Discovery of a novel class of zwitterionic, potent, selective and orally active S1P₁ direct agonists.

Amido-1,3,4-thiadiazoles were identified as a novel structural class of potent and selective sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor subtype-1 agonists. Starting from a micromolar HTS compound we developed a robust structural–activity relationship, to get to a lead that demonstrated good selectivity and excellent in vivo potency in rat models.