Femoxetine (
INN; tentative brand name Malexil; developmental code name FG-4963) is a
drug
A drug is any chemical substance that causes a change in an organism's physiology or psychology when consumed. Drugs are typically distinguished from food and substances that provide nutritional support. Consumption of drugs can be via insuffla ...
related to
paroxetine that was being developed as an
antidepressant
Antidepressants are a class of medication used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, chronic pain conditions, and to help manage addictions. Common side-effects of antidepressants include dry mouth, weight gain, dizziness, hea ...
by Danish
pharmaceutical company Ferrosan in 1975 before acquisition of the company by
Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk A/S is a Danish multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Bagsværd, Denmark, with production facilities in nine countries, and affiliates or offices in five countries. Novo Nordisk is controlled by majority shareholder ...
. It acts as a
selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). Development was halted to focus attention on
paroxetine instead, as femoxetine could not be administered as a daily pill.
Both femoxetine and paroxetine were invented in the 1970s. Jørgen Anders Christensen's name is on the patents and Jorgen Buus-Lassen's name is on the pharmacology
paper.
After Ferrosan's acquisition, femoxetine died from neglect.
In a separate patent, Ferrosan stated that Femoxetine could be used as an appetite suppressant, using ten times the dosage than for paroxetine, 300 - 400mg daily.
Femoxetine has the same stereochemical properties as
Nocaine
(+)-CPCA (nocaine, 3α-carbomethoxy-4β-(4-chlorophenyl)-''N''-methylpiperidine aka CTDP 31,446
) is a stimulant drug similar in structure to pethidine (an opioid that possesses NDRI actions) and to RTI-31, but nocaine is lacking the two-carb ...
, another agent with a similar structure claimed to have been synthesized using
arecoline as the starting alkaloid.
Analogs
#Addition of the ''para''-fluoro atom results in a different compound that is a hybrid of femoxetine & paroxetine named FG 7080, which has a separate patent. According to the patent tables, incorporation of the fluorine atom potentiated the 5-HT affinity considerably.
#Pfizer made some similar analogs E.g. a
Viloxazine type of catechol ether is used, but 4-phenyl instead of based on a morpholine ring.
#NNC-63-0780.
binds to
ORL1
The nociceptin opioid peptide receptor (NOP), also known as the nociceptin/orphanin FQ (N/OFQ) receptor or kappa-type 3 opioid receptor, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''OPRL1'' (opioid receptor-like 1) gene. The nociceptin receptor ...
instead of
SERT.
* NNC 09-0026
See also
*
Alaproclate
Alaproclate (developmental code name GEA-654) is a drug that was being developed as an antidepressant by the Swedish pharmaceutical company Astra AB (now AstraZeneca) in the 1970s. It acts as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI), and ...
*
Indalpine
Indalpine (INN, BAN; brand name Upstène; developmental code name LM-5008) is a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) class drug that was briefly marketed. It was discovered in 1977 by the pharmacologists Le Fur and Uzan at Pharmuka, a s ...
*
Zimelidine
Zimelidine (INN, BAN) (brand names Zimeldine, Normud, Zelmid) was one of the first selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) antidepressants to be marketed. It is a pyridylallylamine, and is structurally different from other antidepressants ...
References
Antidepressants
Muscarinic antagonists
Phenol ethers
4-Phenylpiperidines
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
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