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naproxen (naproxen, Verex / naproxen, Biovail)

✓ Approved

Bausch Health Companies Inc. · PTGS1 · Small Molecule

What is naproxen?

naproxen is a small molecule developed by Bausch Health Companies Inc.. It is approved for therapeutic indications via oral (po).

Drug Profile

Brand Namesnaproxen, Verex, naproxen, Biovail
CompanyBausch Health Companies Inc.
Drug ClassSmall Molecule
Molecular TargetPTGS1, PTGS2
RouteOral (PO)
StatusApproved
Sources: ClinicalTrials.gov, Bausch Health Companies Inc.

Mechanism of Action

Molecular Targets

naproxen acts on 2 molecular targets:

PTGS1prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 1 (COX3, PCOX1)
PTGS2prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 (GRIPGHS, hCox-2)
Want deeper analysis?Noah AI can explain complex mechanisms and compare to similar drugs.

Therapeutic Indications

naproxen is developed for 1 unique indication across 1 therapeutic area.

Therapeutic AreaConditionPhase
Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disordersMusculoskeletal pain✓ Approved

Related Research Articles

PubMedScientific reports2026-05-22

Occurrence and risk assessment of pharmaceutical and personal care product pollution in Urban Aquatic Ecosystems of South India.

Divya Vinod V, Vishwajit Basavaraj Darekar BD, Divya Jagadish J, Sathisha A D AD et al.

Pharmaceuticals and personal care products are emerging pollutants since they persist for for an extended period and can harm the environment. This study assessed the prevalence, spatial distribution, and ecological risk of triclosan, naproxen, diclofenac, norfloxacin, and caffeine in surface and groundwater at 30 locations in Bengaluru and Mysuru, India. We used SPE-HPLC to look at the compounds and the risk quotient method to look at the ecological risk across different aquatic trophic levels. All target PPCPs were detected across the study area. Ecological risk assessment showed that the highest risk quotient values for norfloxacin, diclofenac, naproxen, triclosan, and caffeine were about 2, 13, 0.7, 8, and 16, respectively. Caffeine, diclofenac, and triclosan consistently exceeded over the high-risk threshold (RQ > 1), while norfloxacin was exhibited moderate risk and naproxen was in the low to middle of the risk range. The results show that urban aquatic ecosystems in southern India indicate substantial pharmaceutical contamination. This is primarily due to untreated sewage from households, hospital waste, and poor wastewater management. The high ecological risks linked to multiple compounds underscore the necessity for ongoing monitoring, enhanced wastewater treatment technologies, and risk-based management strategies to mitigate pharmaceuticals and personal care products pollution and safeguard aquatic ecosystems and public health.

PMID 42168401
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PubMedPakistan journal of pharmaceutical sciences2026-05-22

Thermo-acoustic and computational studies for the mixture of drug (NSAIDs) and D-mannitol in an aqueous system: Implications for pharmaceutical formulation.

Shoukat Sumaira S, Asghar Jamal Muhammad M, Ahmed Faiz F, Muneer Majid M

The interactions of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) with excipients significantly influence their solubility, stability and bioavailability, and have a significant impact on the therapeutic efficacy of drugs. The present study explores the molecular interactions between the NSAID and D-mannitol in an aqueous system over the temperature range 293.15 to 313.15 K, using thermo-acoustic and computational techniques. Thermo-acoustic parameters, including apparent and partial molar volume (Øv, Øov), apparent and partial molar isentropic compressibility (Øk, Øok), and transfer partial molar volume (∆tr, Øov), etc, were calculated using experimental data of density (ρ) and sound velocity (u). The positive values of partial molar volume and the negative value of partial molar isentropic compressibility indicate the existence of molecular interactions. The positive values of ∆𝑡𝑟∅𝑣° indicate the existence of ion-hydrophilic and hydrophilic-hydrophilic interactions. Hepler's constant (∂2Øov/∂T2)p indicates that Sodium naproxen (Na-NAP) acts as a structure-maker in the presence of D-mannitol in the aqueous solution. In addition to volumetric and acoustic studies, computational work involving HOMO-LUMO analysis, single-point energy calculations, dipole moments, and global reactivity descriptors highlights the stability and reactivity of the interacting species. In the gas phase, the HOMO-LUMO gap decreased significantly (0.29 eV), but it increased in aqueous medium (2.83 eV), suggesting that the complex has stabilized. These findings offer a strong foundation for stabilizing drugs through structure-making behaviour, providing a rational basis for developing effective pharmaceutical formulations.

PMID 42170961
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PubMedInternational journal of pharmaceutics2026-05-19

Formulation of poorly water-soluble drugs in lipid nanocarriers: a suitable approach for taste masking or bitter-taste enhancing?

Scholten Julia J, Pein-Hackelbusch Miriam M, Sokolowsky Martina M, Park Julien J et al.

The taste of a drug formulation, especially of orodispersible and liquid dosage forms, is of crucial importance due to its direct contact with the human taste buds. In order to achieve high patient acceptance with these formulations, drugs with an unpleasant, predominantly bitter taste have to be masked. One strategy for masking taste particularly suitable for lipophilic drugs is to dissolve the drug molecules in lipid carrier systems, such as nanoemulsions. Although this strategy has often proven effective as a formulation strategy for improving bioavailability and masking an unpleasant taste, our study indicates that embedding the three poorly water-soluble model drugs fenofibrate, simvastatin, and naproxen in nanoemulsions led to newly created or increased bitterness compared to the non-formulated drug powders. We proved this using both an analytical taste sensor system, specifically an electronic tongue (e-tongue), and a sensory study with a human taste panel. Hereby, complete agreement between the e-tongue measurements and the sensory study was found despite the non-ionic character of fenofibrate and simvastatin. We hypothesize that the changed bitter taste impressions were due to the location of the drug molecules at the oil/water interfaces, which resulted in an increased bitter taste intensity and prolonged duration of the bitter taste. In summary, the study shows that incorporating drugs into lipid nanocarriers tended to worsen the taste rather than mask it.

