Introduction: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex and multifactorial neurodegenerative disease that remains today a challenge for drug discovery. Like many pathologies of the central nervous system, one of the first hurdle is the development of a compound with a sufficient brain exposure to ensure a potential therapeutic benefit. In this direction, the development of prodrugs has been an intense field of research in the last years.
Areas covered: Two main strategies of prodrugs development are analyzed in this review. First, the application of the classical modulation of an active compound to incorporate a promoiety has been exemplified in the field of AD. In a second chapter, a series of innovative prodrugs based on a polypharmacological approach is described to take into account the complexity of AD.
Expert opinion: In the past 10 years, prodrugs have been approved by the FDA for the treatment of CNS pathologies. Most of them have been developed in order to improve membrane permeability of the parent drugs. Facing the limitation of AD drug discovery, the development of prodrugs will likely play a central role in the next years with the rise of innovative pleiotropic prodrugs.
Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; central nervous system; polypharmacology; prodrug.