AstraZeneca was developing AZD-2066, a metabotropic glutamate receptor 5 (mGLUR5) antagonist, for the oral treatment of pain indications (e.g. chronic neuropathic pain and painful diabetic neuropathies), depressive disorders and gastro-oesophageal reflux disease. AZD-2066 had been in phase II clinical trials by AstraZeneca for the treatment of diabetic neuropathic pain and phase I for the treatment of gastrooesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, this reasearch had being discontinued.

FLEROBUTEROL is a beta-adrenoceptor agonist with potential antidepressant activity.

Altanserin is a potent and selective 5-HT2A receptor antagonist. Serotonin (5-HT) system functioning have been proposed for a variety of psychiatric disorders, but a direct method quantitatively assessing 5-HT release capacity in the living human brain is still lacking. It was suggested that the combination of a dexfenfluramine-induced 5-HT release and subsequent assessment of 5-HT(2A) receptor availability with [(18)F]altanserin by positron emission tomography (PET) was suitable to measure cortical 5-HT release capacity in the human brain. Besides human neuroimaging studies altanserin has also been used in the study of rats.

AZD-1208 is an orally available, potent and highly selective Pim inhibitor that effectively inhibits all three isoforms. AZD-1208 inhibits the growth of several AML cell lines and sensitivity correlates with the level of Pim-1 expression, STAT5 activation and presence of protein tyrosine kinase mutation. AZD-1208 causes cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in MOLM-16 cells in culture. This is accompanied by a dose-dependent reduction in phosphorylation of BAD, 4EBP1 and p70S6K. In addition, AZD-1208 leads to potent inhibition of colony growth of primary AML cells from bone marrow aspirates and downregulates phosphorylation of Pim targets. AZD-1208 was in Phase 1 trials to evaluate the safety and tolerability profile and to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). There were two trials where AZD-1208 had been administered orally in AML and solid tumour (of all types) patients. The studies had being discontinued due to safety reasons.

DOV 216,303 [(+/-)-1-(3, 4-dichlorophenyl)-3-azabicyclo-[3.1.0] hexane hydrochloride] is the prototype of a class of compounds referred to as "triple" reuptake inhibitors. DOV 216,303 were licensed from Wyeth in 1998. This compound inhibits the reuptake of norepinephrine (NE), serotonin (5-HT), and dopamine (DA), the three neurotransmitters most closely linked to major depressive disorder. In August 2004, DOV entered into a development and commercialization partnership for the triple reuptake inhibitors (DOV 21,947 and DOV 216,303) with Merck for depression.

Vaccenic acid (VA) (t11 octadecenoic acid) is a positional and geometric isomer of oleic acid (c9-octadecenoic acid), and is the predominant trans monoene in ruminant fats (50%–80% of total trans content). Dietary VA can be desaturated to cis-9,trans-11 conjugated linoleic acid (c9,t11-CLA) in ruminants, rodents, and humans. Hydrogenated plant oils are another source of VA in the diet, and it has been recently estimated that this source may contribute to about 13%–17% of total VA intake. In contrast to suggestions from the epidemiological studies, the majority of studies using cancer cell lines (Awad et al. 1995; Miller et al. 2003) or rodent tumors (Banni et al. 2001; Corl et al. 2003; Ip et al. 1999; Sauer et al. 2004) have demonstrated that VA reduces cell growth and (or) tumor metabolism. Animal and in vitro studies suggest that the anti-cancer properties of VA are due, in part, to the in vivo conversion of VA to c9,t11-CLA. However, several additional mechanisms for the anti-cancer effects of VA have been proposed, including changes in phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis, reduced proliferation, increased apoptosis, and inhibition of fatty acid uptake. In conclusion, although the epidemiological evidence of VA intake and cancer risk suggests a positive relationship, this is not supported by the few animal studies that have been performed. The majority of the studies suggest that any health benefit of VA may be conferred by in vivo mammalian conversion of VA to c9,t11-CLA. VA acts as a partial agonist to both peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR)-α and PPAR-γ in vitro, with similar affinity compared to commonly known PPAR agonists. Hypolipidemic and antihypertrophic bioactivity of VA is potentially mediated via PPAR-/-dependent pathways.

Yohimbinic acid, also known as yohimbic acid is an indole alkaloid, which was isolated from dried roots of Rauwolfia serpentina. Yohimbinic acid is a potent inhibitor of a human DNA Topoisomerase I and can inhibit cancer cells growth.

Yohimbinic acid, also known as yohimbic acid is an indole alkaloid, which was isolated from dried roots of Rauwolfia serpentina. Yohimbinic acid is a potent inhibitor of a human DNA Topoisomerase I and can inhibit cancer cells growth.

Alisertib (MLN8237) is an orally available selective aurora A kinase inhibitor developed by Takeda. Alisertib inhibited AAK over ABK with a selectivity of more than 200-fold in cells and produced a dose-dependent decrease in bipolar and aligned chromosomes in the HCT-116 xenograft model, a phenotype consistent with AAK inhibition. Alisertib inhibited proliferation of human tumor cell lines in vitro and produced tumor growth inhibition in solid tumor xenograft models and regressions in in vivo lymphoma models. It is currently in phase II clinical trials for acute myeloid leukaemia; B cell lymphoma; brain cancer; mesothelioma; prostate cancer; small cell lung cancer.