classic treatment consists of taking hormones to compensate for the drop in estrogen levels. And studies pointed out in the early 2000s a possible increased risk of breast cancer. Women have therefore largely turned away from this therapeutic solution.

Elinzanetant works without hormones. Two phase 3 clinical trials, conducted on 700 patients aged 40 to 50, showed very encouraging results: 80% of them noted a significant reduction in the frequency of symptoms such as hot flashes. This molecule will act directly on the brain, on neurons responsible for regulating body temperature.

“Elinzanetant will block the signaling pathway of these neurons, and by normalizing their activity, will modify this thermoregulatory zone and ensure that women will not have hot flashes.”explains gynecologist Florence Trémollières, director of the menopause center at the Toulouse University Hospital (CHU).

After the clinical trials, the next step for the Bayer laboratory is to obtain a marketing authorization. To do this, the German pharmaceutical and agrochemical multinational will first have to show the results of its clinical trials to the American and then European authorities. If all goes well, menopausal women will be able to benefit from this treatment within a year. This would represent a new solution for many people who complain of the side effects of menopause, while research has not progressed in recent years.