Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT): History, Ownership, Mission, How It Works & Makes Money

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated is a specialized biopharma player, but with a modified 2025 revenue guidance of $800 million to $850 million, are you truly grasping the scope of their cortisol-modulation strategy? As of Q3 2025, the company reported $207.6 million in revenue, a solid 13.7% year-over-year growth, but the real story is the pipeline catalyst: the FDA decision on relacorilant for hypercortisolism, expected by December 30, 2025. This company is sitting on $524 million in cash and investments and a potential blockbuster drug, so you need to understand the history and mechanism behind their push to dominate a niche, yet under-diagnosed, market.

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT) History

You're looking for the bedrock of Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated, and it's a story of a long, focused bet on a single mechanism: cortisol modulation. The direct takeaway is that the company spent over a decade as a research-stage entity before its first drug, Korlym, created the financial engine that now funds its next-generation pipeline, which is currently centered on the late-stage drug relacorilant. That transition from pure R&D to a commercial biopharma is the most critical pivot in its history.

Given Company's Founding Timeline

Year established

Corcept Therapeutics was established in May 1998.

Original location

The company was founded in the heart of Silicon Valley's biotech ecosystem, with its original location in Menlo Park, California. Today, its corporate office is in Redwood City, California.

Founding team members

The company was co-founded by two psychiatrists: Joseph K. Belanoff, M.D., and Alan Schatzberg. Dr. Belanoff has been a key constant, serving as the Chief Executive Officer since 1999.

Initial capital/funding

Corcept was initially backed by Silicon Valley biotech investors. While the specific initial capital amount from 1998 is not publicly detailed, its early existence was characterized by being a small firm that outsourced much of its drug manufacturing and testing, a common capital-light approach for early-stage biotechs.

Given Company's Evolution Milestones

Given Company's Transformative Moments

The company's history is defintely defined by two major transformative shifts: becoming a commercial entity and preparing for the next product cycle.

The first, and biggest, shift was the 2012 FDA approval of Korlym. Before that, Corcept was a small, pre-revenue biotech, but Korlym's launch for Cushing's syndrome created a sustainable business model. That single product generated enough revenue to fund the extensive clinical trials for its follow-on compounds, turning a research concept into a profitable, commercial operation.

The second, ongoing transformation is the pivot to relacorilant. This selective cortisol modulator is designed to improve upon Korlym's profile. The March 2025 filing of the New Drug Application (NDA) for relacorilant for Cushing's syndrome marked the culmination of years of R&D investment. This represents a strategic move to secure the company's long-term revenue base against potential generic competition for Korlym.

• Korlym's revenue growth provided the cash flow for pipeline expansion. By 2024, total revenue was $476.3 million, a strong foundation for the future.
• The 2025 full-year revenue guidance of $800 million to $850 million shows the continued commercial strength of the existing business as the new drug approaches the market.
• The initiation of the MOMENTUM clinical trial in 2025, enrolling 1,000 patients for hypercortisolism in resistant hypertension, demonstrates the company's commitment to expanding the application of cortisol modulation beyond rare diseases.

This is a classic biotech story: one successful drug funds the development of the next, and the current challenge is successfully executing the transition to relacorilant. You can dive deeper into the current financial picture here: Breaking Down Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT) Financial Health: Key Insights for Investors.

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT) Ownership Structure

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated is a publicly traded, commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, and its ownership structure is heavily weighted toward institutional investors, a common pattern for established biotech firms.

This institutional control means a few large players, like BlackRock, Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc, hold significant sway over strategic decisions, which can lead to lower stock volatility but also a strong focus on near-term earnings performance.

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated's Current Status

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated is a public company, trading on the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC under the ticker symbol CORT. As of November 2025, the company commands a market capitalization of approximately $7.75 billion. Its primary focus remains the discovery and development of medications that modulate the effects of the hormone cortisol for severe endocrinologic, oncologic, metabolic, and neurologic disorders.

For the 2025 fiscal year, the company's financial health is under scrutiny, with analysts anticipating an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.36. The third quarter of 2025 saw revenue of $207.6 million, demonstrating continued growth in its core business. You can dive deeper into the company's core principles here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT).

