Benfluorex

Summary

Benfluorex (CHEMBL400599) is an approved small molecule (ATC A10BX06) targeting HNF4A; indicated across 2 conditions including diabetes mellitus and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

At a glance

• Status: Approved (max clinical phase 4)
• Modality: Small molecule
• ATC class: A10BX06
• Targets: 1 (HNF4A)
• Indications: 2 conditions
• Clinical trials: 1
• Chemistry: 351.4 Da · C19H20F3NO2

Identifiers

Drug identity and classification

Field	Value
ChEMBL ID	CHEMBL400599
Name	Benfluorex
Type	Small molecule
Max phase	4
FDA approved	no
PubChem CID	2318
ATC	A10BX06
Molecular formula	C19H20F3NO2
Molecular weight	351.4
InChIKey	CJAVTWRYCDNHSM-UHFFFAOYSA-N

SMILES: CC(CC1=CC(=CC=C1)C(F)(F)F)NCCOC(=O)C2=CC=CC=C2

IUPAC name: 2-[1-[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]propan-2-ylamino]ethyl benzoate

Also known as: Benfluorex, Mediaxal, NSC-757396, SID56320700, BENFLUOREX, benfluorex

Parent form; salt/anhydrous children: CHEMBL1412305

Patent coverage: 551 distinct patent families (1,902 SureChEMBL compound mentions), from 2 matched compound structure(s). One matched structure accounts for 1,898 (100%) of the total. Mentions count patents naming the compound (not distinct inventions), so promiscuous / reference molecules inflate the mention figure — families are the dedup metric.

Targets

Targets

Primary targets (GtoPdb curated mechanism): the Cancer dependency column is the DepMap CRISPR fitness signal (% of screened cell lines dependent on the target).

Gene	Target	Action	pAffinity	Cancer dependency	UniProt
HNF4A	Hepatocyte nuclear factor-4-α	Agonist		0.7%	P41235

Broader ChEMBL bioactivity targets: 22 (assay-derived). Sample: 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2B, Alpha-2A adrenergic receptor, Alpha-2C adrenergic receptor, Alpha-2B adrenergic receptor, Beta-lactamase, Beta-1 adrenergic receptor, 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 1A, Sodium-dependent noradrenaline transporter, 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2A, 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2C.

Bioactivity

ChEMBL activities: 13 potent at pChembl ≥ 5 of 25 total. Top 30 by potency (10 = 0.1 nM, 6 = 1 µM):

Target	pChembl	Type	Value	Unit	Activity ID
HTR2B	6.3	AC50	494.9	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25227278
P00811	6.1	Potency	794.3	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_4688347
HTR2B	6.03	AC50	933	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25164290
ADRA2B	5.66	AC50	2200	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25143439
ADRA2C	5.62	AC50	2408	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25147606
DRD3	5.58	AC50	2627	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25193264
HTR2C	5.46	AC50	3500	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25131546
HTR1A	5.37	AC50	4300	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25216764
KCNH2	5.25	AC50	5600	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25117467
ADRB1	5.24	AC50	5700	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25121517
HTR2A	5.16	AC50	6856	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25224930
NR1I2	5.13	AC50	7376	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25224207
NR1I2	5.03	AC50	9300	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_25187995

Target pathways

Aggregated over 1 target gene(s): HNF4A.

Top Reactome pathways

3 total, by targets touching each:

Pathway	Targets	Genes
Regulation of gene expression in beta cells	1	HNF4A
Nuclear Receptor transcription pathway	1	HNF4A
Nephron development	1	HNF4A

Dominant GO biological processes

GO term	Targets
regulation of transcription by RNA polymerase II	1
transcription by RNA polymerase II	1
lipid metabolic process	1
xenobiotic metabolic process	1
sex differentiation	1
blood coagulation	1
negative regulation of cell population proliferation	1
response to glucose	1
regulation of gastrulation	1
regulation of lipid metabolic process	1
signal transduction involved in regulation of gene expression	1
cell differentiation	1
negative regulation of cell growth	1
glucose homeostasis	1
cholesterol homeostasis	1

Indications & clinical

Indications

2 indications (1 at ChEMBL trial phase 4). Phase below is the highest clinical-trial phase recorded for this drug against each disease — not the molecule’s overall approval status (that is in the Summary).

Indication	Trial phase	MONDO	EFO
diabetes mellitus	4	MONDO:0005015	EFO:0000400
type 2 diabetes mellitus	2	MONDO:0005148	MONDO:0005148

Clinical trials

Total trials: 1.

Phase distribution

Phase	Trials
PHASE2	1

Top trials by phase / activity

NCT	Phase	Status	Title
NCT00544518	PHASE2	UNKNOWN	Impact of Benfluorex Versus Metformin on Glucose Control and Insulin Secretion in Chinese Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Clinical evidence (CIViC)

No CIViC predictive evidence (expected for non-precision-medicine drugs).

Pharmacology

Pharmacogenomics

No PharmGKB pharmacogenomic data curated for this drug.

Related molecules

Related molecules

Molecules sharing ≥1 of this drug’s curated primary targets, merged from two biobtree sources and ranked by shared-target count, then clinical phase: ChEMBL clinical-stage candidates (development phase ≥2) and PubChem drug-class bioactivity (approved / known drugs acting on the target). Deduplicated by drug name; the drug’s own salt forms are excluded. Note: for a drug with few primary targets a shared-target match can reflect off-target / promiscuous binding rather than the same therapeutic mechanism — the phase ordering surfaces bona-fide therapeutics first.

1 molecules share ≥1 primary target. Top 1 by shared-target count:

Molecule	Source	Status	Shared targets
Liothyronine	PubChem	Approved	HNF4A