Clazosentan is an endothelin receptor antagonist, developed by the Swiss pharmaceutical company Actelion, and licensed to its spin-off, Idorsia. The drug was designed to inhibit endothelin-mediated cerebral vasospasm and associated delayed ischaemic neurological deficit. The drug has been investigated in a phase III clinical trials in patients with aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage. Clazosentan at 5 mg/h had no significant effect on mortality and vasospasm-related morbidity or functional outcome. Clinical investigation of a higher dose of the drug is underway.

Pirtenidine is the antimicrobial agent. Pirtenidine was found to be highly efficacious against oral plaque-forming microorganisms. Adherence of Candida spp. to buccal epithelial cells in vitro was significantly reduced after both short- and long-term periods of yeast exposure to sub-inhibitory concentrations of pirtenidine. The drug was shown to cause extensive leakage of cytoplasmic contents from the Candida albicans cells which was correlated with morphological and ultrastructural changes in the yeast. Pirtenidine affects the lipids and sterol composition of C. albicans.

Furafylline is a methylxanthine derivative that was introduced as a long-acting replacement for theophylline in the treatment of asthma, it was a bronchodilator with extended duration compared to theophylline, but then subsequently reported the adverse side effects the inhibition of the oxidation of caffeine, a reaction catalyzed by CYP1A2. Furafylline is now widely used in biochemical studies as a selective mechanism-based inhibitor of cytochrome p450 1A2.

Mocetinostat is an rationally designed, orally available, Class 1-selective, small molecule, 2-aminobenzamide HDAC inhibitor with potential antineoplastic activity. Mocetinostat binds to and inhibits Class 1 isoforms of HDAC, specifically HDAC 1, 2 and 3, which may result in epigenetic changes in tumor cells and so tumor cell death; although the exact mechanism has yet to be defined, tumor cell death may occur through the induction of apoptosis, differentiation, cell cycle arrest, inhibition of DNA repair, upregulation of tumor suppressors, down regulation of growth factors, oxidative stress, and autophagy, among others. It is undergoing clinical trials for treatment of various cancers including bladder cancer, diffuse large B cell lymphoma, follicular lymphoma, myelodysplastic syndromes, non-small cell lung cancer. Fatigue, weight loss or anorexia were most common treatment-related adverse events.

Tozasertib, originally developed as VX-680 by Vertex (Cambridge, MA) and later renamed MK-0457 by Merck (Whitehouse Station, NY), was the first aurora kinase inhibitor to be tested in clinical trials. The drug, a pyrimidine derivative, has affinity for all aurora family members at nanomolar concentrations with inhibitory constant values (Ki(app)) of 0.6, 18, and 4.6 nM for aurora A, aurora B, and aurora C, respectively. Preclinical studies confirmed that tozasertib inhibited both aurora A and aurora B kinase activity, and activity has been reported against prostate, thyroid, ovarian, and oral squamous cancer cell lines. Upon treatment with tozasertib, cells accumulate with a 4N DNA content due to a failure of cytokinesis. This ultimately leads to apoptosis, preferentially in cells with a compromised p53 function. Tozasertib is an anticancer chemotherapeutic pan-aurora kinase (AurK) inhibitor that also inhibits FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 (FLT3) and Abl. Tozasertib is currently in clinical trials as a potential treatment for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). In cellular models of cancer, tozasertib activates caspase-3 and PARP and decreases expression of HDAC, increasing apoptosis and inhibiting cell growth. In other cellular models, tozasertib inhibits cell proliferation and metastasis by blocking downstream ERK signaling and downregulating cdc25c and cyclin B. This compound also decreases tumor growth in an in vivo model of prostate cancer.

FLAVAMINE is a diterpenoid alkaloid isolated from the roots of Aconitum fiavum.

Lersivirine (UK-453,061) is a novel second-generation non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). It binds reverse transcriptase in a distinct way leading to a unique resistance profile. Lersivirine is a second-line NNRTI, which was investigated in a Phase IIb clinical trial. Lersivirine has shown encouraging virologic efficacy in a Phase IIa monotherapy study in NNRTI-naive patients. In a Phase IIb clinical trial in ART naive patients, clinical efficacy of lersivirine was compared with efavirenz, each administered together with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine. After 48 weeks, lersivirine exhibited a slightly lower virologic response but similar immunologic efficacy. However, the trial was not powered for formal hypothesis testing of noninferiority of lersivirine. The development of lersivirine was recently stopped because the developing company determined that the compound would not provide an improvement over existing NNRTIs.

Methyldesorphine is a synthetic narcotic analgesic derived from morphine. It has no medicinal value in the US. This compound is listed as a Schedule I Narcotic controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act 1970.

Camobucol is a novel, orally active, phenolic antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compound with antirheumatic properties. Camobucol exhibited potent antioxidant activity toward lipid peroxides in vitro and displayed enhanced cellular uptake relative to a structurally related drug, probucol. This resulted in potent inhibition of cellular levels of reactive oxygen species in multiple cell types. Camobucol selectively inhibited tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha-inducible levels of the redox-sensitive genes, vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, with less inhibition of E-selectin, and no effect on intracellular adhesion molecule-1 expression in endothelial cells. In addition, Camobucol inhibited cytokine-induced levels of monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, interleukin (IL)-6, and IL-8 from endothelial cells and human fibroblast-like synoviocytes as well as lipopolysaccharide-induced release of TNF-alpha, IL-1beta, and IL-6 from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Camobucol did not inhibit TNF-alpha-induced nuclear translocation of nuclear factor of the kappa-enhancer in B cells (NF-kappaB), suggesting that the mechanism of action is independent of this redox-sensitive transcription factor.