Safrazine (Safra) is a non-selective, irreversible monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI) of the hydrazine class that was introduced as an antidepressant in the 1960s. Safrazine and electroconvulsive therapy were shown to be effective in the treatment of antidepressant-resistant depressions (ARD) but had the drawbacks of the high incidence of moderate or severe adverse reactions and high relapse rates, respectively. The use of safrazine was discontinued.

Fosfonet sodium (or phosphonoacetate sodium), an organophosphorus compound, was found to be a specific inhibitor of the virus-induced DNA polymerases and thus could inhibit specifically the replication of herpes-viruses.

Buflomedil (trade name Loftyl) is a vasoactive drug used to treat claudication or the symptoms of peripheral arterial disease. Buflomedil has been used for people with diseases of the leg arteries and has shown some benefits for people with a previous stroke. The most common type of stroke is due to narrowing or blockage of an artery in the brain (i.e. ischaemic stroke). Buflomedil is a drug that can dilate brain blood vessels, which may have benefit for people with ischaemic stroke. However, it has not been approved to treat stroke in clinical practice. In 2012 the European Medicines Agency has completed a review of the safety and effectiveness of buflomedil-containing medicines, both oral and injectable, due to severe neurological and cardiac side effects seen with buflomedil. The Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) concluded that the benefits of buflomedil do not outweigh its risks, and has recommended that all marketing authorisations for medicines containing buflomedil should be suspended throughout the European Union (EU).

Belotecan is a semisynthetic analogue of camptothecin containing a 2-(N-isopropylamino) ethyl group linkage at position C-7 of the camptothecin ring. It stabilizes the complex formed between topoisomerase I and DNA, thereby preventing the religation of DNA breaks. This leads to an inhibition of DNA replication and triggers apoptotic cell death. Belotecan was approved in Korea under the name Camtobell for the treatment of patients with ovarian and small cell lung cancers.

Exatecan (DX-8951f), a new hexacyclic camptothecin analogue, is a second-generation topoisomerase inhibitor that prevents rapidly dividing cells from replicating by interrupting DNA transcription, ultimately leading to cell death. Preclinical studies showed exatecan to have broad-spectrum antitumor efficacy. Exatecan is in phase III clinical trials for the treatment of pancreas cancer. However, there is no recent report of this research. The compound was co-developed by Daiichi Pharmaceutical (now Daiichi Sankyo) and Yakult Honsha.

Cediranib (AZD-2171) is a VEGFR-2 kinase inhibitor which was developed by AstraZeneca for the treatment of cancer. The drug reached the final stage of approval by European Medicines Agency in 2008 under the name Zemfirza (it was recommended to be taken in combination with platinum-based chemotherapy), however on 19 September 2016 AstraZeneca decided to withdraw the Marketing Authorisation Application.

Itopride is a dopamine D2 receptor antagonist and inhibitor of acetylcholinesterase. It is indicated in the for the treatment of gastrointestinal symptoms caused by reduced gastrointestinal motility, such as functional non-ulcer dyspepsia (chronic gastritis), gastric fullness, rapid satiation, pain or discomfort in the upper abdomen, anorexia, heartburn, nausea, and vomiting. The drug is not approved in the USA or UK but is available in Japan and Western European countries.

Oteracil is an adjunct to antineoplastic therapy, used in combination with Gimeracil and Tegafur. Gimeracil/oteracil/tegafur combination is approved for the gastric cancer treatment. Oteracil is an orotate phosphoribosyltransferase (OPRT) inhibitor that decreases the activity of 5-fluorocil (tegafur is a prodrug of 5-fluorocil) in normal gastrointestinal mucosa.

Nafamostat mesilate (NM), a synthetic serine protease inhibitor, has anticoagulant and anti-inflammatory properties. Nafamostat is approved and marketed in Japan. It relieves symptoms such as pain due to inflammation of the spleen. It improves visceral disorders and bleeding tendency caused by blood clotting tendency in the vessels. It prevents coagulation in the blood circuit during hemodialysis. It is usually used to improve acute symptoms of pancreatitis (acute pancreatitis, acute exacerbation phase of chronic pancreatitis, post-operative acute pancreatitis, acute pancreatitis after pancreatography, traumatic pancreatitis) and to prevent disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) and clotting of perfusing blood in extracorporeal blood circuit. Nafamostat mesilate significantly inhibits the release of platelet beta-thromboglobulin (beta TG) at 60 and 120 min. Nafamostat mesilate (NM) prevents any significant release of neutrophil elastase; at 120 min, plasma elastase-alpha 1-antitrypsin complex is 0.16 mg/mL in the NM group and 1.24 mg/mL in the control group. Nafamostat mesilate completely inhibits formation of complexes of C1 inhibitor with kallikrein and FXIIa.

Camostat mesilate (FOY-305) is a synthetic f low-molecular weight protease inhibitor. It is able to inhibit trypsin, prostasin, matriptase and plasma kallikrein. In addition camostat attenuates airway epithelial sodium channel function and enhances mucociliary clearance. Camostat mesilate tablets (FOIPAN®) are approved in Japan and used for the treatment of remission of acute symptoms of chronic pancreatitis and postoperative reflux esophagitis.