Trends in Molecular Properties, Bioavailability, and Permeability across the Bayer Compound Collection: Miniperspective
Abstract
For oral drugs, medicinal chemists aim to design compounds with high oral bioavailability, of which permeability is a key determinant. Taking advantage of >2000 compounds tested in rat bioavailability studies and >20,000 compounds tested in Caco2 assays at Bayer, we have examined the molecular properties governing bioavailability and permeability. In addition to classical parameters such as logD and molecular weight, we also investigated the relationship between calculated p K a and permeability. We find that neutral compounds retain permeability up to a molecular weight limit of 700, while stronger acids and bases are restricted to weights of 400–500. We also investigate trends for common properties such as hydrogen bond donors and acceptors, polar surface area, aromatic ring count, and rotatable bonds, including compounds which exceed Lipinski’s rule of five (Ro5). These property–structure relationships are combined to provide design guidelines for bioavailable drugs in both traditional and “beyond rule of 5” (bRo5) chemical space.
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“However, the influence of these criteria is gradually diminishing over time (181).”
Background
- Authors
- O’ Donovan, D. H., De Fusco, C., Kuhnke, L., & Reichel, A.
- Affiliations
- Drug Discovery Sciences, Bayer AG, 13342 Berlin, Germany
- Bayer (Germany) (DE)
- Venue
- Journal of Medicinal Chemistry
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2023-02-08
- Volume
- 66
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 2347-2360
- ISSN
- 0022-2623 (ISSN-L)
- 1520-4804
- OpenAlex
- W4319460384
- Cited by
- 83
- References
- 51
- Citations by year
- 2026: 18 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 19
- FWCI
- 1.41
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Licence
- Locations
- Journal of Medicinal Chemistry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Computational Theory and Mathematics › Computational Drug Discovery Methods
- Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Pharmaceutical Science › Drug Solubulity and Delivery Systems
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Drug Transport and Resistance Mechanisms
- Keywords
- oral bioavailability, intestinal permeability, molecular properties, pKa, molecular weight, lipophilicity, hydrogen bond donors and acceptors, polar surface area, rotatable bonds, Lipinski's rule of five, structure-property relationships
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Biological Availability, Humans, Hydrogen Bonding, Molecular Weight, Permeability, Caco-2 Cells, Rats
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