Design, synthesis and structure-activity-relationship of 1,5-tetrahydronaphthyridines as CETP inhibitors

This Letter describes the discovery and SAR optimization of 1,5-tetrahydronaphthyridines, a new class of potent CETP inhibitors. The effort led to the identification of 21b and 21d with in vitro human plasma CETP inhibitory activity in the nanomolar range (IC50 = 23 and 22 nM, respectively). Both 21b and 21d exhibited robust HDL-c increase in hCETP/hApoA1 dual heterozygous mice model.