{"entity":{"id":"axelopran","kind":"drug","name":"Axelopran","aka":[],"tldr":"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.","status":"phase-2","asOf":"2026-11-04","links":[{"label":"Glycyx: our science","url":"https://www.glycyx.com/our-science"},{"label":"ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT07662720","url":"https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07662720"}],"tags":["pipeline"],"related":[],"cancers":[],"sections":[],"technologies":[],"targets":["oprm1"],"drugs":[],"companies":["glycyx-therapeutics"],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":["nct07354919"],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"provenance":{"editedBy":"OnCo startup monitors","editedOn":"2026-11-04"},"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.","approvals":[],"mechanismSteps":[],"toxicity":[],"access":[],"regulatoryEvents":[]},"route":"/drugs/axelopran/","neighbours":{"target":[{"id":"oprm1","kind":"target","name":"Mu-opioid receptor","route":"/targets/oprm1/"}],"company":[{"id":"glycyx-therapeutics","kind":"company","name":"Glycyx Therapeutics","route":"/companies/glycyx-therapeutics/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct07354919","kind":"trial","name":"Axelopran for Advanced Cancer in Patients Receiving Opioids","route":"/trials/nct07354919/"}]}}