In Silico Drug Repurposing of 9H-Thioxanthene Based FDA-Approved Drugs as Potent Chemotherapeutics Targeting VEGFR-2 and COX-2

Abstract

The approach of using existing drugs initially developed for one disease to treat other indications has found success across medical fields. This article emphasizes the drug repurposing of 9H-thioxanthene based on FDA-approved drugs for anticancer agents precisely targeting VEGFR-2 and COX-2. The investigated 9H-thioxanthene drugs 1-4 were analyzed for Lipinski's drug-likeness rule and ideal ADME parameters. The results show that all calculated physicochemical descriptors and pharmacokinetic properties are within the expected range. 9H-thioxanthene drugs 1-4 were subjected to molecular docking to determine their molecular interactions at the active sites of VEGFR-2 and COX-2. The molecular docking study revealed that all four 9H-thioxanthene drugs 1-4 were able to target VEGFR-2 and COX-2. In the future, these findings will be greatly favorable in augmenting the utility of the development of the investigated drugs 1-4 for cancer therapeutics specifically targeting VEGFR-2 and COX-2.