Drug name | Original target | Original indication | New target | New indication | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Successful repositionings from approved drugs | |||||
Duloxetine | Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake | Depression | Serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake | Stress urinary incontinence, fibromyalgia, chronic musculoskeletal pain | [12] |
Everolimus | mTOR | Immunosuppressant | Unchanged | Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors | [20] |
Imatinib | BCR-ABL | CML | KIT, PDGFRA | GIST | [14] |
Minoxidil | Unknown | Hypertension | Unknown | Hair loss | [24] |
Nelfinavir | HIV-1 protease | AIDS | Inhibits AKT pathway | In clinical trials for multiple cancers | [17] |
Sildenafil | PDE5 | Angina | Unchanged | Erectile dysfunction, pulmonary arterial hypertension | [130] |
Sunitinib | Multiple kinases | GIST, renal cell carcinoma | Unchanged | Pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors | [131] |
Trastuzumab | HER2 | HER2-positive breast cancer | Unchanged | HER2-positive metastatic gastric cancer | [129] |
Successful repositionings from investigational drugs | |||||
Crizotinib | MET kinase | Clinical trials for anaplastic large-cell lymphoma | EML4-ALK oncogene | NSCLC | [7] |
Thalidomide | Unknown | Morning sickness (withdrawn) | Inhibits tumor necrosis factor α production | Leprosy | [132] |
Thalidomide | Unknown | Morning sickness (withdrawn) | Inhibits angiogenesis | Multiple myeloma | [132] |
Zidovudine | Reverse transcriptase | Failed clinical trials for cancer | Reverse transcriptase | AIDS | [73] |
Unsuccessful repositionings | |||||
Bevacizumab | VEGF | Multiple cancers | Unchanged | Failed clinical trial for gastric cancer | [124] |
Buproprion | Unknown | Depression | Synergistic inhibition of appetite and energy expenditure | Obesity (rejected by FDA owing to adverse effects) | |
Naltrexone | Opioid receptors | Opioid addiction | Synergistic inhibition of appetite and energy expenditure | Obesity (rejected by FDA owing to adverse effects) | |
Naltrexone | Unknown | Alcohol dependence | Synergistic inhibition of appetite and energy expenditure | Obesity (rejected by FDA owing to adverse effects) | |
Sunitinib | Multiple kinases | GIST, renal cell carcinoma | Multiple kinases | Failed clinical trials for multiple cancers | [125] |