Abediterol, a fast and long-acting β2-adrenoceptor agonist (LABA), is being developed by AstraZeneca, for the treatment of asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The investigational drug is a long-acting beta2-agonist (LABA) that has a bronchodilator effect, relaxing the muscles around the airways. It is currently under development and is in Phase II clinical trials.

Acorafloxacin (JNJ-Q2) is a fluoroquinolone that was developed by Furiex Pharmaceuticals (a subsidiary of Forest Laboratories) for the treatment of complicated skin and and soft tissue infections. Acorafloxacin was originally developed by Janssen, then licensed to Furiex Pharmaceuticals (now a part of Actavis). JNJ-Q2 has excellent in vitro and in vivo activity against a variety of Gram-positive and Gram-negative organisms. In vitro studies indicate that JNJ-Q2 has potent activity against pathogens responsible for acute bacterial skin and skin structure infections (ABSSSI) and community-acquired bacterial pneumonia (CABP), such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pneumoniae. JNJ-Q2 also has been shown to have a higher barrier to resistance compared to other agents in the class and it remains highly active against drug-resistant organisms, including methicillin-resistant S. aureus, ciprofloxacin-resistant methicillin-resistant S. aureus, and drug-resistant S. pneumoniae. In two Phase II studies, the efficacy of JNJ-Q2 was comparable to linezolid for ABSSSI and moxifloxacin for CABP. Furthermore, JNJ-Q2 was well tolerated, with adverse event rates similar to or less than other fluoroquinolones. Acorafloxacin inhibits MuRF enzyme, required for cell wall synthesis. Acorafloxacin directly inhibits bacterial DNA synthesis by halting the activity of DNA gyrase (responsible for negative helical supercoiling) and DNA topoisomerase IV (responsible for separating the nucleotide strands). Fast track designation and qualified infectious disease product designation (QIDP) was granted by FDA for the treatment of bacterial infections in 2013.

Wilex developed WX-UK1 as a specific inhibitor of human trypsin-2, human trypsin-3 and urokinase-plasminogen activator. WX-UK1 participated in phase I clinical trial in combination with capecitabine in advanced malignancies to determine the safety, tolerability, maximum tolerated dose, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics. However, in April 2014, the clinical development of this drug was discontinued, as part of a company restructure.

Epetirimod (S-30563 or TAK-851) is an immunostimulant. The compound is structurally related to the marketed topical imidazoquinoline drug, imiquimod, an agonist of Toll-like receptor 7. Epetirimod was under development with Takeda Pharmaceutical as a topical treatment for cervical high-risk HPV infection and cervical dysplasia. Takeda has discontinued epetirimod development as it did not meet the predefined efficacy end points in a US Phase II trial.

Trigonelline is a pyridine derivative known to contribute indirectly to the formation of desirable flavor products, including furans, pyrazine, alkyl-pyridines, and pyrroles, during coffee roasting. The amount of trigonelline in arabica is higher than that in robusta green coffee beans, and thus it can be used as a marker compound to distinguish the coffee bean species. During the roasting process of coffee beans, trigonelline changes into N-methylpyridinium and nicotinic acid as its major products, which makes it a useful index of the degree of roasting. The importance of trigonelline in coffee is connected to nutritional aspects. It has been revealed in recent studies that the administration of trigonelline allows diabetic rats to avoid diabetes-related organ damage and live longer, which can make it a potentially strong candidate for industrial application as a pharmacological agent for the treatment of hyperglycemia, hyperlipidemia, and liver/kidney dysfunctions. In addition, the urinary concentrations of trigonelline and its thermal product N-methylpyridinium of coffee drinkers are higher than those of noncoffee drinkers, which indicates that trigonelline and N-methylpyridinium may have potential as dietary biomarkers that could be used as analytical probes to control compliance in human intervention studies on coffee. Trigonelline has been isolated from many plants: fenugreek seeds (Trigonella foenum-graecum, hence the name), garden peas, hemp seed, oats, potatoes, Stachys species, dahlia, Strophanthus species, and Dichapetalum cymosum. In a randomized cross-over trial, the critical effect of Trigonelline on glucose tolerance has been studied during a 2-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in 15 overweight men. Results showed that glucose and insulin concentrations significantly reduced 15minutes after Trigonelline consumption compared with placebo.

Epetraborole (AN3365 or GSK2251052) is a novel boron-containing antibiotic that inhibits bacterial leucyl tRNA synthetase. It is active against Gram-negative bacteria, including Enterobacteriaceae bearing NDM-1 and KPC carbapenemases, as well as P. aeruginosa. Epetraborole was under development for the treatment of Gram-negative bacterial infections.

Sodium sulfanilate is a salt of sulphanilic acid and has been used to monitor the degree of renal dysfunction in dogs.

Tiacrilast (also known as Ro 22-3747) is a quinazolinyl-propenoic acid derivative patented by Hoffmann-La Roche, Inc. as an antihypertensive useful for anaphylaxis management. Tiacrilast acts as a potent mast cell degranulation inhibitor in vitro and inhibits of antigen-induced histamine release from passively sensitized rat peritoneal cells in vitro. In preclinical models, Tiacrilast shows marked activity in rat passive cutaneous anaphylaxis assay, rat anaphylactic bronchospasm assay. In vitro studies have confirmed that the mechanism of action of Tiacrilast in the in vivo models is through allergic mediator release inhibition. Clinical evaluations of Tiacrilast in patients with ragweed sensitive allergic asthma, Tiacrilast demonstrates significant inhibitory activity relative to placebo in reducing acute airway responses to inhaled pollen extracts

LCQ908 (Pradigastat) is a diacylglycerol acyltransferase-1 (DGAT-1) inhibitor. DGAT-1 is one of the two DGAT enzymes that catalyse the formation of triglycerides from diacylglycerol and acyl- coenzyme A. DGAT-1 catalyses the final committed step in processing dietary fatty acids into triglycerides carried on chylomicrons for transport around the body. Pradigastat may decrease the level of triglycerides in the blood and is intended for the first line treatment of FCS. It is administered orally at 10-40mg daily in addition to a low fat diet. Pradigastat is also in phase II clinical trials for type 2 diabetes and severe hypertriglyceridaemia (familial hyperchylomicronaemia phenotypes I and V). Pradigastat is a designated orphan drug in the EU. In a phase III clinical trial.