Hit to lead account of the discovery of bisbenzamide and related ureidobenzamide inhibitors of Rho kinase.

A highly selective series of bisbenzamide inhibitors of Rho-associated coiled-coil forming protein kinase (ROCK) and a related ureidoberizamide series, both identified by high throughput screening (HTS), are described. Details of the lilt validation and lead generation process, Including structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies, a selectivity assessment, target-independent profiling (TIP) results, and an analysis of functional activity using a rat aortic ring assay are discussed.