CX-516 is an

ampakine Ampakines, also stylized as AMPAkines, are a subgroup of AMPA receptor positive allosteric modulators with a benzamide or closely related chemical structure. They are also known as "CX compounds". Ampakines take their name from the AMPA recepto ...

and

nootropic Nootropics ( , or ) (colloquial: smart drugs and cognitive enhancers, similar to adaptogens) are a wide range of natural or synthetic supplements or drugs and other substances that are claimed to improve cognitive function or to promote re ...

that acts as an

AMPA receptor The α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid receptor (also known as AMPA receptor, AMPAR, or quisqualate receptor) is an ionotropic receptor, ionotropic transmembrane receptor for glutamate (iGluR) that mediates fast synapse, synap ...

positive allosteric modulator In pharmacology and biochemistry, allosteric modulators are a group of substances that bind to a receptor to change that receptor's response to stimulus. Some of them, like benzodiazepines, are drugs. The site that an allosteric modulator binds to ...

and had been undergoing

development Development or developing may refer to: Arts *Development hell, when a project is stuck in development *Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting *Development (music), the process thematic material is reshaped *Photographi ...

by a collaboration between

Cortex Cortex or cortical may refer to: Biology * Cortex (anatomy), the outermost layer of an organ ** Cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the vertebrate cerebrum, part of which is the ''forebrain'' *** Motor cortex, the regions of the cerebral cortex i ...

Shire Shire is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries such as Australia and New Zealand. It is generally synonymous with county. It was first used in Wessex from the beginn ...

, and

Servier Servier Laboratories (French: Laboratoires Servier, often abbreviated to Servier) is an international pharmaceutical company governed by a non-profit foundation, with its headquarters in France (Suresnes). The consolidated turnover for the 2018 ...

. It was studied as a potential treatment for

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegeneration, neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in short-term me ...

under the brand name Ampalex, and was also being examined as a treatment for

ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inapp ...

. CX-516 was the first ampakine compound developed by Cortex and while it showed good ''in vitro'' activity and positive results in animal tests, the human trials proved disappointing due mainly to low potency and short half-life. However, CX-516 is still widely used in animal research into the ampakine drugs and is the standard reference compound that newer, more potent drugs of this class such as

farampator Farampator (developmental code names CX-691, ORG-24448, SCH-900460) is an ampakine drug. It was developed by Cortex Pharmaceuticals, and licensed to Organon BioSciences for commercial development. Following the purchase of Organon by Schering-P ...

and

CX-717 CX717 is an ampakine compound created by Christopher Marrs and Gary Rogers in 1996 at Cortex Pharmaceuticals. It affects the neurotransmitter glutamate, with trials showing the drug improves cognitive functioning and memory. Approval process In ...

are compared to.

References

* {{Ionotropic glutamate receptor modulators Ampakines Stimulants AMPA receptor positive allosteric modulators 1-Piperidinyl compounds Carboxamides Quinoxalines Abandoned drugs

See also

References