# Axelopran

Source: https://onco.cc/drugs/axelopran/  
OnCo record `axelopran` (Treatment). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

Axelopran is a pill that blocks opioid effects outside the brain. Glycyx Therapeutics is testing it with immunotherapy in head and neck cancer in people who take opioids for pain.

## Summary

Axelopran was first developed for opioid-induced constipation and reached phase 2b in that use, according to Glycyx Therapeutics, which now develops it as an adjunct to checkpoint inhibitors. Glycyx sponsors NCT07662720 (MORALE-HN01), a phase 1/2 study of axelopran with pembrolizumab in recurrent or metastatic head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in patients taking opioids for cancer pain, not yet recruiting in the registry. A separate phase 2 trial run by HealthPartners Institute, NCT07354919, tests axelopran in patients with advanced cancers on opioids. The anti-tumour evidence is preclinical.

## Fields

- Kind: Treatment
- Status: phase-2
- Last checked: 2026-11-04
- Tags: pipeline
- Modality: Oral peripherally acting mu-opioid receptor antagonist
- Mechanism: Blocks mu-opioid receptors outside the brain, which Glycyx proposes reverses opioid-driven suppression of anti-tumour immunity while leaving central pain relief intact.

## Sources

- Glycyx: our science: https://www.glycyx.com/our-science
- ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT07662720: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07662720

## Connected records

- targets: [Mu-opioid receptor](https://onco.cc/targets/oprm1/)
- companies: [Glycyx Therapeutics](https://onco.cc/companies/glycyx-therapeutics/)
- trials: [Axelopran for Advanced Cancer in Patients Receiving Opioids](https://onco.cc/trials/nct07354919/)

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