Novel urate transporter 1 (URAT1) inhibitors: a review of recent patent literature (2016–2019)

Introduction: Human urate transporter 1 (URAT1), which is an influx transporter protein, is located at the apical surface of renal tubular cells and presumed to be the major transporter responsible for the reabsorption of urate from blood. About 90% of patients develop hyperuricemia due to insufficient urate excretion; thus, it is important to develop URAT1 inhibitors that could enhance renal urate excretion by blocking the reabsorption of urate anion.Areas covered: In this review, the authors addressed the patent applications (2016–2019) about URAT1 inhibitors and some medicinal chemistry strategies employed in these patents.Expert opinion: Substituent decorating, bioisosterism, and scaffold hopping are three common medicinal chemistry strategies used in the discovery of URAT1 inhibitors. Meanwhile, the introduction of sulfonyl group into small molecules has become one of the important strategies for structural optimization of URAT1 inhibitors. Furthermore, developing drug candidates targeting both URAT1 and xanthine oxidase (XOD) has attracted lots of interest and attention.