Almorexant

Almorexant

Clinical data
Routes of administration	By mouth
ATC code	None
Pharmacokinetic data
Metabolism	Hepatic
Identifiers
IUPAC name (2R)-2-[(1S)- 6,7-Dimethoxy-1-{2-[4-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]ethyl}-3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-2(1H)-yl]-N-methyl-2-phenylacetamide
CAS Number	871224-64-5 N
PubChem CID	23727689
IUPHAR/BPS	2886
ChemSpider	21377865 Y
UNII	9KCW39P2EI
KEGG	D09964 N
ChEMBL	CHEMBL455136 Y
Chemical and physical data
Formula	C29H31F3N2O3
Molar mass	512.6 g/mol (free base)
3D model (Jmol)	Interactive image
SMILES CNC(=O)[C@@H](C1=CC=CC=C1)N2CCC3=CC(=C(C=C3[C@@H]2CCC4=CC=C(C=C4)C(F)(F)F)OC)OC
InChI InChI=1S/C29H31F3N2O3/c1-33-28(35)27(20-7-5-4-6-8-20)34-16-15-21-17-25(36-2)26(37-3)18-23(21)24(34)14-11-19-9-12-22(13-10-19)29(30,31)32/h4-10,12-13,17-18,24,27H,11,14-16H2,1-3H3,(H,33,35)/t24-,27+/m0/s1 Y Key:DKMACHNQISHMDN-RPLLCQBOSA-N Y
NY (what is this?)

Almorexant (INN, codenamed ACT-078573) is an orexin antagonist, functioning as a competitive receptor antagonist of the OX₁ and OX₂orexin receptors, which was being developed by the pharmaceutical companies Actelion and GSK for the treatment of insomnia. Development of the drug was abandoned in January 2011.

Originally developed by Actelion, from 2007 almorexant was being reported as a potential blockbuster drug, as its novel mechanism of action (orexin receptor antagonism) was thought to produce better quality sleep and fewer side effects than the traditional benzodiazepines and Z-drugs which dominated the multibillion-dollar insomnia medication market.

In 2008, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline bought the development and marketing rights for almorexant from Actelion for an initial payment of $147 million. The deal was worth a potential $3.2billion if the drug were to successfully complete clinical development and obtain FDA approval. GSK and Actelion continued to develop the drug together, and completed a Phase III clinical trial in November 2009.

However, in January 2011 Actelion and GSK announced they were abandoning the development of almorexant because of its side effect profile.

Almorexant is a competitive, dual OX₁ and OX₂ receptor antagonist and selectively inhibits the functional consequences of OX₁ and OX₂ receptor activation, such as intracellular Ca²⁺ mobilization.