PMID 42150644
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PubMedThe Journal of organic chemistry2026-05-18

Accelerated Thioarylation of Arenes Using Lewis Acid and Lewis Base Dual Catalysis.

Okunade Oluwajuwon A M OAM, Majhi Pankaj K PK, Khanizeman R Nisha RN, Sutherland Andrew A

Biaryl sulfides are valuable motifs in pharmaceuticals and functional materials and thus require efficient synthetic methods that operate rapidly and under mild conditions. We recently reported a method for the synthesis of biaryl sulfides via the reaction of arenes with iron(III)-activated saccharin-based thioaryl reagents. However, this approach proved to be less effective for electron-deficient thioaryl groups, which required prolonged reaction times and more forcing conditions. Here, we present an improved procedure featuring a dual catalytic system in which diphenyl selenide acts as a Lewis base cocatalyst to accelerate iron-catalyzed thioarylation at room temperature. This modification significantly enhances the reactivity of electron-deficient saccharin-based reagents, broadening the substrate scope and enabling late-stage functionalization of complex molecules such as natural products and pharmaceuticals. The synthetic utility of this dual catalytic thioarylation reaction is demonstrated with a concise synthesis of the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase inhibitor L-737,126 and late-stage functionalization of the painkiller naproxen.

PMID 42150154
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PubMedClinical immunology (Orlando, Fla.)2026-05-17

Monocytes from patients with chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis (CNO) exhibit increased 'classically activated' phenotypes and altered DNA methylation patterns.

Carlsson Emil E, Godoy-Tena Gerard G, Morbach Henner H, Girschick Hermann J HJ et al.

Chronic non-bacterial osteomyelitis (CNO) is a rare autoinflammatory bone disease primarily affecting children and adolescents. Reliable biomarkers for diagnosis, disease monitoring, and prediction of disease course are lacking. This study demonstrates that, when compared to healthy participants, the proportion of 'pro-inflammatory' CD14++CD16- 'classical' monocytes is elevated in patients with CNO, before and after the initiation of treatment. Differential DNA methylation (200 hyper-, 162 hypo-methylated) profiles in monocytes from CNO patients affect key genes involved in immune regulation, including RUNX3, HOXA9, HLA-DMB, HLAB, MAP3K6, RXRB, CD163L1, MAP2, CDK6, HLA-G, HDAC10, and HLA-DQA1 genes. Notably, DNA methylation changes persist and potentially progress over time after the initiation of treatment with naproxen. In conclusion, patients with CNO display higher proportions of 'classical' monocytes when compared to healthy participants in conjunction with dysregulated DNA methylation patterns. Molecular alterations remain despite symptom relief with naproxen, suggesting progressive inflammation-mediated changes.

PMID 42142821
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PubMedTherapie2026-05-15

[Efficacy of celecoxib, diclofenac, etoricoxib, ibuprofen, ketoprofen and naproxen in low back pain with or without nerve root pain: Systematic review of literature and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials].

Alfieri Paul P, Landry Marie M, Boussageon Rémy R

To assess the efficacy of naproxen, ibuprofen, ketoprofen, diclofenac, etoricoxib and celecoxib in low back pain with or without radiculalgia. Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials (RCTs) using the REB method. Eligibility criteria were RCTs assessing the painkiller efficacy of the aforementioned non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) administered orally versus placebo, in acute and chronic low back pain with or without radiculalgia. The literature search was conducted on Medline, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and ClinicalTrial.gov until 31/12/2024. The risks of bias were assessed using the tool Risk of Bias 2 (RoB2) from the Cochrane collaboration. In addition to the qualitative analysis using the REB method, a quantitative analysis was conducted using Review Manager v5.4. The standardised mean differences (SMD) were calculated with a 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Statistical significance was met if the P-value was<0.05. A total of 11 RCTs were identified: 6 concerned acute low back pain and 5 chronic low back pain. Six were at low risk of bias for pain intensity, and 4 at low risk of bias for functional capacity; 5 were at high risk of bias for pain intensity and 5 at high risk of bias for functional capacity. Three thousand seven hundred eighty-four (3784) patients were included: 2142 suffered from chronic low back pain and 1642 from acute low back pain. The REB analysis concluded "solid evidence of efficacy" for diclofenac in acute low back pain. For the ibuprofen in acute low back pain without radiculalgia, the results were "conclusive to be confirmed". For the naproxen in acute low back pain with radiculalgia, the results were "conclusive to be confirmed". For the other treatments and indications, the conclusion was "lack of evidence". This review has several limitations: a small number of trials that evaluated NSAIDs versus placebo, which limits the interpretation of possible publication bias by the interpretation of funnel plots. More than half of the selected trials aimed to evaluate a different active ingredient or treatment, with the NSAIDs studied primarily used as comparators. Only trials published in French and English were included, which may have introduced selection bias. Furthermore, the results of the RCTs often focused on secondary rather than primary endpoints. Of the 6 NSAIDs studied, only diclofenac showed solid evidence of efficacy on pain intensity in acute low back pain. Ibuprofen and Naproxen showed conclusive evidence requiring confirmation. For the other drugs, there was no evidence of efficacy according to the REB method. For all the analyses, the magnitude of the effect was small and not clinically relevant. It is necessary to conduct new RCTs to confirm the clinical interest of NSAIDs in acute and chronic low back pain.

PMID 42135072
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