Medical Uses
EMCITATE (tiratricol), from Egetis Therapeutics, is the first approved treatment for MCT8 deficiency (Allan-Herndon-Dudley syndrome), a rare genetic disorder in which thyroid hormone cannot enter certain cells. Patients suffer from too much thyroid hormone in the body (peripheral thyrotoxicosis) alongside severe neurodevelopmental problems. It is approved in the EU (from birth) and, since 28 September 2026, in the US for adults and children.
Tiratricol resembles the thyroid hormone T3 but does not need the MCT8 transporter to enter cells. In the main EU study of 46 children and adults, average T3 levels fell from 4.97 to 1.82 nmol/L after 12 months, with improvements in heart rate and blood pressure. It does not correct the underlying genetic defect or the neurological features.
