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What Is Sandostatin® LAR®?

Somatostatin and Octreotide:

Proven to control growth hormone (GH), insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), and gastrointestinal hormone. Octreotide is a synthetic form of the peptide hormone somatostatin.

Diagram of Human Somatostatin and Octreotide

The slow-release form of octreotide, Sandostatin LAR, controls GH and IGF-1 and reduces the size of tumours to help control symptoms of acromegaly. In patients with gastroenteropancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (GEP NETs), Sandostatin LAR controls symptoms by regulating gastrointestinal hormone secretion.

Diagram of Sandostatin® LAR® Release Over 28 Days

Indications for Sandostatin LAR:

Acromegaly

Patients with acromegaly who are adequately controlled on subcutaneous (SC) Sandostatin, and in whom surgery or radiation therapy is inappropriate or ineffective (or not yet fully effective).

Symptoms of GEP NETs

Patients with functional GEP NETs in whom symptoms are adequately controlled on SC Sandostatin. This includes patients with carcinoid tumours or other types of GEP NETs:

  • Carcinoid tumours with features of the carcinoid syndrome
  • Vasoactive intestinal peptide tumours (VIPomas)
  • Glucagonomas
  • Gastrinomas (Zollinger-Ellison syndrome)
  • Insulinomas—for preoperative control of hypoglycaemia as well as maintenance therapy
  • GRFomas

Most adverse events for Sandostatin LAR, including diarrhoea, abdominal pain, nausea, constipation, flatulence, headache, cholelithiasis, hyperglycaemia, and injection-site localised pain, are mild to moderate and short term.

Slow-Release Octreotide: Sandostatin LAR

Sandostatin LAR maintains all of the clinical and pharmacological characteristics of the immediate-release dosage form (SC Sandostatin Injection), with the added feature of slow release of octreotide from the site of injection, reducing the need for frequent administration. This slow release occurs as the polymer containing octreotide acetate biodegrades, primarily through hydrolysis.

With its slow-release pharmacokinetic profile compared to Sandostatin Injection, Sandostatin LAR can be administered once a month instead of 3 times a day, which may lead to enhanced patient compliance.

At Novartis, improving patient lives is what really counts. Two decades after reaching the market, Sandostatin remains a standard therapy for the treatment of acromegaly and the symptoms related to NET.1

Novartis has a proven track record of researching and improving the management of rare diseases, and Sandostatin LAR is setting new standards of care in the treatment of acromegaly and GEP NETs. To date, Sandostatin® has been listed in more than 6000 scientific publications.2 In addition to being the most published, most prescribed somatostatin analogue, Sandostatin LAR is the only somatostatin analogue with formulations that span more than a decade of clinical experience.1,2

References: 1. Data on file, Novartis Pharma AG. 2. PubMed [database online]. National Center for Biotechnology Information. Available at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/gquery?term=sandostatin. Accessed March 19, 2009.