The present invention relates to novel urocortin-2 compounds, pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds, methods of using the compounds to treat disorders associated with corticotropin releasing hormone receptor-2, and intermediates and processes useful in the synthesis of the compounds.

Urocortin-2 (UCN2) is a thirty-eight amino acid endogenous peptide (SEQ ID

NO:15). It is one of three known endogenous urocortins (UCN1 and UCN3) found in mammals and is part of the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH; also referred to as corticotropin releasing factor) family. The CRH family exhibits many physiological functions. UCN peptides are short acting. They act through CRH receptors (CRHR) known as CRHR1 and/or CRHR2. Specifically, UCN2 selectively activates CRHR2 including known isoforms CRHR2-alpha (α) -beta (β) ) and -gamma (γ). UCN2 also has been associated with a reduction in blood pressure. European Journal of Pharmacology 469: 111-115 (2003).

Type II diabetes (T2D) is the most common form of diabetes accounting for approximately 90% of all diabetes. Over 300 million people worldwide are diagnosed with T2D. It is characterized by high blood glucose levels caused by insulin-resistance. The current standard of care for T2D includes diet and exercise as underlying adjunctive therapy along with available oral and injectable glucose lowering drugs. Nonetheless, patients with T2D still remain inadequately controlled. An alternative treatment for T2D is needed.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is characterized by the progressive loss of kidney function. Individuals who have CKD over time experience an increase in albuminuria, proteinuria, serum creatinine, and renal histopathological lesions. It eventually develops into end stage renal disease (ESRD) for many patients requiring either dialysis or kidney transplant. CKD may be caused by several underlying conditions including diabetes and hypertension known as diabetic nephropathy and hypertensive nephropathy, respectively. Diabetic nephropathy prevalence accounts for approximately 50% of kidney failures in the U.S. Hypertensive nephropathy prevalence accounts for nearly 25% of kidney failures in the U.S. The current standard of care for kidney diseases includes angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs). There remains a need for an alternative treatment for CKD.

Chen et al. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), October 31, 2006, vol. 103, NO:44, pp.16580-16585) is an article entitled“Urocortin 2 modulates glucose utilization and insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle.” Further, in Peptides 27:

1806-1813 (2006), the authors disclose CRHR2 agonists including UCN2 analogs for the treatment of CRHR2 modulated disorders such as muscular atrophy. However, there is still a further need for novel therapeutic human UCN2 analogs that are agonists of CRHR2.

The present invention provides novel compounds that are CRHR2 agonists. The present invention also provides novel therapeutic CRHR2 agonists in the form of human UCN2 analogs which may be suitable for once weekly administration or other types of administration such as bi-monthly or monthly. The present invention also provides a novel compound that is a CRHR2 agonist for use in therapy, and in particular for use to treat T2D or CKD, or combinations thereof.

Accordingly, the present invention provides compounds which are urocortin molecules that have the amino acid sequence of Formula III:

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEKQEKEKQQATX7NAX4ILAX8V-NH2 (Formula III), wherein

X1 denotes that the I residue is unmodified or is modified at the N-terminus by either acetylation or methylation,

X ₂ is L or T,

X3 is L or I,

X4 is Q, R, or E,

X ₇ is T or E,

X ₈ is Q, H or R (SEQ ID NO:67), and

Formula III further comprises a modified K residue (“K ^* ”) substituted at position 10 or at any one position between position 14 and position 30 inclusive, K ^* is modified by having the epsilon amino group of the K-side chain bound to a group of the formula—X5—X6, wherein X5 is selected from the group consisting of between one to four amino acid residues, between one to four ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl moieties, and combinations of one to four amino acid residues and one to four ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl moieties, and X6 is a C14-C24 fatty acid.

The present invention provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising a compound of Formula III with the modified K residue, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof (for example, trifluoroacetate salts, acetate salts, or hydrochloride salts). In some embodiments, the terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide. In further embodiments, the pharmaceutical composition may include more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, diluents, and excipients.

As noted above, the synthetic molecules of Formula III are constructed such that the modified K residue is substituted at position 10 or at any one position between position 14 and position 30 inclusive. For example, if the modified K residue is substituted at position 10, then the G residue that normally occupies position 10 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X ₁ IVX ₂ SLDVPIK ^* LLQILX ₃ EQEKQEKEKQQATX ₇ NAX ₄ ILAX ₈ V-NH ₂

wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X1, X2, X3, X4, X7 and X8 have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 14, then the I residue that normally occupies position 14 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X ₁ IVX ₂ SLDVPIGLLQK ^* LX ₃ EQEKQEKEKQQATX ₇ NAX ₄ ILAX ₈ V-NH ₂

wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X1, X2, X3, X4, X7 and X8 have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 15, then the L residue that normally occupies position 15 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQIK ^* X3EQEKQEKEKQQATX7NAX4ILAX8V-NH2 wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X1, X2, X3, X4, X7 and X8 have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 16, then the X ₃ residue that normally occupies position 16 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X ₁ IVX ₂ SLDVPIGLLQILK ^* EQEKQEKEKQQATX ₇ NAX ₄ ILAX ₈ V-NH ₂

wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X ₁ , X ₂ , X ₄ , X ₇ and X ₈ have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 17, then the E residue that normally occupies position 17 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3K ^* QEKQEKEKQQATX7NAX4ILAX8V-NH2

wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X ₁ , X ₂ , X ₃ , X ₄ , X ₇ and X ₈ have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 18, then the Q residue that normally occupies position 18 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EK ^* EKQEKEKQQATX7NAX4ILAX8V-NH2

wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X1, X2, X3, X4, X7 and X8 have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 19, then the E residue that normally occupies position 19 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQK ^* KQEKEKQQATX7NAX4ILAX8V-NH2

wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X1, X2, X3, X4, X7 and X8 have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 20, then the K residue that normally occupies position 20 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula: X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEK ^* QEKEKQQATX7NAX4ILAX8V-NH2 wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X1, X2, X3, X4, X7 and X8 have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 21, then the Q residue that normally occupies position 21 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X ₁ IVX ₂ SLDVPIGLLQILX ₃ EQEKK ^* EKEKQQATX ₇ NAX ₄ ILAX ₈ V-NH ₂ wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X1, X2, X3, X4, X7 and X8 have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 22, then the E residue that normally occupies position 22 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X ₁ IVX ₂ SLDVPIGLLQILX ₃ EQEKQK ^* KEKQQATX ₇ NAX ₄ ILAX ₈ V-NH ₂ wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X1, X2, X3, X4, X7 and X8 have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 23, then the K residue that normally occupies position 23 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEKQEK ^* EKQQATX7NAX4ILAX8V-NH2 wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X ₁ , X ₂ , X ₃ , X ₄ , X ₇ and X ₈ have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 24, then the E residue that normally occupies position 24 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEKQEKK ^* KQQATX7NAX4ILAX8V-NH2 wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X ₁ , X ₂ , X ₃ , X ₄ , X ₇ and X ₈ have the values and features described herein. If the modified K residue is substituted at position 25, then the K residue that normally occupies position 25 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEKQEKEK ^* QQATX7NAX4ILAX8V-NH2 wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X1, X2, X3, X4, X7 and X8 have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 26, then the Q residue that normally occupies position 26 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X ₁ IVX ₂ SLDVPIGLLQILX ₃ EQEKQEKEKK ^* QATX ₇ NAX ₄ ILAX ₈ V-NH ₂ wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X1, X2, X3, X4, X7 and X8 have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 27, then the Q residue that normally occupies position 27 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X ₁ IVX ₂ SLDVPIGLLQILX ₃ EQEKQEKEKQK ^* ATX ₇ NAX ₄ ILAX ₈ V-NH ₂ wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X ₁ , X ₂ , X ₃ , X ₄ , X ₇ and X ₈ have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 28, then the A residue that normally occupies position 28 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEKQEKEKQQK ^* TX7NAX4ILAX8V-NH2 wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X ₁ , X ₂ , X ₃ , X ₄ , X ₇ and X ₈ have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 29, then the T residue that normally occupies position 29 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* X7NAX4ILAX8V-NH2 wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X1, X2, X3, X4, X7 and X8 have the values and features described herein.

If the modified K residue is substituted at position 30, then the X ₇ residue that normally occupies position 30 is replaced with the modified K residue, such that these synthetic molecules would have the following formula:

X ₁ IVX ₂ SLDVPIGLLQILX ₃ EQEKQEKEKQQATK ^* NAX ₄ ILAX ₈ V-NH ₂

wherein K ^* is the modified K residue and X ₁ , X ₂ , X ₃ , X ₄ , and X ₈ have the values and features described herein.

As noted above, the X8 of Formula III may be Q, H, or R. However, in some of the presently preferred embodiments, the X ₈ group will be either an H or Q. Further preferred embodiments may have the X2 and/or the X3 of Formula III be an L residue. In yet additional preferred embodiments, the X4 of Formula III may be a Q residue and/or the X7 of Formula III is an T residue.

In other presently preferred embodiments, the X5 of Formula III may comprise between 0-2 ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl moieties and, more preferably, 1 or 2 amino acid residues. In other presently preferred embodiments, the X ₅ of Formula III may comprise two amino acid residues and two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl moieties, wherein the two amino acid residues are either E or γE residues. In some embodiments, X5 comprises only amino acid residues such that there are no ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl moieties. In yet additional presently preferred embodiments, the X ₁ of Formula III will have the I residue at position 1 modified (at the N-terminus) by either acetylation or methylation.

