• José Luis Díaz, Rosa Cuberes, Joana Berrocal, Montserrat Contijoch, Ute Christmann, Ariadna Fernández, Adriana Port, Jörg Holenz, Helmut Buschmann, Christian Laggner, Maria Teresa Serafini, Javier Burgueño, Daniel Zamanillo, Manuel Merlos, José Miguel Vela, and Carmen Almansa.
• Drug Discovery and Preclinical Development, Esteve, Av. Mare de Déu de Montserrat, 221, 08041, Barcelona, Spain. jldiaz@esteve.es
• J. Med. Chem. 2012 Oct 11;55(19):8211-24.

AbstractThe synthesis and pharmacological activity of a new series of 1-arylpyrazoles as potent σ(1) receptor (σ(1)R) antagonists are reported. The new compounds were evaluated in vitro in human σ(1)R and guinea pig σ(2) receptor (σ(2)R) binding assays. The nature of the pyrazole substituents was crucial for activity, and a basic amine was shown to be necessary, in accordance with known receptor pharmacophores. A wide variety of amines and spacer lengths between the amino and pyrazole groups were tolerated, but only the ethylenoxy spacer and small cyclic amines provided compounds with sufficient selectivity for σ(1)R vs σ(2)R. The most selective compounds were further profiled, and compound 28, 4-{2-[5-methyl-1-(naphthalen-2-yl)-1H-pyrazol-3-yloxy]ethyl}morpholine (S1RA, E-52862), which showed high activity in the mouse capsaicin model of neurogenic pain, emerged as the most interesting candidate. In addition, compound 28 exerted dose-dependent antinociceptive effects in several neuropathic pain models. This, together with its good physicochemical, safety, and ADME properties, led compound 28 to be selected as clinical candidate.

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