Deuterated drug

A deuterated drug is a small molecule medicinal product in which one or more of the hydrogen atoms contained in the drug molecule have been replaced by deuterium. Because of the kinetic isotope effect, deuterium-containing drugs may have significantly lower rates of metabolism, and hence a longer half-life.

The first patent in the US granted for deuterated molecules was in the 1970s. Since then patents on deuterated drugs have become more prolific.

Deutetrabenazine is a deuterated version of tetrabenazine. The non-deuterated version of tetrabenazine is an approved drug for the involuntary movements in Huntington’s disease, however its short half-life limits its clinical efficacy. Deutetrabenazine has a longer half-life than the parent drug and has completed clinical trials. The United States Food and Drug Administration approved it in April 2017.

Other examples of deuterated drugs are the psychedelics beta-D and 4-D.

Concert Pharmaceuticals focuses on deuterated drugs. In 2014 the firm had CTP-354 ready for Phase II trials for spasticity in people with multiple sclerosis or spinal cord injury, CTP-499 in Phase II trials for Type 2 diabetic kidney disease and CTP-786 (deuterated dextromethorphan).

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