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated's Ownership Breakdown

The company's stock ownership is a classic mix, but the concentration in institutional hands is notable. This structure can be a double-edged sword: deep pockets for stability, but also the potential for major swings if a few large funds decide to rotate out. Here's the quick math on who holds the shares as of late 2025:

What this breakdown hides is the influence of top institutional holders. For instance, BlackRock, Inc. and Vanguard Group Inc. are among the largest shareholders, owning millions of shares, which grants them significant voting power on corporate matters. Insider ownership, while lower at 6.58%, still aligns the interests of the leadership team with yours, which is defintely a good sign.

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated's Leadership

The company is steered by a seasoned executive team, many of whom have long tenures, providing stability and deep institutional knowledge. The average tenure for the management team is around five years, while the board of directors averages over two decades. That's a lot of experience at the helm.

The key executive leaders driving Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated's strategy and operational execution as of November 2025 include:

• Joseph Belanoff, M.D.: Chief Executive Officer, President, and Director. As a co-founder, he has served in this role since the company's inception in 1999.
• Atabak Mokari: Chief Financial Officer. He manages the company's financial strategy, crucial given the high R&D spending in the biotech space.
• William Guyer, PharmD: Chief Development Officer. He oversees the development pipeline, including the promising relacorilant program.
• Hazel Hunt, Ph.D.: Chief Scientific Officer. She leads the discovery efforts for new selective cortisol modulators.
• Sean Maduck: President, Endocrinology. He focuses on the commercial success of the company's approved endocrinology products.
• Charles Robb: Chief Business Officer. He handles business development and strategic partnerships.
• J.D. Lyon: Chief Accounting and Technology Officer. He manages the accounting and technological infrastructure.
• Amy Flood: Chief Human Resources and Communications Officer.

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT) Mission and Values

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated's purpose extends well beyond its revenue from Korlym, focusing instead on pioneering a fundamental shift in how we treat serious diseases by targeting the stress hormone cortisol. The company's mission and values reveal a culture driven by scientific discovery and a commitment to addressing significant unmet medical needs across endocrinology, oncology, and neurology.

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated's Core Purpose

You're looking for what truly drives Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT), and it boils down to leveraging a single, powerful mechanism: cortisol modulation. This scientific focus is the core of their cultural DNA, guiding their substantial investment in research and development, which totaled $195.5 million in 2024.

Official mission statement

The company's mission is clear and action-oriented, reflecting its scientific specialization in the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) and its effects.

• Unlock the potential of cortisol modulation and revolutionize the treatment of serious diseases.

This isn't just a lofty goal; it's the engine behind their projected 2025 revenue guidance of $800 million to $850 million, showing their ability to translate deep science into commercial success.

Vision statement

Corcept Therapeutics' vision is to be the leader in a new era of medicine, expanding the application of cortisol modulation far beyond its current use in Cushing's syndrome. They are positioning themselves to help a much broader patient population.

• Pioneer new, more effective, and safer treatments for a broad range of severe disorders.
• Expand the clinical pipeline into oncology, metabolism (like MASH), and neurologic diseases (like ALS).
• Lead the discovery and development of selective cortisol modulators with distinct clinical attributes.

Their pipeline is robust, with over 30 ongoing studies underway, underscoring this vision. They are defintely putting their cash-which stood at $524 million as of September 30, 2025-to work.

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated slogan/tagline

The company's most prominent tagline captures the transformative nature of their scientific work, suggesting a profound, lasting impact on the medical field.

• Explore the Possibilities of Cortisol Modulation.
• We are the ripples of change.

This commitment to change is what you're buying into, not just the $207.6 million in product revenue they reported for Q3 2025. You can dive deeper into the company's foundational principles here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT).

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT) How It Works

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated operates by discovering, developing, and commercializing proprietary drugs that selectively modulate the effects of the stress hormone cortisol. This focus allows the company to create targeted treatments for severe endocrinologic, oncologic, metabolic, and neurologic disorders where cortisol dysregulation is a key factor.

Its business model is a specialized pharmaceutical one: identify a critical biological pathway-cortisol modulation-and then build a deep pipeline of novel, proprietary compounds to treat multiple diseases, generating revenue primarily from its single commercial product while preparing for the launch of its next-generation therapy.

