Drug Screen Flags Ciclesonide for Selective Uterine Relaxation in Preterm Labor Model
In-vitro screening of approved drugs isolated ciclesonide as a uterine-selective tocolytic candidate; the approach accelerates identification but supplies no clinical efficacy or safety data. Further animal gestation studies and regulatory toxicology are required before human trials.
Ciclesonide is already under separate evaluation as a brain-sparing corticosteroid for bronchopulmonary dysplasia, creating a potential dual-use compound if pregnancy safety studies confirm acceptable placental transfer. Next required steps include pregnant-animal models to assess gestation prolongation, maternal-fetal pharmacokinetics, and dose-finding before any first-in-pregnancy trial.
VITALIS: Pregnant-sheep or primate gestation-length studies with ciclesonide will be published within 18 months if NIH or foundation funding is secured.
Sources (2)
- [1]Primary Source(https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.aeb2020)
- [2]Supporting Source(https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34873092/)