Optimization of piperidin-4-yl-urea-containing melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 (MCH-R1) antagonists: Reducing hERG-associated liabilities.

The discovery and optimization of piperidin-4-yl-urea derivatives as MCH-R1 antagonists is herein described. Previous work around the piperidin-4-yl-amides led to the discovery of potent MCH-R1 antagonists. However, high affinity towards the hERG potassium channel proved to be an issue.

Optimization of 2-piperidin-4-yl-acetamides as melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 (MCH-R1) antagonists: Designing out hERG inhibition.

Herein, we disclose the discovery and optimization of 2-piperidin-4-yl-acetamide derivatives as MCH-R1 antagonists. Structural investigation of piperidin-4-yl-amide and piperidin-4-yl-ureas identified 2-piperidin-4-yl-acetamide-based MCH-R1 antagonists with outstanding in vivo efficacy but flawed with high affinity towards the hERG potassium channel. While existing hERG SAR information was employed to discover highly potent MCH-R1 antagonists with minimized hERG inhibition, additional hurdles prevented their subsequent clinical exploration.

Discovery of 1,3-disubstituted-1H-pyrrole derivatives as potent melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 (MCH-R1) antagonists.

A series of 1,3-disubstituted-1H-pyrrole-based antagonists of the human Melanin-Concentrating Hormone Receptor 1 (h-MCH-R1) are reported. High-throughput screening of the AstraZeneca compound collection yielded 1, a hit with moderate affinity towards MCH-R1. Subsequent structural manipulations and SAR analysis served to rationalize potency requirements, and 12 was identified as a novel, functional MCH-R1 antagonist with favorable pharmacokinetic properties.