As noted above, the amino acid sequence of Formula III is modified such that a modified K residue is substituted at position 10 or at any one position between position 14 and position 30 inclusive within the sequence. Some of the most preferred embodiments of Formula III have the modified K residue (“K ^* ”) substituted into position 29 and have X ₈ be Q and X ₇ be T. These molecules, which are subset of Formula III, are represented below as Formula I: X1 I V X2 S L D V P I G L L Q I L X3 E Q E K Q E K E K Q Q A K ^* T N A X4 I L A Q V-NH2 (Formula I) (As with the embodiments of Formula III, the embodiments of Formula I are designed such that X2 can be L or T, and X3 can be L or I, X4 can be Q, R, or E (and more preferably Q or E), and X ₁ can mean that the I residue at position 1 is, at its N-terminus, unmodified or is modified by either acetylation or methylation.) In some of the preferred embodiments of Formula I, the X1 will have the I residue at position 1 modified at the N-terminus by either acetylation or methylation. In the embodiments of Formula I, the modified K residue at position 29 is modified with a fatty acid side chain that is conjugated to the epsilon-amino group of the K side chain, wherein the fatty acid side chain has a formula: ([2-(2-Amino- ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO-(CH2)x-CO2H where x is 16 or 18. (Stated differently, in some of the presently preferred embodiments of Formula I, the X ₅ and X ₆ groups of Formula III have the following formula: ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO-(CH2)x- CO2H where x is 16 or 18) (SEQ ID NO:8). Of course, as noted above, the compound and molecules of Formula I may be made into pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

The present invention also provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound of Formula I, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof (for example, trifluoroacetate salts, acetate salts, or hydrochloride salts). In some embodiments, the terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide. In further embodiments, the pharmaceutical composition may include more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, diluents, and excipients.

In one embodiment, the compound or pharmaceutically acceptable salt of Formula I is designed such that X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by acetylation; X2 is L; X3 is L; X4 is Q; the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K-side chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) ₂ -(γE) ₂ - CO-(CH2)16-CO2H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:1).

In another embodiment, the compound or pharmaceutically acceptable salt of Formula I is designed such that X ₁ has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by acetylation; X2 is L; X3 is L; X4 is Q; the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO-(CH2)18-CO2H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C- terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:2).

In another embodiment, the compound or pharmaceutically acceptable salt of Formula I is designed such that X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation; X2 is L; X3 is L; X4 is Q; the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl) ₂ -(γE) ₂ -CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₆ -CO ₂ H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C- terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:3).

In another embodiment, the compound or pharmaceutically acceptable salt of Formula I is designed such that X ₁ has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation; X2 is L; X3 is L; X4 is Q; the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl) ₂ -(γE) ₂ -CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₈ -CO ₂ H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C- terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:4).

In another embodiment, the compound or pharmaceutically acceptable salt of Formula I is designed such that X ₁ has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation; X ₂ is T; X ₃ is L; X ₄ is E; the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO-(CH2)18-CO2H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C- terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:5).

In another embodiment, the compound or pharmaceutically acceptable salt of Formula I is designed such that X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation; X ₂ is L; X ₃ is L; X ₄ is E; the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO-(CH2)18-CO2H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C- terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:6).

In another embodiment, the compound or pharmaceutically acceptable salt of Formula I is designed such that X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation; X2 is T; X3 is I; X4 is E; the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO-(CH2)18-CO2H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C- terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:7).

Further preferred embodiments of the present invention (which likewise fall within the scope of Formula III) may be designed in which the modified K residue (“K ^* ”) is substituted at position 29 and X ₈ is Q, X ₇ is T. Such preferred molecules and compounds (which are subset of Formula III) can be represented as Formula II:

X1 I V X2 S L D V P I G L L Q I L X3 E Q E K Q E K E K Q Q A K ^* T N A X4 I L A Q V- NH2 (Formula II)

(As with the embodiments of Formula III, the embodiments of Formula II are designed such that X2 can be L or T, and X3 can be L or I, X4 can be Q, R, or E, and X1 can mean that the I residue at position 1 is, at its N-terminus, unmodified or is modified by either acetylation or methylation.) However, further preferred embodiments of Formula II may be designed in which the X1 is restricted such that the I residue (at position 1) is modified by either acetylation or methylation at the N-terminus and X4 is restricted to being either Q or E.

In the embodiments of Formula II, the modified K residue (“K ^* ”) at position 29 is modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K-side chain with a group of the formula–X5–X6, wherein

X5 is selected from the group consisting of:

one to four amino acids;

one to four ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) moieties; and combinations of one to four amino acids and one to four ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl) moieties;

X6 is a C14-C24 fatty acid (SEQ ID NO:16), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

In the embodiments of Formula 1 described herein, the modified K residue used in Formula I has the epsilon-amino group of the K side chain conjugated to the following group: ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO-(CH2)x-CO2H where x is 16 or 18. (Stated differently, in some of the presently preferred embodiments of Formula I, the X5 and X6 groups of Formula III have the following formula: ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO- (CH2)x-CO2H where x is 16 or 18).

