Piperaquine is a bisquinoline antimalarial drug that was first synthesized in the 1960s and used extensively in China and Indochina as prophylaxis and treatment during the next 20 years. Usage declined in the 1980s as piperaquine-resistant strains of P. falciparum arose and artemisinin-based antimalarials became available. However, during the next decade, piperaquine was rediscovered by Chinese scientists as one of a number of compounds suitable for combination with an artemisinin derivative. The rationale for such artemisinin combination therapies (ACTs) was to provide an inexpensive, short-course treatment regimen with a high cure rate and good tolerability that would reduce transmission and protect against the development of parasite resistance. Piperaquine is characterized by slow absorption and a long biological half-life, making it a good partner drug with artemisinin derivatives which are fast acting but have a short biological half-life.

Metopimazine, a phenothiazine derivative, is a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist. It exerts its antiemetic effects via the chemoreceptor trigger zone. Metopimazine showed potent alpha-adrenergic blocking activity, showed histamine H1 antagonism, and induced palpebral ptosis. Metopimazine can occasionally be associated with orthostatic hypotension, which probably relates to its affinity for the α1-adrenoceptor. Therapeutic doses of metopimazine are likely to produce sedation and side-effects related to autonomic blockade. Metopimazine (Vogalene®) is indicated for the prevention and treatment of nausea and vomiting.

2-Dipiperonylaminoethanol is tertiary amine derivative classified by the WHO as an antipsychotic and anxiolytic drug. The compound was patented as antispasmodic medication in 1948.

Arterolane is an anti-malarial drug developed by Ranbaxy Laboratories. Arterolane belongs to peroxidic antimalarial compounds. Upon administration, the drug is activated by heme of hemoglobin digested by malarial parasite. Activation produces free radicals, leading to alkylation of heme and proteins, critical for the survival of the parasite. Arterolane was approved for marketing in India in 2012 and received marketing authorization in several African countries in 2014.

Rebamipide, an amino acid derivative of 2-(1H)-quinolinone, is used for mucosal protection, healing of gastroduodenal ulcers, and treatment of gastritis. It works by enhancing mucosal defense, scavenging free radicals, and temporarily activating genes encoding cyclooxygenase-2. Rebamipide is used in a number of Asian countries including Japan (marketed as Mucosta), South Korea, China, and India (where it is marketed under the trade name Rebagen). It is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States. Studies have shown that rebamipide can fight the damaging effects of NSAIDs on the GIT mucosa.

Indirubin is derived from the Indigo Plant (Isatis Root, Isatis Leaf). It is used as part of a traditional Chinese herbal prescription called Dang Gui Long Hui Wan, to treat chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML). Indirubin inhibits DNA synthesis in several cell lines, in a cell-free assay and in vivo in rats with Walker-256 sarcoma. A weak binding of indirubin to DNA in vitro has been described. Indirubin inhibited all cyclin-dependent kinases (1,2,4,5) almost equally. Indirubin has been approved for clinical trials against chronic myelocytic and chronic granulocytic leukaemia. A few studies show that Indirubin is effective against psoriasis. Mild to severe nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, headache, and edema are reported adverse events of Indirubin. Long-term oral ingestion has also occasionally been associated with hepatitis, pulmonary arterial hypertension and cardiac insufficiency.

Azumolene is a direct-acting, skeletal muscle relaxant with structural similarities to dantrolene. It is a muscle relaxant that inhibits the release of calcium from skeletal muscle sarcoplasmic reticulum. Azumolene inhibits a component of store-operated calcium entry (SOCE) coupled to activation of type 1 ryanodine receptor (RyR1) by caffeine and ryanodine, whereas the SOCE component induced by thapsigargin is not affected. Azumolene distinguishes between two mechanisms of cellular signaling to SOCE in skeletal muscle, one that is coupled to and one independent from RyR1. Azumolene is equipotent to dantrolene sodium in blocking pharmacologic-induced muscle contractures and that azumolene is efficacious for treatment/prevention of malignant hyperthermia.

Trimebutine [3,4,5-trimethoxybenzoic acid 2-(dimethylamino)-2-phenylbutylester] is a noncompetitive spasmolytic agent. The actions of trimebutine on the gastrointestinal tract are mediated via (i) an agonist effect on peripheral mu, kappa and delta opiate receptors and (ii) release of gastrointestinal peptides such as motilin and modulation of the release of other peptides, including vasoactive intestinal peptide, gastrin and glucagon. Trimebutine attenuated colonic motility mainly through the inhibition of L-type Ca(2+) channels at higher concentrations, whereas, at lower concentrations, it depolarized membrane potentials by reducing BK(ca) currents, resulting in the enhancement of the muscle contractions.Trimebutine accelerates gastric emptying, induces premature phase III of the migrating motor complex in the intestine and modulates the contractile activity of the colon. It is indicated for the treatment and relief of symptoms associated with the irritable bowel syndrome (spastic colon); and in postoperative paralytic ileus in order to accelerate the resumption of the intestinal transit following abdominal surgery.

Atosiban (brand name Tractocile) is a competitive antagonist of human oxytocin at receptor level. In rats and guinea pigs, atosiban was shown to bind to oxytocin receptors, to decrease the frequency of contractions and the tone of the uterine musculature, resulting in a suppression of uterine contractions. Atosiban was also shown to bind to the vasopressin receptor, thus inhibiting the effect of vasopressin. Tractocile is indicated to delay imminent pre-term birth in pregnant adult women with: − regular uterine contractions of at least 30 seconds duration at a rate of ≥ 4 per 30 minutes − a cervical dilation of 1 to 3 cm (0-3 for nulliparas) and effacement of ≥ 50% − a gestational age from 24 until 33 completed weeks − a normal foetal heart rate. Atosiban does not have U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval for use in the United States.

Pralmorelin [GPA 748, GHRP 2, growth hormone-releasing peptide 2, KP-102 D, KP 102 LN] is an orally active, synthetic growth hormone-releasing peptide from a series of compounds that were developed by Polygen in Germany and Tulane University in the US. The use of pralmorelin as a diagnostic agent for GH deficiency is based on its ability to markedly increase plasma levels of GH in healthy subjects irrespectively of gender, obesity or age. However, in patients with GH deficiency, the effect of pralmorelin on GH levels is significantly lower compared with healthy controls. Pralmorelin is marketed under the brand name GHRP in Japan. It is used as a diagnostic agent in a single-dose formulation for the assessment of growth hormone deficiency (GHD). Pralmorelin (GHRP-2) acts to endogenously increase growth hormone release from the pituitary. With the increase of serum growth hormone, downstream effects occur. A notable hormone that is commonly used as a surrogate for growth hormone therapy, insulin like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), is known to increase with the infusion of GHRP-2. Administration of GHRP-2 results in amplification of the naturally occurring growth hormone secretion peaks, regulated by the hypothalamus and pituitary. After the release of growth hormone, a cascade of signaling events occurs in many body tissues, continuous exposure to growth hormone elicits long-term physiological changes. Of particular interest, especially in the case of the use of GHRP-2 as an alternative growth hormone therapy, hepatic production of IGF-1 occurs as result of endogenously released growth hormone from GHRP-2. GHRP-2 acts on the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR1a) in pituitary and hypothalamic tissues. The growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR) is the natural receptor for the endogenous hormone Ghrelin, a stress hormone produced mainly by the lining of the stomach. This receptor among many other functions, controls and growth hormone release.