The pharmacology of nomegestrol acetate

Abstract

Nomegestrol acetate (NOMAC) is a 19-norprogesterone derivative with high biological activity at the progesterone receptor, a weak anti-androgenic effect, but with no binding to estrogen, glucocorticoid or mineralocorticoid receptors. At dosages of 1.5mg/day or more, NOMAC effectively suppresses gonadotropic activity and ovulation in women of reproductive age. Hemostasis, lipids and carbohydrate metabolism remain largely unchanged. In normal and cancerous human breast cells, NOMAC has shown favorable effects on estrogen metabolism. Like natural progesterone (but in contrast to some other synthetic progestogens), it does not appear stimulate the proliferation of cancerous breast cells. While there has been some experience of the use of NOMAC in combination with estrogens as a hormone replacement therapy, most of the data on the compound are reported in the context of its inclusion as a component of a new contraceptive pill comprising 2.5mg NOMAC combined with 1.5mg estradiol. Because of its strong endometrial efficacy, and due to its high antigonadotropic activity and long elimination half-life (about 50h), the contraceptive efficacy of the new pill is maintained even when dosages are missed. Furthermore, for the first time with a monophasic 24/4 regimen containing estradiol, cyclical stability can be achieved comparable with that obtained using pills containing ethinyl estradiol and progestogens like levonorgestrel or drospirenone. The addition of NOMAC to estradiol means that the beneficial effects of estrogen are not lost, which is of especial importance in relation to the cardiovascular system. On the basis both of its pharmacology and of studies performed during the development of the NOMAC/estradiol pill, involving some 4000 women in total, good long-term tolerability can be expected for NOMAC, although its safety profile is still to be fully ascertained, as the clinical endpoint studies are yet to be completed.