Yet, as noted above, the compounds of Formula II and Formula III may use different groups for X5 and X6. For example, in some embodiments of Formula II and Formula III, X5 may be one or four E or γE amino acid residues, . Further embodiments Formula II and Formula III may may have X ₅ be two to four E or γE. Still further preferred embodiments Formula II and Formula III are constructed in which X ₅ comprises two γE amino acids. In some embodiments of Formula II and Formula III, the X5 group may comprise only amino acid residues; however, in other embodiments, the X5 group may comprise one to four amino acid residues (such as, for exmaple E or γE amino acids) used in combination with one to four ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) moieties. Specifically, in other embodiments, X5 constitutes combinations of one to four E or γE amino acids and one to four ([2-(2-Amino- ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) moieties. Additional embodiments are designed in which X ₅ is combinations of two to four γE amino acids and one to four ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl) moieties (such as, for example two of the ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) moieties). Other embodiments have X ₅ be combinations of two γE amino acids and two ([2- (2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) moieties.

In one preferred embodiment of Formulas III and III, the group of the formula–X5– X6 is ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO-(CH2)x-CO2H, where x is 16 or 18. In other embodiments of Formulas III and III, the X ₅ group may comprise at least one ([2-(2- Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl moiety, with or without any amino acid residues. Further preferred embodiments of Formulas III and III are constructed in which the X5 group comprises one or two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl moieties. In some embodiments the X6 group is a straight chain fatty acid side chain of the formula CO-(CH2)x-CO2H, wherein x is 16, 18, or 20. Most preferable embodiments have x being either 16 or 18.

As noted above, the compounds (or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof) of Formulas II and III have an X ₆ group that is a C ₁₄ to C ₂₄ fatty acid. This C ₁₄ -C ₂₄ fatty acid may be a saturated monoacid or a saturated diacid. Preferably, the fatty acid is a saturated monoacid or saturated diacid selected from the group consisting of myristic acid (tetradecanoic acid)(C14 monoacid), tetradecanedioic acid (C14 diacid), palmitic acid

(hexadecanoic acid)(C16 monoacid), hexadecanedioic acid (C16 diacid), margaric acid (heptadecanoic acid)(C ₁₇ monoacid), heptadecanedioic acid (C ₁₇ diacid), stearic acid

(octadecanoic acid)(C18 monoacid), octadecanedioic acid (C18 diacid), nonadecylic acid (nonadecanoic acid)(C19 monoacid), nonadecanedioic acid (C19 diacid), arachadic acid (eicosanoic acid) (C ₂₀ monoacid), eicosanedioic acid (C ₂₀ diacid), heneicosylic acid

(heneicosanoic acid) (C ₂₁ monoacid), heneicosanedioic acid (C ₂₁ diacid), behenic acid (docosanoic acid) (C22 monoacid), docosanedioic acid (C22 diacid), lignoceric acid

(tetracosanoic acid)(C24 monoacid) and tetracosanedioic acid (C24 diacid). The most preferable acids are the following: myristic acid, tetradecanedioic acid, palmitic acid, hexadecanedioic acid, stearic acid, octadecanedioic acid, nonadecanedioic acid, arachadic acid, eicosanedioic acid or docosanedioic acid.

The present invention of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof (for example, trifluoroacetate salts, acetate salts, or hydrochloride salts among others). In other embodiments, any salt or free base suitable for human use may be made using the compounds of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III. In some preferred embodiments, a peptide acetate salt of the compounds of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III is used. In some embodiments, the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide. In further embodiments, the pharmaceutical composition may include more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, diluents, and excipients.

The present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and one or more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, diluents, or excipients. The present invention also provides a pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, in combination with an additional active ingredient.

The present invention provides a method for treatment of type II diabetes in a patient comprising administering to a patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. The present invention also provides a method for treatment of type II diabetes in a patient comprising administering to a patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein the administration is subcutaneous. The present invention also provides a method of treatment of type II diabetes in a patient comprising administering to a patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and simultaneously or sequentially an effective amount of one or more other active ingredients. In one embodiment, the other active ingredient is a currently available oral glucose lowering drugselected from a class of drugs that is considered prior to administration the standard of care as determined by industry guidelines such as the American Diabetes Association. Examples of current standard of care include metformin, thiazolidinediones (TZDs), sulfonylureas (SUs), dipeptidyl peptidase4 (DPP-IV) inhibitors, and sodium glucose co-transporters (SGLTs). In a further embodiment of the present invention, a method of treatment of type II diabetes in a patient as defined above is combined with diet and exercise.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a method for treatment of chronic kidney disease in a patient comprising administering to a patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. The present invention also provides a method for treatment of chronic kidney disease in a patient comprising administering to a patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a

pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein the chronic kidney disease is caused by diabetic nephropathy. The present invention also provides a method for treatment of chronic kidney disease in a patient comprising administering to a patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a

pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein the chronic kidney disease is caused by hypertensive nephropathy. The present invention also provides a method for treatment of chronic kidney disease in a patient comprising administering to a patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein the administration is subcutaneous. The present invention also provides a method of treatment of chronic kidney disease in a patient comprising administering to a patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of a compound of Formula I, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and simultaneously or sequentially an effective amount of one or more other active ingredients. In one embodiment, the other active ingredient is selected from currently available oral ACE inhibitors or ARBs that are considered prior to administration the standard of care as determined by industry guidelines. Examples of current standard of care are ACEs inhibitors lisinopril and captopril and ARBs losartan and irbesartan.

Moreover, the present invention provides a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for use in therapy. The present invention also provides a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for use in the treatment of type II diabetes.

Furthermore, the present invention provides a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for use in the treatment of chronic kidney disease. The present invention provides a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for use in the treatment of chronic kidney disease caused by diabetic nephropathy or hypertensive nephropathy. The present invention provides the use of a compound of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, for the manufacture of a medicament for the treatment of type II diabetes and/or chronic kidney disease.

The present invention also encompasses novel intermediates and processes for the synthesis of the compounds of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III.

The compounds of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III or a pharmaceutically salt thereof are particularly useful in the treatment methods of the invention.

The peptide chain of the compounds of the present invention can be synthesized using standard manual or automated solid-phase synthesis procedures. Automated peptide synthesizers are commercially available from, for example, Applied Biosystems (Foster City, CA) and Protein Technologies Inc. (Tucson, AZ). Reagents for solid-phase synthesis are readily available from commercial sources. Solid-phase synthesizers can be used according to the manufacturer’s instructions for blocking interfering groups, protecting amino acids during reaction, coupling, deprotecting, and capping of unreacted amino acids.

Typically, an N-α-carbamoyl protected amino acid and the N-terminal amino acid on the growing peptide chain attached to a resin are coupled at room temperature in an inert solvent such as dimethylformamide, N-methylpyrrolidone or methylene chloride in the presence of coupling agents such as diisopropyl-carbodiimide and 1-hydroxybenzotriazole. The Nα-carbamoyl protecting group is removed from the resulting peptide resin using a reagent such as trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) or piperidine, and the coupling reaction is repeated with the next desired Nα- protected amino acid to be added to the peptide chain. Suitable amine protecting groups are well known in the art and are described, for example, in Green and Wuts,“Protecting Groups in Organic Synthesis,” John Wiley and Sons, 1991. The most commonly used examples include tBoc and fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl (Fmoc). After completion of synthesis, peptides are cleaved from the solid-phase support with simultaneous side-chain deprotection using standard treatment methods under acidic conditions.

The skilled artisan will appreciate that the peptide chain of the compounds of the invention are synthesized with a C-terminal carboxamide. For the synthesis of C-terminal amide peptides, resins incorporating Rink amide MBHA or Rink amide AM linkers are typically used with Fmoc synthesis, while MBHA resin is generally used with tBoc synthesis.

Crude peptides typically are purified using RP-HPLC on C8 or C18 columns using water- acetonitrile gradients in 0.05 to 0.1% TFA. Purity can be verified by analytical RP- HPLC. Identity of peptides can be verified by mass spectrometry. Peptides can be solubilized in aqueous buffers over a wide pH range.

As used herein, the term“AUC” means area under the curve.

As used herein, the term“average molecular weight” indicates the average of the molecular weight of the different oligomer size components with a very narrow distribution and is determined by mass spectrometry techniques. As used herein, the term“EC50” refers to the concentration of compound that results in 50% activation of the assay endpoint, e.g., cAMP.

As used herein, the term“ED50” refers to the concentration of compound that results in a 50% response in the in vivo assay endpoint, e.g., plasma or blood glucose.

As used herein, the term“effective amount” refers to the amount or dose of compound of the invention, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof which, upon single or multiple dose administration to the patient, provides the desired effect in the patient under diagnosis or treatment for a daily administration. An effective amount can be readily determined by the attending diagnostician, as one skilled in the art, by the use of known techniques and by observing results obtained under analogous circumstances. In determining the effective amount for a patient, a number of factors are considered by the attending diagnostician, including, but not limited to: the species of mammal; its size, age, and general health; the specific disease or disorder involved; the degree of or involvement or the severity of the disease or disorder; the response of the individual patient; the particular compound administered; the mode of administration; the bioavailability characteristics of the preparation administered; the dose regimen selected; the use of concomitant medication; and other relevant circumstances.

