A short guide to the evidence and funding behind degarelix. Use it to prepare questions for your cancer team. Read the full leaflet supplied with your medicine.
Key takeaways
- Ask what benefit your team expects in your case.
- Discuss alternatives and the outcomes that matter to you.
- Check the full safety instructions for your pack.
- See who financed the evidence below.
1. Evidence summary
| Study | What it establishes |
|---|---|
| CS21 | Testosterone control was studied; this measure does not establish longer survival. [2] [3] |
| PRONOUNCE | Superior or equivalent heart protection versus leuprolide was not established. [4] |
2. What it is and licensed uses
In GB, degarelix is licensed for adult men with advanced hormone-dependent prostate cancer, or high-risk localised/locally advanced disease before or alongside radiotherapy. [1] [2]
3. How it works
4. Specialist care and treatment choices
Ask your team how they will assess benefit, compare alternatives and decide whether to continue. This brief guide does not select a treatment.
5. Supplements and supportive care
This guide does not assess supplements or lifestyle measures as cancer treatments. Discuss supportive-care questions with your team.
6. What the evidence can and cannot tell you
PRONOUNCE studied men with prostate cancer and existing arterial disease. It was open-label with blinded heart-event assessment. Early closure left imprecise results; underlying data are unavailable for independent reanalysis. [4]
7. Risks and urgent symptoms
Suspected severe allergy needs medical advice immediately: examples include breathing difficulty, facial swelling, an itchy rash or dizziness. This is not the full safety list. [1] [2]
8. Medicine review
Bring a complete medicine and supplement list to your appointment. Ask the team to check interactions and monitoring; this page does not clear any combination as safe.
9. Who should avoid it
This guide cannot decide whether treatment is safe for you. Your specialist needs to check the complete restrictions and your history.
10. Treatment visits
A doctor or nurse injects it under abdominal skin. Contact your doctor if you miss a visit. [1] [2]
No dose, injection procedure or personal regimen is provided here. Follow your prescription and pack instructions.
11. Animal and laboratory evidence
Animal and laboratory studies have not been reviewed for this brief guide. No patient benefit is inferred from them.
12. Funding: follow the money
Research funding at a glance
11 disclosure entries. The counts below summarize independence tiers explicitly assigned in this article. They count disclosures, not studies, funding amounts or evidence quality.
Consult this article’s source and funding notes for named funders, countries, relationships and exceptions where available. Institutional backing, researcher interests and trial sponsorship are separate questions. Public funding alone does not establish independence; commercial ties alone do not prove a claim false. This overview is not a new financial audit.
| Funding or control route | Disclosure and limits |
|---|---|
| GB licence holder | Ferring Pharmaceuticals Ltd, UK. Product/page budgets, private payments and contracts unverified. [1] [2] |
| GB manufacturer | The selected leaflet names Ferring GmbH, Kiel, Germany. Other packs’ manufacturing arrangements are not established here. [1] |
| Reported group ownership | At 31 December 2025, Dr. Frederik Paulsen Foundation 80%; Dr. Frederik Paulsen Trust 20% ultimate ownership. Ferring Foundation BV held all capital of Ferring Holding SA (Saint-Prex, Switzerland). BV/trust jurisdictions, beneficiaries, lenders, product allocations and full graph unverified. [5] |
| Filed UK control | Notified 5 August 2020; checked 6 October 2026. Ferring Laboratories Ltd, England/Wales: at least 75% of GB-holder shares/votes; director appointment/removal rights, not documented appointments. Higher group link/contracts unverified. [6] |
| CS21 (2008) | Ferring A/S, Denmark, funded it. Ferring medical writer Peter Bergqvist wrote the first draft. Paid consultants: Klotz, Boccon-Gibod, Shore, Schröder. Employees: Persson, Cantor, Jensen, Olesen. Amounts/contracts/continuing ties unknown. [3] |
| PRONOUNCE (2021) | Ferring A/S, Denmark, sponsor; Duke, USA, coordinator; multinational study. Employees: Sørensen, Doyle-Olsen, Kristensen. Olesen: former Ferring Inc employee. Bhatt: Ferring grant, Duke fees, other grants, fees, non-financial support and other relationships. Amounts/contracts/current ties unverified. [4] |
| NCI public funding and reference provenance | National Cancer Institute (NCI), part of National Institutes of Health (NIH), USA: congressional appropriations. FY2026 budget page updated 14 May 2026; no FY2027 funding claim. The drug overview links commercial US-label information; maker evidence may shape the reference. Medicine-page budgets/contributor payments unknown. [7] [8] [9] [11] |
| NCI separate gifts | Policy updated 27 August 2025: gifts are separate from congressional funding; the donation-letter instructions request a company name if applicable. NCI does not solicit funds. Its director decides how gifts support its mission; donors may request research areas. Permission does not establish degarelix receipts or page/contributor funding. [9] [10] |
| US reference company and production | The selected US label says manufactured FOR Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc, New Jersey, and IN Germany. Factory entity/private allocations and the GB/US manufacturing link are unverified. Public hosting does not establish independence; carrier funding has not been reviewed. This label is not GB licensing evidence. [1] [2] [11] |
Tiers, grades and accuracy incentives below are editorial judgments about independence for this use. Official safety instructions still matter. Institutional branding and public hosting do not establish independently funded efficacy.
