Early investigational β3 adreno-receptor agonists for the management of the overactive bladder syndrome

Abstract

Introduction: Antimuscarinic drugs form the mainstay of medical treatment for Overactive bladder Syndrome (OAB). With a proven efficacy but poor tolerability, other treatment modalities have been sought. Recent concerns regarding cumulative anticholinergic load and risk of dementia have provided further impetus to find novel OAB treatments. β3-adrenoceptor (β3-AR) agonists improve OAB symptoms by relaxing bladder tissue. As such, the search is underway to develop β3-AR agonist drugs for the treatment of OAB.

Areas covered: The authors discuss studies on the only approved β3-AR agonist, mirabegron, followed by reports on β3-AR agonists in development, namely ritobegron and solabegron. The authors also discuss the early investigations of novel and putative β3-AR agonist drugs which are being assessed for management of OAB, including aryloxypropanolamine, TRK-380, AJ-9677, BRL37344 and CL 316,243. These investigations have also highlighted alternative unexpected modes of β3-AR action.

Expert opinion: There are a number of β3-ARs in the pipeline but it is uncertain which, if any, will come to market and aid in the management of OAB. A picture of a β3-AR dual action which was unknown previously is emerging. Overall, the authors believe that it is an exciting time for the pharmacological management of OAB with new drugs on the horizon which could potentially improve the patient’s quality of life.

Keywords:

• β3 adrenoceptor
• early investigation
• novel
• overactive bladder syndrome management
• overactive bladder syndrome

Declaration of interest

G Thiagamoorthy has received funding from Astellas and Johnson & Johnson to attend conferences. He has also received an IUGA Fellows Research Network (FRN) grant to conduct a Randomized Clinical Trial. L Cardozo has received funding for research, lecturing and/or consultancy from Allergan, Astellas and Pfizer Inc. I Giarenis has received funding from Astellas and Johnson & Johnson to attend conferences. The authors have no other relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript apart from those disclosed.

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