Fenofibric Acid

Summary

Fenofibric Acid (CHEMBL981) is an approved small molecule targeting FABP1 and CLCN1; indicated across 6 conditions including type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypertriglyceridemia.

At a glance

• Status: Approved (max clinical phase 4)
• Modality: Small molecule
• Targets: 2 (FABP1, CLCN1)
• Indications: 6 conditions
• Clinical trials: 8
• Chemistry: 318.7 Da · C17H15ClO4

Identifiers

Drug identity and classification

Field	Value
ChEMBL ID	CHEMBL981
Name	Fenofibric Acid
Type	Small molecule
Max phase	4
FDA approved	yes
PubChem CID	64929
ChEBI	CHEBI:83469
Molecular formula	C17H15ClO4
Molecular weight	318.7
InChIKey	MQOBSOSZFYZQOK-UHFFFAOYSA-N

SMILES: CC(C)(C(=O)O)OC1=CC=C(C=C1)C(=O)C2=CC=C(C=C2)Cl

IUPAC name: 2-[4-(4-chlorobenzoyl)phenoxy]-2-methylpropanoic acid

ChEBI definition: A monocarboxylic acid that is 2-methylpropanoic acid substituted by a 4-(4-chlorobenzoyl)phenoxy group at position 2. It is a metabolite of the drug fenofibrate.

Other ChEBI roles (chemical / environmental): marine xenobiotic metabolite, drug metabolite.

Also known as: Fenofibrate free acid, Fenofibrate related compound b, Fenofibric acid, Fibricor, Fenocor-67, LF-153, Lipanthyl, Lofibra, NSC-281318, Procetofenic acid, Supralip, fenofibric acid

Parent form; salt/anhydrous children: CHEMBL1201745

Patent coverage: 1,756 distinct patent families (6,353 SureChEMBL compound mentions), from 1 matched compound structure(s). 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
FABP1	fatty acid binding protein 1	Inhibition	6.48	0%	P07148
CLCN1	ClC-1			0.3%	P35523

Broader ChEMBL bioactivity targets: 6 (assay-derived). Sample: Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha, Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor alpha, Fatty acid-binding protein, intestinal, Fatty acid-binding protein, liver, Solute carrier family 22 member 12.

Bioactivity

ChEMBL activities: 12 potent at pChembl ≥ 5 of 38 total. Top 30 by potency (10 = 0.1 nM, 6 = 1 µM):

Target	pChembl	Type	Value	Unit	Activity ID
P02692	7.03	Kd	94	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_2690492
P02692	7	Kd	100	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_2690490
P02692	6.8	Kd	160	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_2690488
P02692	6.66	Kd	220	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_2690486
P02692	6.48	Ki	334	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_2445224
P02692	6.47	Kd	340	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_2690484
P02692	6.44	Kd	360	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_2690505
P02692	6.38	Kd	420	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_2690507
FABP2	6	Ki	1000	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_2445242
PPARA	5.58	EC50	2646	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_1813232
PPARA	5.35	EC50	4500	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_6389282
PPARA	5.04	EC50	9200	nM	CHEMBL_ACT_1727079

Target pathways

Aggregated over 2 target gene(s): FABP1, CLCN1.

Top Reactome pathways

6 total, by targets touching each:

Pathway	Targets	Genes
Triglyceride catabolism	1	FABP1
Heme degradation	1	FABP1
PPARA activates gene expression	1	FABP1
Stimuli-sensing channels	1	CLCN1
Regulation of lipid metabolism by PPARalpha	1	FABP1
Cytoprotection by HMOX1	1	FABP1

Dominant GO biological processes

GO term	Targets
fatty acid transport	1
cellular response to hydrogen peroxide	1
cellular response to hypoxia	1
cellular detoxification	1
cellular oxidant detoxification	1
chloride transport	1
muscle contraction	1
neuronal action potential propagation	1
chloride transmembrane transport	1
monoatomic ion transport	1
monoatomic ion transmembrane transport	1
transmembrane transport	1

Indications & clinical

Indications

6 indications (2 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
type 2 diabetes mellitus	4	MONDO:0005148	MONDO:0005148
hypertriglyceridemia	3	MONDO:0005347	EFO:0004211
medulloblastoma	2	MONDO:0007959	EFO:0002939
cholestasis	2	MONDO:0001751	MONDO:0001751
alcohol abuse	2	MONDO:0002046	MONDO:0007079

1 further indication record had no mapped disease name (EFO/MeSH-only) or were duplicates, and are omitted.

Clinical trials

Total trials: 8.

Phase distribution

Phase	Trials
PHASE1	4
PHASE2	3
PHASE3	1

Top trials by phase / activity

NCT	Phase	Status	Title
NCT00973271	PHASE3	WITHDRAWN	Diazoxide Choline Controlled-Release Tablet (DCCR) for Very High Triglycerides
NCT01356290	PHASE2	RECRUITING	Antiangiogenic Therapy for Children With Recurrent Medulloblastoma, Ependymoma, ATRT and Rare CNS Tumors
NCT03586674	PHASE2	COMPLETED	Fibrates in Pediatric Cholestasis
NCT04517396	PHASE2	COMPLETED	FEnofibRate as a Metabolic INtervention for COVID-19
NCT00960570	PHASE1	COMPLETED	Drug-Drug Interaction Study Between Fenofibric Acid and Efavirenz
NCT01472380	PHASE1	COMPLETED	A Drug-Drug Interaction Study Between Fenofibric Acid and Efavirenz
NCT01501435	PHASE1	COMPLETED	To Compare Safety and Pharmacokinetic Properties of CJ-30039 and Lipidil Supra
NCT01964365	PHASE1	COMPLETED	Pharmacokinetics and Drug Interaction Study Between Rosuvastatin and Fenofibric Acid in Healthy Male Volunteers

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.

3 molecules share ≥1 primary target. Top 3 by shared-target count:

Molecule	Source	Status	Shared targets
TACRINE	ChEMBL	Phase 4 (approved)	FABP1
OLEIC ACID	ChEMBL	Phase 2	FABP1
Fenofibrate	PubChem	Approved	FABP1