13. Frequently asked questions
What should I ask about expected benefit?
Ask how your team will assess whether treatment is helping you and which outcomes they will track.
How should I discuss alternatives?
Ask why this option was selected for your case and what alternatives are relevant now.
Where should I check the complete instructions?
Read the leaflet supplied with your pack and discuss unclear instructions with your pharmacist or cancer team.
What should I ask about safety checks?
Ask what monitoring, medicine review and symptom reporting your team wants you to follow.
How can I judge the funding disclosures?
Read the source table, distinguish study sponsorship from publication custody, and keep the stated gaps in mind.
14. Sources and funding notes
| Source | Country | Funding | Tier | Grade and incentives | Scope and gaps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [1] GB 120 mg leaflet April 2022; posted 27 May 2025. | GB/Germany | Ferring commercial leaflet. | Tier 4 | D. Safety duties may reward accuracy; older text/maker emphasis may bias. | Full patient text read; costs/payments unverified. |
| [2] GB 120 mg SmPC 13 January 2025; posted 5 June 2025. | GB | Ferring commercial label. | Tier 4 | D. Regulatory duties may reward accuracy; maker selection can bias. | Selected GB clinical/endpoint/holder text used; private funding unverified. |
| [3] CS21 original paper Klotz et al., 2008. | Denmark sponsor; multinational affiliations | Ferring A/S sponsorship/paid roles. | Tier 4 | D. Publication scrutiny may reward accuracy; open-label/sponsor writing can bias. | Selected methods/results/disclosures; complete results not audited. |
| [4] PRONOUNCE original paper 2021. | Denmark sponsor; USA coordinator; multinational | Ferring A/S sponsorship. | Tier 4 | D. Full data access/accuracy responsibility reported. Publication reputation may reward accuracy; sponsor/open-label bias possible. | Selected main text/disclosures; supplement unread; underlying data unavailable. |
| [5] Ferring 2025 accounts 31 December 2025. | Switzerland; BV/trust jurisdictions unknown | Ferring company accounts. | Tier 4 | D. Reporting duties may reward accuracy; company framing can bias. | Indexed ownership notes only; full report/graph not audited. |
| [6] UK control filing Notified 5 August 2020; checked 6 October 2026. | England/Wales | Ferring company-filed assertions; Companies House public custody. | Tier 4 | D. Filing duties may reward accuracy; company framing/delays remain. | Active record reviewed; registrar does not verify filed accuracy. Companies House funding unverified. |
| [7] NCI drug overview Updated 10 September 2024. | USA | NCI/NIH: appropriations plus separate permitted gifts. | Tier 2 | C. Public clinical accountability may reward accuracy; commercial-label reliance may shape emphasis. | Complete overview read; page/contributor payments unknown. Its US approval information does not establish GB licensing. |
| [8] NCI drug dictionary Undated. | USA | NCI/NIH: appropriations plus separate permitted gifts. | Tier 2 | C. Reference reputation may reward accurate identity; selected mechanisms may overstate biological promise. | Complete entry read; individual payments/page allocations unverified. |
| [9] NCI budget Updated 14 May 2026; FY2026 page. | USA | Congressional appropriations. | Tier 3 | B provisional. Public budget accountability may reward accuracy; institutional advocacy may favour larger budgets. | Complete page read; institutional funding does not clear medicine-page or contributor finances. No FY2027 funding verification. |
| [10] NCI gift policy Updated 27 August 2025. | USA | Separate permitted gifts; donation letters request a company name if applicable. | Tier 3 | B provisional. Donation accountability may reward accurate policy; gift-page framing may bias. | Complete policy read; permitted gifts do not establish actual degarelix receipts. |
| [11] US prescribing information Text February 2020; updated 30 January 2024. | USA company; Germany production | Manufactured for Ferring Pharmaceuticals Inc, New Jersey; in Germany. | Tier 4 | D. US labelling duties may reward accurate warnings; sponsor trial selection/older text may bias. | Selected reference/manufacturing text used, not GB clinical advice. Factory entity/private allocations/carrier finances unverified. |
Reviewed 6 October 2026. This is a brief evidence guide, not a complete risk list or personal medical advice. It does not rank this medicine by popularity or claim independently verified efficacy. See the full sources and ask your cancer team about current care.
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