Vosoritide
Also known as Voxzogo, CNP analogue
An approved height treatment — for children with achondroplasia, with open growth plates. It is not a height drug for healthy adults, and cannot be.
Roughly $300,000/year at list price; dispensed through specialist channels.
How it works
A C-type natriuretic peptide analogue. It binds NPR-B and inhibits the overactive FGFR3 signalling that suppresses chondrocyte proliferation in achondroplasia, partially restoring growth at the cartilage plate.
How it's used
Prescribed by paediatric specialists as a daily injection for children with genetically confirmed achondroplasia whose growth plates remain open. Treatment stops at plate fusion because there is nothing left to act on. There is no adult application.
Trade-offs
In favour
- Genuine regulatory approval with randomised trial evidence
- Meaningfully increases annualised growth velocity in the target group
- Well-characterised safety monitoring
Against
- Only relevant to achondroplasia
- Useless once growth plates fuse — i.e. for every adult
- Daily injection for years
- Extremely expensive
Risks and side effects
- Injection site reactions
- Transient drops in blood pressure — dosing is timed around this
- Requires specialist growth monitoring
- Nothing about it applies to adults seeking height
How good is the evidence?
Randomised controlled trial evidence supporting approval in achondroplasia. No evidence base for any other use, and a clear biological reason there cannot be one in adults.
Sources
Sources point to guideline bodies and literature searches rather than single papers, so they stay accurate as the evidence moves.