Sulfonamides: a patent review (2008 – 2012)

Most patents deal with sulfonamide CAIs incorporating NO-donating moieties as antiglaucoma agents, or with compounds targeting the tumor-associated isoforms CA IX/XII. The antidandruff actions of sulphonamides, which inhibit yeast CAs, were also claimed. Apricoxib (a COX2 inhibitor) and pazopanib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor, show significant antitumor activity and several patents deal with these drugs. There is a constant need of novel sulfonamides to act as selective antiglaucoma drugs (targeting CA II), as antitumor agents/diagnostic tools (targeting CA IX/XII), and to treat and diagnose other disease. This privileged structural motif is likely to be present in other drugs in the future.