Pemedolac (Dexpemedolac) is a small molecule COX inhibitor used to treat neurological disorders, skin and musculoskeletal disorders.

Pemedolac exhibited potent analgesic effects against chemically induced pain in rats and mice and against inflammatory pain in rats. In each of the animal models used the analgesic potency of pemedolac was defined by an ED50 of 2.0 mg/kg p.o. or less. Significant analgesic activity was detected in rats at 16 hr after administration of 1 mg/kg p.o. (paw pressure test) and at 10 hr after administration of 10 mg/kg p.o. to mice (p-phenylbenzoquinone writhing). Inasmuch as pemedolac was inactive in the hot plate and tail-flick tests; and its analgesic activity was not antagonized by naloxone (1 mg/kg s.c.), and tolerance did not develop upon multiple administrations; this drug does not exert its analgesic effects through an opiate mechanism. Pemedolac differed from standard nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in that the doses that produced analgesia were much lower than those required for either anti-inflammatory or gastric irritant effects. In acute anti-inflammatory tests, pemedolac exhibited only weak activity as evidenced by an ED50 of approximately 100 mg/kg p.o. in the carrageenan paw edema procedure. This demonstrates for pemedolac a separation of at least 50-fold between the acute analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities, which was greater than that observed with reference NSAIDs.[1]