Introduction: Indazoles are heterocyclic moieties rarely found in nature. They are nitrogen containing chemical compounds composed of a pyrazole ring condensed with a benzene ring. Various indazole derivatives have been described with a wide variety of biological activities. This has aroused great interest in the development of novel indazole based therapeutic agents.
Areas covered: Forty-two patents published within the last 5 years (2013-2017) describing derivatives with the indazole scaffold and their therapeutic applications were analysed.
Expert opinion: The indazole scaffold is of great pharmacological importance as it forms the basic structure of a large number of compounds with potential therapeutic value. Derivatives have been found to possess promising anticancer and anti-inflammatory activity and have also found application in disorders involving protein kinases (aside from cancer) and neurodegeneration. The compounds where mechanism of action is defined can afford new molecules with biological and therapeutic properties.
Keywords: Indazole; anti-inflammatory; anticancer; neurological disorders; protein kinases; therapeutic applications.