As used herein, the term“patient” refers to a mammal, such as a mouse, guinea pig, rat, dog, cat, or human. It is understood that the preferred patient is a human.

As used herein, the term“treating” or“to treat” includes prohibiting, restraining, slowing, stopping, or reversing the progression or severity of an existing symptom or disorder.

When used herein, the term“in combination with” means administration of the synthetic molecule of the present invention either simultaneously, sequentially or in a single combined formulation with the one or more additional therapeutic agents.

Certain abbreviations are defined as follows:“ACR” refers to urine albumin/urine creatinine ratio;“amu” refers to atomic mass unit;“Boc” refers to tert-butoxycarbonyl;

“cAMP” refers to cyclic adenosine monophosphate;“DMSO” refers to dimethyl sulfoxide; “EIA/RIA” refers to enzyme immunoassay/radioimmunoassay;“hr” refers to hour;“HTRF” refers to homogenous time-resolved fluorescent;“i.v.” refers to intravenous;“kDa” refers to kilodaltons; “LC-MS” refers to liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry;“MS” refers to ass spectrometry;“OtBu” refers to O-tert-butyl;“Pbf” refers to N ^G -2,2,4,6,7- pentamethyldihydrobenzofuran-5-sulfonyl;“RP-HPLC” refers to reversed-phase high performance liquid chromatography;“s.c.” refers to subcutaneous;“SEM” refers to standard error of the mean;“TFA” refers to trifluoroacetic acid; and“Trt” refers to Trityl. Standard one- letter codes are used to represent the amino acid in the compounds of Formula I. All amino acids used in the Formula I are L-amino acids. Standard three-letter codes may also be used to represent amino acids.

The compounds of the present invention utilize a C14-C24 fatty acid chemically conjugated to the epsilon-amino group of a lysine side-chain either by a direct bond or by a linker. The term“C ₁₄ -C ₂₄ fatty acid” as used herein means a carboxylic acid with between 14 and 24 carbon atoms. The C14-C24 fatty acid suitable for use herein can be a saturated monoacid or a saturated diacid. By“saturated” is meant that the fatty acid contains no carbon-carbon double or triple bonds.

Examples of specific saturated C14-C24 fatty acids that are suitable for the compounds and uses thereof disclosed herein include, but are not limited to, myristic acid (tetradecanoic acid)(C ₁₄ monoacid), tetradecanedioic acid (C ₁₄ diacid), palmitic acid (hexadecanoic acid) (C ₁₆ monoacid), hexadecanedioic acid (C ₁₆ diacid), margaric acid (heptadecanoic acid)(C ₁₇ monoacid), heptadecanedioic acid (C17 diacid), stearic acid (octadecanoic acid)(C18 monoacid), octadecanedioic acid (C ₁₈ diacid), nonadecylic acid (nonadecanoic acid)(C ₁₉ monoacid), nonadecanedioic acid (C ₁₉ diacid), arachadic acid (eicosanoic acid)(C ₂₀ monoacid), eicosanedioic acid (C20 diacid), heneicosylic acid (heneicosanoic acid)(C21 monoacid), heneicosanedioic acid (C ₂₁ diacid), behenic acid (docosanoic acid)(C ₂₂ monoacid), docosanedioic acid (C ₂₂ diacid), lignoceric acid (tetracosanoic acid) (C ₂₄ monoacid), tetracosanedioic acid (C24 diacid), including branched and substituted derivatives thereof.

In preferred aspects of the compounds of the present invention, the C ₁₄ -C ₂₄ fatty acid is selected from the group consisting of a saturated C14 monoacid, a saturated C14 diacid, a saturated C16 monoacid, a saturated C16 diacid, a saturated C18 monoacid, a saturated C18 diacid, a saturated C19 diacid, a saturated C20 monoacid, a saturated C20 diacid, a saturated C22 diacid, and branched and substituted derivatives thereof. In more preferred aspects of the compounds of the present invention, the C14-C24 fatty acid is selected from the group consisting of myristic acid, tetradecanedioic acid, palmitic acid, hexadecanedioic acid, stearic acid, octadecanedioic acid, nonadecanedioic acid, arachadic acid, eicosanedioic acid and docosanedioic acid. Preferably, the C ₁₄ -C ₂₄ fatty acid is octadecanedioic acid or

eicosanedioic acid.

The length and composition of the fatty acid impacts the half-life of the compound, the potency of the compound in in vivo animal models and also impacts the solubility and stability of the compound. Conjugation of the peptide defined herein to a C14-C24 saturated fatty monoacid or diacid results in compounds that exhibit desirable half-life, desirable potency in in vivo animal models and also possess desired solubility and stability

characteristics.

The compounds of the invention are preferably formulated as pharmaceutical compositions administered by parenteral routes (e.g., subcutaneous, intravenous,

intraperitoneal, intramuscular, or transdermal). Such pharmaceutical compositions and processes for preparing same are well known in the art. (See, e.g., Remington: The Science and Practice of Pharmacy, L.V. Allen, Editor, 22 ^nd Edition, Pharmaceutical Press, 2012). The preferred route of administration is subcutaneous.

