Vedaclidine [LY 297802, NNC 101053, NNC 111053, butylthio[2.2.2]], a quinuclidine, is a muscarinic receptor agonist being developed by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly as an analgesic drug. Vedaclidine is a muscarinic receptor ligand which is equiefficacious to morphine in producing antinociception. In vitro, Vedaclidine had high affinity for muscarinic receptors in brain homogenates, but had substantially less or no affinity for several other neurotransmiter receptors and uptake sites. Its pharmacological profile suggests that it may have clinical utility in the management of pain as an alternative to opioids.

Rivanicline (also known as RJR-2403 or TC-2403) is a partial neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonist. This compound binds primarily to the α4β2 receptor subtype. Rivanicline was originally developed for Alzheimer’s disease and shows pronounced anti-amnesic and increased recognition memory in rats. Because rivanicline also inhibits Interleukin-8 production, it has been further developed as a potential anti-inflammatory treatment for ulcerative colitis (in which nicotine is of therapeutic value but has adverse events). Rivanicline effectively inhibited TNF- and LPS-induced IL-8 production in different cell types, without toxic effects. Rivanicline was also evaluated as a potential compound for the development of nicotinic therapeutics to treat neurological diseases in cases of compromised cholinergic neurotransmission.