Given Company's Product/Service Portfolio

Given Company's Operational Framework

The company's operational framework is centered on a high-margin, rare-disease commercial product funding a deep, selective pipeline. It's a focused strategy, but it carries execution risk.

• Revenue Generation: The primary revenue driver is Korlym, which is on track to deliver full-year 2025 revenue between $800 million and $850 million, based on the modified guidance.
• R&D Investment: Corcept is aggressively funding its pipeline, with operating expenses rising to $197.4 million in Q3 2025, up from $135.9 million in Q3 2024, to prepare for the relacorilant launches.
• Distribution Model: Product distribution uses a limited network of specialty pharmacy vendors, which manage the complex handling and patient support for rare disease drugs. They recently expanded partnerships, starting in October 2025, to address prior capacity bottlenecks that had impacted fulfillment.
• Clinical Catalyst: The near-term focus is the potential FDA approval of relacorilant for hypercortisolism by the end of 2025, which is the key inflection point for the company's next phase of growth.

Here's the quick math: Q3 2025 net income was $19.7 million, showing that high R&D and launch prep costs are temporarily compressing margins even with strong Korlym sales growth. You can learn more about their long-term vision here: Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT).

Given Company's Strategic Advantages

Corcept's market success hinges on its proprietary intellectual property (IP) and its deep, specialized knowledge in cortisol modulation, giving it a strong defensible position.

• Proprietary Compound Library: Corcept owns a large portfolio of over 1,000 patented compounds that selectively modulate cortisol's effects without impacting the progesterone receptor, a key differentiation point from older drugs.
• First-Mover Expertise: The company pioneered the use of cortisol modulation for Cushing's syndrome, establishing a significant head start and deep clinical expertise in this rare but high-value therapeutic area.
• Cash Position: With cash and investments totaling $524 million as of September 30, 2025, the company has the financial resilience to fund its extensive clinical trials and pre-launch commercial activities.
• Pipeline Diversification: The late-stage pipeline, including relacorilant for oncology and dazucorilant for ALS, offers significant potential to diversify revenue away from Korlym and enter multi-billion-dollar markets beyond endocrinology.

What this estimate hides is the ongoing patent litigation risk for Korlym; a negative outcome could defintely accelerate generic competition and pressure margins before relacorilant is fully established. Still, the pipeline's potential is substantial.

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT) How It Makes Money

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company that generates nearly all of its revenue by selling its sole approved product, Korlym (mifepristone), a cortisol receptor blocker used to treat adult patients with endogenous Cushing's syndrome. The company's financial model is currently a classic single-product pharmaceutical play, but it is rapidly shifting to a multi-product model with its late-stage pipeline drug, relacorilant.

Given Company's Revenue Breakdown

As of the 2025 fiscal year, Corcept's revenue is overwhelmingly concentrated in a single therapeutic area, though the volume of prescriptions is growing strongly. This concentration is a key risk, but the pipeline is designed to diversify this in the near-term.

Business Economics

Corcept operates with an orphan drug economic model, which means it targets rare diseases with high unmet needs, allowing for premium pricing, but it is currently navigating a crucial transition. The core business is selling Korlym for hypercortisolism (Cushing's syndrome), which is a rare, life-threatening condition.

• Pricing and Competition: The average price per tablet for Korlym declined by 13% due to the introduction of an authorized generic version of the drug in the market. This is a major headwind, but the company has offset the price drop by nearly doubling prescription volume year-over-year, which shows strong underlying demand and physician adoption.
• The Relacorilant Pivot: The company's financial future hinges on the successful launch of relacorilant, its next-generation cortisol modulator, which has a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) date of December 30, 2025, for hypercortisolism. Management is confident that relacorilant, which they believe is a safer and more effective treatment, could generate between $3 billion and $5 billion in annual revenue in hypercortisolism alone within the next three to five years.
• Operational Constraints: The company's full-year 2025 revenue guidance was lowered, not due to a lack of demand, but because of capacity constraints at their previous specialty pharmacy vendor. They have added new specialty pharmacy partners to address this bottleneck and meet the surge in demand, which is a clear operational improvement action.

