Sumanirole (PNU-95,666) is a highly selective D₂ receptor

full agonist An agonist is a chemical that activates a receptor to produce a biological response. Receptors are cellular proteins whose activation causes the cell to modify what it is currently doing. In contrast, an antagonist blocks the action of the a ...

, the first of its kind to be discovered. It was developed for the treatment of

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

and

restless leg syndrome Restless legs syndrome (RLS), also known as Willis-Ekbom disease (WED), is generally a long-term disorder that causes a strong urge to move one's legs. There is often an unpleasant feeling in the legs that improves somewhat by moving them. This ...

. While it has never been approved for medical use it is a highly valuable tool compound for basic research to identify neurobiological mechanisms that are based on a dopamine D₂-linked (vs. D₁-, D₃-, D₄-, and D₅-linked) mechanism of action. In 2004,

Pfizer Pfizer Inc. ( ) is an American multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology corporation headquartered on 42nd Street in Manhattan, New York City. The company was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs, Charles Pfizer ...

announced the end of their clinical development program for sumanirole, citing “recent studies that failed to sufficiently distinguish sumanirole from currently available therapies”.

References

{{Dopamine receptor modulators Abandoned drugs Amines Dopamine agonists Imidazoquinolines Ureas

See also

References