The compounds of the present invention may react with any of a number of inorganic and organic acids to form pharmaceutically acceptable acid addition salts. Pharmaceutically acceptable salts and common methodology for preparing them are well known in the art. See, e.g., P. Stahl, et al. Handbook of Pharmaceutical Salts: Properties, Selection and Use, 2nd Revised Edition (Wiley-VCH, 2011); S.M. Berge, et al.,“Pharmaceutical Salts,” Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Vol.66, NO:1, January 1977. Preferred pharmaceutically acceptable salt of the present invention are trifluoroacetate salts, acetate salts and hydrochloride salts among others. The compounds of the present invention may be administered by a physician or self- administered using an injection. It is understood the gauge size and amount of injection volume is determined by the skilled practitioner. In one embodiment, the amount of injection volume is≤ 2ml, preferably≤1 ml. Also a further embodiment is the use of a needle gauge ^27, preferably≥29.

The compounds of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III are generally effective over a wide dosage range. For example, dosages per day normally fall within the range of about 0.01 to about 50 mg/kg of body weight. In some instances dosage levels below the lower limit of the aforesaid range may be more than adequate, while in other cases still larger doses may be employed with acceptable side effects, and therefore the above dosage range is not intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

The present invention also encompasses novel intermediates and processes useful for the synthesis of compounds of Formula I or Formula II or Formula III, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. The intermediates and compounds of the present invention may be prepared by a variety of procedures known in the art including via both chemical synthesis and recombinant technology. In particular, the process using chemical synthesis is illustrated in the Preparation(s) and Example(s) below. The specific synthetic steps for each of the routes described may be combined in different ways to prepare compounds of Formula I, or salts thereof. The reagents and starting materials are readily available to one of ordinary skill in the art. It is understood that these Preparation(s) and Example(s) are not intended to be limiting to the scope of the invention in any way.

EXAMPLE 1

X ₁ IVX ₂ SLDVPIGLLQILX ₃ EQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAX ₄ ILAQV-NH2

wherein the X1 at position 1 is I that is modified, at the N terminus, by acetylation; X2 is L; X3 is L; X4 is Q; and the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) ₂ - (γE) ₂ -CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₆ -CO ₂ H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO: 1). The structure of this sequence is shown below.

The structure of this sequence contains the standard single letter amino acid code with exception of residues I at position 1, and K at position 29 where the structures of these amino acid residues have been expanded.

The peptide according to SEQ ID NO: 1 of the present invention is generated by solid-phase peptide synthesis using a Fmoc/t-Bu strategy carried out on a Symphony automated peptide synthesizer (PTI Protein Technologies Inc.) starting from RAPP AM-Rink Amide resin (H40023 Polystyrene AM RAM, Rapp polymere GmbH) and with couplings using 6 equivalents of amino acid activated with diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC) and Oxyma pure (1:1:1 molar ratio) in dimethylformamide (DMF) for 3h at 25°C.

Extended coupling for Thr30 (10h) is necessary to improve the quality of the crude peptide. A Fmoc-Lys(Alloc)-OH building block is used for K at position 29 coupling (orthogonal protecting group) to allow for site specific attachment of the fatty acid moiety later on in the synthetic process. The N-terminal residue (I at position 1) is acetylated using 10 equivalents of acetic acid with diisopropylcarbodiimide (DIC) and Oxyma pure (1:1:1 molar ratio) in dimethylformamide (DMF) for 1h at 25°C. After finishing the elongation of the peptide-resin described above, the Alloc protecting group present in the K at position 29 is removed using catalytic amounts of Pd(PPh ₃ ) ₄ in the presence of PhSiH ₃ as a scavenger. Additional coupling/deprotection cycles using a Fmoc/t-Bu strategy to extend the K at position 29 side-chain involved Fmoc-NH- PEG2-CH2COOH (ChemPep Catalog#280102), Fmoc-Glu(OH)-OtBu (ChemPep

Catalog#100703) and HOOC-(CH ₂ ) ₁₆ -COOtBu. In all couplings, 3 equivalents of the building block are used with PyBOP (3 equiv) and DIEA (6 equiv) in DMF for 4h at 25°C.

Concomitant cleavage from the resin and side chain protecting group removal are carried out in a solution containing trifluoroacetic acid (TFA): triisopropylsilane : 1,2- ethanedithiol: methanol : thioanisole 80:5:5:5:5 (v/v) for 2 h at 25°C followed by

precipitation with cold ether. Crude peptide is purified to > 99% purity (15-20% purified yield) by reversed-phase HPLC chromatography with water / acetonitrile (containing 0.1% v/v TFA) gradient on a Phenyl hexyl column (phenomenex, 5 micron, 100A), where suitable fractions are pooled and lyophilized.

