Pyroxamide is a potent histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor. Pyroxamide induced terminal differentiation in murine erythroleukemia (MEL) cells and inhibited the growth by cell cycle arrest or apoptosis in a variety of tumor cells. An accumulation of acetylated histones and increased levels of p21/WAF1 expression were detected in cancer cells and in prostate xenografts treated with Pyroxamide.

Carmoxirole is a dopamine D2 receptor agonist with limited central activity that modulates sympathetic activation and subsequently reduces pre-load and afterload in animals. It was shown, that carmoxirole induced beneficial effects on hemodynamic and neurohumoral parameters in heart failure. In addition, experimental evidence showed that carmoxirole lowered blood pressure in various models of hypertension mainly or exclusively through inhibition of noradrenaline release from sympathetic nerve endings. That effect of carmoxirole was mediated by presynaptic dopamine receptors with the characteristic that release inhibition was restricted to low rates of sympathetic nerve discharge.

Iomazenil (also known as Ro16-0154, benzodine) is a partial inverse agonist of central-type benzodiazepine receptors (BZR) which binds specifically to BZR with high affinity and a potential treatment for alcohol abuse. The compound was introduced in 1989 by pharmaceutical company Hoffmann-La Roche as an Iodine-123-labelled SPECT tracer for imaging benzodiazepine receptors (GABAA receptors) in the brain.

Muraglitazar previously known as BMS-298585 has been identified as a non-thiazolidinedione dual agonist of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha/gamma. Muraglitazar is currently in clinical trial phase III development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and dyslipidemia.

Marimastat is a broad spectrum matrix metalloprotease (MMP) inhibitor. It is an angiogenesis and metastasis inhibitor. It mimics the peptide structure of natural MMP substrates and binds to matrix metalloproteases, thereby preventing the degradation of the basement membrane by these proteases. This antiprotease action prevents the migration of endothelial cells needed to form new blood vessels. Inhibition of MMPs also prevents the entry and exit of tumor cells into existing blood cells, thereby preventing metastasis. Marimastat has been in pivotal phase III trials in glioblastoma, breast, ovarian and small and non-small cell lung cancer, but these trials have all been discontinued because marimastat failed to show superior efficacy over either standard chemotherapy or placebo.

Plevitrexed is a rationally designed, orally bioavailable, nonpolyglutamatable quinazoline antifolate that is a selective inhibitor of thymidylate synthase with potent antineoplastic activity and the ability to overcome antifolate resistance due to decreased folylpolyglutamate synthetase activity. It also features a lower toxicity than polyglutamatable thymidylate synthase inhibitors, presumably due to a lesser cellular retention. Plevitrexed is primarily transported into the cells via reduced folate carrier and selectively binds to the folate-binding site of thymidylate synthase with high affinity. Plevitrexed was assessed and in preclinical studies against a panel of human ovarian cancer cell lines and in several phase II clinical studies for the treatment of various solid cancers including colorectal, gastric, pancreatic and ovarian cancer. The combination of plevitrexed and carboplatin is well tolerated with no significant pharmacokinetic interaction between the two drugs - antitumor activity in platinum-pretreated gynecological malignancy was demonstrated.

Pituxate is the antitussive and bronchospasmolytic agent.

GPI-1485 belongs to a class of small molecule compounds called neuroimmunophilin ligands. This class of compounds has been shown to repair and regenerate damaged nerves without affecting normal, healthy nerves. GPI-1485 binds to FK-506-binding proteins. Phase 2 studies have been conducted to assess whether GPI-1485 is able to delay or stop disease progression and improve symptoms in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), and whether GPI-1485 can help preserve erectile function after prostatectomy.

Darusentan is an orally active, propanoic acid-based endothelin receptor antagonist (ERA) that selectively blocks endothelin-1 (ET-1) binding to the endothelin type-A (ETA) receptor. Darusentan exhibited subnanomolar binding affinity and approximately 1000-fold selectivity for the ETA receptor in binding experiments conducted in vitro under steady-state conditions. Darusentan is orally bioavailable and, when administered to humans, maximum plasma concentrations are observed within 1–2 h post dosing. The mean elimination half-life is relatively long (>15 h), which is consistent with once-daily dosing. Darusentan is primarily glucuronidated by Phase II enzymes in the liver, and the major route of elimination of Darusentan and its metabolites is via the bile. Some glucuronidated metabolites of Darusentan are also excreted in the urine. Darusentan doses up to 300 mg/day were well tolerated and associated with a manageable safety profile in patients with resistant hypertension (RHTN). The most frequently reported adverse events in Ddarusentan-treated subjects were peripheral edema (17%) and headache (11%), which were mostly mild or moderate in severity. Other commonly reported adverse events in the Darusentan treatment group were sinusitis (8%), dizziness (7%), upper respiratory tract infection (5%) and gastroenteritis (5%). In phase III clinical trial the mean reductions in clinic systolic and diastolic blood pressures were 9/5 mm Hg with placebo, 17/10 mm Hg with Darusentan 50 mg, 18/10 mm Hg with Darusentan 100 mg, and 18/11 mm Hg with Darusentan 300 mg. Unfortunately, phase III clinical trial evaluating Darusentan did not achieve its co-primary efficacy endpoints of achieving a change in systolic and diastolic blood pressure after 14 weeks compared to a placebo. Perhaps for this reason, shortly after the top-line results of this study became known, the sponsor announced that Darusentan would not be developed further for resistant hypertension.

Namirotene [CBS-211A] is a retinoic acid analogue which was undergoing phase II trials with Chauvin in France as 0.02% eye drops for corneal ulcer. It was discontinued later. Namirotene is a synthetic analogue of retinoic acid with differentiation inducing and potential antineoplastic activities. Like other retinoic acid agents, namirotene binds to and activates retinoic acid receptors (RARs), thereby altering the expression of certain genes leading to cell differentiation and decreased cell proliferation in susceptible cells. When it was associated with 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3, CBS-211A strongly potentiated the 1 alpha,25(OH)2D3-induced inhibition of U937 cell proliferation and caused a dramatic increase in their differentiation toward monocytes/macrophages. The co-inducing effect of CBS-211A was restricted to U937 cells. Our data suggest that CBS-211A may have therapeutic implications in the treatment of certain kinds of myelomonocytic leukemia. CBS-211A also provides an interesting tool to understand the mechanisms involved in the differentiation of myelomonocytic cells.