molecules of the month

A P2X3-selective antagonist for chronic cough without taste effects. Camlipixant is an orally administered antagonist of the ATP-sensing P2X3 homotrimeric receptor ion channel, originated by AstraZeneca AB and assigned to the Canadian NEOMED Institute (now adMare), and developed by BELLUS Health (Canada), for the treatment of chronic cough. Chronic cough remains difficult to treat - the last FDA-approved anti-tussive, dextromethorphan, was first approved in 1958 and has demonstrated limited clinical efficacy. While Merck’s gefapixant (AF-219/RO-4926219) was recently rejected by the FDA for concerns about efficacy, it is approved in Japan and P2X3 receptor antagonists are ultimately expected to be marketed worldwide in a range of indications based on data so far. In contrast to gefapixant, which demonstrated efficacy in earlier…