Novel phophodiesterase inhibitors

Abstract

These three patents from Bayer AG form an interesting group to assess together. They follow on from two earlier applications by the same inventors [101,102]. The number of inventors on these latest applications implies that a substantial project team is now involved in this area. At first glance, these applications appear to be claiming compounds that inhibit superoxide production in phagocytes directly via inhibition of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase, this mechanism being that which was claimed in the first patent in this series [101]. A more careful inspection indicates that this is due to the compounds inhibiting the type IV phosphodiesterase (PDE) found in phagocytes. The generic structure of the compounds claimed in the three patents is shown in Figure 2.