Abstract
These patents cover three different ‘classes’ of agents reported to be selective cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors. Derivitisation of the carboxyl moiety of the known non-selective acidic non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) sulindac is exemplified by the WO9821195 patent (American Home Products). Another patent in the growing classes of sulfonyl-substituted diarylheterocycles area is WO9805639 (Laboratoires UPSA). A substantially new pharmacophore motif derived from research on the meloxicam series is exemplified by US5741798 (Boehringer Ingelheim Pharm.). Of these patents, only the Boehringer Ingelheim patent provides biological data supporting in vivo utility of this class.