The current Korlym revenue is essentially funding the development and launch of relacorilant, which is the true long-term economic engine. You need to look beyond the current income statement to the pipeline's value. Exploring Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT) Investor Profile: Who's Buying and Why?

Given Company's Financial Performance

The 2025 fiscal year results, as of the third quarter, show a company investing heavily in its future while maintaining a solid cash position, even as profitability is temporarily compressed by R&D and launch preparation costs.

• Revenue Outlook: Corcept's modified 2025 full-year revenue guidance is between $800 million and $850 million. This reflects strong commercial growth, despite being a reduction from earlier, higher guidance due to the aforementioned pharmacy issues.
• Quarterly Performance: The company reported Q3 2025 revenue of $207.6 million, an increase from $182.5 million in Q3 2024. Year-to-date revenue through Q3 2025 is approximately $559.2 million ($157.2M in Q1 + $194.4M in Q2 + $207.6M in Q3).
• Profitability and Investment: Net income for Q3 2025 was $19.7 million, a sharp decrease from $47.2 million in the same quarter last year. This drop is directly attributable to a significant increase in operating expenses, which rose to $197.4 million in Q3 2025 from $135.9 million in Q3 2024. The bulk of this increase is strategic spending to prepare for the relacorilant launches in hypercortisolism and platinum-resistant ovarian cancer.
• Cash Position: The balance sheet remains healthy, with cash and investments totaling $524.2 million as of September 30, 2025. This provides a defintely strong cushion for the upcoming commercial launches and continued clinical trials.

Here's the quick math: the Q3 2025 operating margin dropped to 4.9% from 25.5% a year prior because they are spending today to secure billions in future revenue. That's a conscious trade-off you need to factor into your valuation model.

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT) Market Position & Future Outlook

Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT) is strategically positioned for a major inflection point, shifting from a single-product company to a multi-asset biotech, with its 2025 financial performance serving as a bridge to this future. The company's full-year 2025 revenue is projected to be between $800 million and $850 million, primarily driven by continued strong demand for its flagship product, Korlym (mifepristone). The near-term outlook is fundamentally tied to the FDA's decision on its next-generation cortisol modulator, relacorilant, which has a PDUFA date of December 30, 2025, for hypercortisolism.

Competitive Landscape

In the Cushing's syndrome (hypercortisolism) market, Corcept Therapeutics currently holds a dominant position in the U.S. due to Korlym's established use and broad label, but competition is intensifying with new mechanisms of action and expanded labels from rivals. Here's the quick math: Korlym generated the highest revenue among all current Cushing's disease therapies in the US in 2024, which justifies its market leadership position even as the overall US Cushing's Syndrome Diagnostics And Therapeutics Market is valued at $383.04 million in 2025.

Opportunities & Challenges

You need to map the next 12-18 months. Corcept's biggest opportunity is converting its pipeline into commercial products, but this requires significant upfront investment, which is why Q3 2025 operating expenses rose to $197.42 million.

Industry Position

Corcept Therapeutics is a clear leader in the niche market of cortisol modulation, but its future trajectory hinges on pipeline execution. The company is transitioning from relying on a single drug, Korlym, to launching relacorilant, a selective cortisol modulator that may offer a cleaner safety profile and thus expand the hypercortisolism market.

• Dominance in Hypercortisolism: Korlym's strong performance continues to fund the pipeline, with 2025 revenue guidance at a midpoint of $825 million.
• Pipeline Breadth: Oncology programs are expanding beyond platinum-resistant ovarian cancer into other solid tumors, plus new studies in metabolic diseases like MASH (metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis) and ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).
• Financial Strength: The company reported strong liquidity with $524.24 million in cash and investments as of September 30, 2025.

This capital position is defintely critical for funding the expensive late-stage trials and commercial preparations. The strategic pivot is clear: solidify the hypercortisolism franchise with relacorilant and use cortisol modulation expertise to capture a piece of the much larger oncology market. For a deeper dive into the company's core principles, you can review its Mission Statement, Vision, & Core Values of Corcept Therapeutics Incorporated (CORT).

Next step: Analysts need to model relacorilant's peak sales potential in both hypercortisolism and ovarian cancer by the end of the year.