MK-677
In human trialsHeight measured in peopleBy mouthSmall moleculeAlso ibutamoren
A pill that copies a stomach hunger signal to make the body release its own growth hormone. It has never been approved; in children short of growth hormone it sped growth, but less than growth hormone injections did, and a phase 3 trial is running.
An orally active, non-peptide agonist of GHSR, the ghrelin receptor, and the most widely circulated compound in the class. Merck ran phase 2 programmes in the 1990s in GH deficiency, wasting, osteoporosis and frailty; it was never approved. As LUM-201 it completed a phase 2 trial in children with GH deficiency in 2024, and a phase 3 trial against placebo, with 12-month height velocity as the endpoint, began in May 2026.
Risks. It pushed blood sugar up and made the body less sensitive to insulin, and one trial in older patients was stopped early because too many of them developed heart failure.
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