Contents

Dihexa

Chemical compound

Dihexa

Clinical data
Other names	N-(1-Oxohexyl)-l-tyrosyl-N-(6-amino-6-oxohexyl)-l-isoleucinamide
Identifiers
IUPAC name 6-[(2S,3S)-2-[(2S)-2-hexanamido-3-(4-hydroxyphenyl)propanamido]-3-methylpentanamido]hexanamide
CAS Number	1401708-83-5
PubChem CID	129010512
ChemSpider	57582587
UNII	9WYX65A5C2
Chemical and physical data
Formula	C27H44N4O5
Molar mass	504.672 g·mol−1
3D model (JSmol)	Interactive image
SMILES CCCCCC(=O)N[C@@H](Cc1ccc(O)cc1)C(=O)N[C@@H]([C@@H](C)CC)C(=O)NCCCCCC(N)=O
InChI InChI=1S/C27H44N4O5/c1-4-6-8-12-24(34)30-22(18-20-13-15-21(32)16-14-20)26(35)31-25(19(3)5-2)27(36)29-17-10-7-9-11-23(28)33/h13-16,19,22,25,32H,4-12,17-18H2,1-3H3,(H2,28,33)(H,29,36)(H,30,34)(H,31,35)/t19-,22-,25-/m0/s1 Key:XEUVNVNAVKZSPT-JTJYXVOQSA-N

Dihexa (developmental code PNB-0408; also known as N-hexanoic-Tyr-Ile-(6) aminohexanoic amide) is an oligopeptide drug derived from angiotensin IV that binds with high affinitytohepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and potentiates its activity at its receptor, c-Met. The compound has been found to potently improve cognitive function in animal modelsofAlzheimer's disease-like mental impairment.^{[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]} In an assay of neurotrophic activity, dihexa was found to be seven orders of magnitude more potent than brain-derived neurotrophic factor.^[9]

According to a patent, "Short duration safety studies with dihexa have uncovered no apparent toxicity. Of particular note is a lack of neoplastic induction^{[citation needed]}, since c-Met is recognized as an oncogene. This is unsurprising since oncogenesis requires multiple mutations including both oncogene induction and tumor suppressor attenuation."^{[10][citation needed]}

Dihexa was developed by Joseph Harding and his team at Washington State University.^[11] Later developments were done by M3 Biotechnology, a company founded to commercialize dihexa.^[12]