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CCKr Therapeutics
CCKr Therapeutics develops proglumide, a repurposed oral CCK-receptor antagonist platform including chronic pancreatitis.
CCKr Therapeutics develops proglumide, a repurposed oral CCK-receptor antagonist platform including chronic pancreatitis.
CCKr Therapeutics holds orphan drug designations for proglumide in two oncology indications. The US Food and Drug Administration designated proglumide for the treatment of pancreatic cancer on 16 June 2020, and for the treatment of hepatocellular carcinoma on 13 March 2024.
The 2024 designation record names CCKr Therapeutics, Inc. of Durham, North Carolina as the sponsor. Both designations are recorded as Designated and not FDA approved for the orphan indication, so they confer development incentives rather than marketing approval.
The public offering of CCKr Therapeutics is Proglumide, a repurposed small molecule with oral bioavailability that antagonizes CCK-A and CCK-B receptors. The company presents it as a multi-indication development program rather than a single-asset candidate.
The stated indication family covers pancreatic cancer, chronic pancreatitis, liver fibrosis, and pain management, supported by reported early Phase 1 results and ongoing Phase 1/2 studies. Proglumide was originally developed for peptic ulcers decades before the current development program.
The proglumide program targets indications with persistent unmet need: pancreatic cancer, chronic pancreatitis, liver fibrosis, and chronic pain. Pancreatic cancer has few approved targeted therapies and a low survival rate, which sustains demand for new mechanisms.
Chronic pancreatitis is a rare, irreversible inflammatory and fibrotic condition with no approved therapy that restores pancreatic function, so treatment today centers on symptom and pain management. These characteristics support an unmet-need positioning without establishing market size or commercial adoption.
CCKr Therapeutics positions the repurposed status of proglumide as a development advantage, since the molecule has prior human exposure and an established safety context. Dual CCK-A and CCK-B receptor blockade is presented as a mechanism able to address proliferative and inflammatory drivers together.
The company also cites an accelerated regulatory pathway and the orphan drug designation proglumide has received for pancreatic cancer. These are company-positioned advantages; independent clinical validation of the comparative claims is not established by the public sources reviewed.