In a synthesis performed essentially as described above, the purity of Example 1 was examined by analytical reversed-phase HPLC, and identity was confirmed using LC/MS (observed: M+3H ⁺ /3 =1718.8; Calculated M+3H ⁺ /3 =1720.0; observed: M+4H ⁺ /4 =1289.2; Calculated M+4H ⁺ /4 =1290.3; observed: M+5H ⁺ /5 =1031.5; Calculated M+5H ⁺ /5 =1032.4).

EXAMPLE 2

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAX4ILAQV-NH2

wherein the X1 is I in which the N terminus is modified via acetylation; X2 is L; X3 is L; X ₄ is Q; and the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2- CO-(CH2)18-CO2H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO: 2). The structure of this sequence is shown below.

The structure of this sequence contains the standard single letter amino acid code with exception of residues I at position 1 and K at position 29 where the structures of these amino acid residues have been expanded.

The peptide according to SEQ ID NO: 2 of the present invention is synthesized similarly as described above in Example 1. HOOC-(CH ₂ ) ₁₈ -COOtBu is incorporated using 3 equivalents of the building block with PyBOP (3 equiv) and DIEA (6 equiv) in DMF for 4h at 25°C.

In a synthesis performed essentially as described above, the purity of Example 2 was examined by analytical reversed-phase HPLC, and identity was confirmed using LC/MS (observed: M+3H ⁺ /3 =1728.2; Calculated M+3H ⁺ /3 =1729.4; observed: M+4H ⁺ /4 =1296.3; Calculated M+4H ⁺ /4 =1297.3; observed: M+5H ⁺ /5 =1037.4; Calculated M+5H ⁺ /5 =1038.0).

EXAMPLE 3

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAX4ILAQV-NH2

wherein the X1 is I in which the N terminus is modified via methylation; X2 is L; X3 is L; X ₄ is Q; and the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) ₂ -(γE) ₂ - CO-(CH2)16-CO2H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO: 3). The structure of this sequence is shown below.

The structure of this sequence contains the standard single letter amino acid code with exception of residues N-methyl isoleucine at position 1 and K at position 29, where the structures of these amino acid residues have been expanded.

The compound according to SEQ ID NO: 3 of the present invention is synthesized similarly as described above for Example 1. The N-terminal residue (N-methyl isoleucine at position 1) is incorporated as Boc-NMeIle-OH using 6 equivalents of the building block with PyBOP (6 equiv) and DIEA (12 equiv) in DMF-DCM (1:1, v/v) for 15h at 25°C.

In a synthesis performed essentially as described above, the purity of Example 3 was examined by analytical reversed-phase HPLC, and identity was confirmed using LC/MS (observed: M+3H ⁺ /3 =1709.6; Calculated M+3H ⁺ /3 =1710.7; observed: M+4H ⁺ /4 =1282.2; Calculated M+4H ⁺ /4 =1283.3; observed: M+5H ⁺ /5 =1025.8; Calculated M+5H ⁺ /5 =1026.8).

EXAMPLE 4

X ₁ IVX ₂ SLDVPIGLLQILX ₃ EQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAX ₄ ILAQV-NH2

wherein X ₁ is I in which the N terminus is modified via methylation; X ₂ is L; X ₃ is L; X4 is Q; and the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon- amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO- (CH2)18-CO2H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO: 4). The structure of this sequence is shown below.

The structure of this sequence contains the standard single letter amino acid code with exception of residues N-methyl Isoleucine at position 1 and K at position 29, where the structures of these amino acid residues have been expanded.

The compound according to SEQ ID NO: 4 of the present invention is synthesized similarly as described above for Example 1. The N-terminal residue (N-methyl Isoleucine at position 1) is incorporated as Boc-NMeIle-OH using 6 equivalents of the building block with PyBOP (6 equiv) and DIEA (12 equiv) in DMF-DCM (1:1, v/v) for 15h at 25°C. HOOC- (CH2)18-COOtBu is incorporated using 3 equivalents of the building block with PyBOP (3 equiv) and DIEA (6 equiv) in DMF for 4h at 25°C.

In a synthesis performed essentially as described above, the purity of Example 4 was examined by analytical reversed-phase HPLC, and identity was confirmed using LC/MS (observed: M+3H ⁺ /3 =1719.4; Calculated M+3H ⁺ /3 =1720.1; observed: M+4H ⁺ /4 =1289.8; Calculated M+4H ⁺ /4 =1290.3; observed: M+5H ⁺ /5 =1031.8; Calculated M+5H ⁺ /5 =1032.4).

EXAMPLE 5 X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAX4ILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 is I in which the N terminus is modified via methylation; X2 is T; X3 is L; X ₄ is E; and the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon- amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO- (CH2)18-CO2H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO: 5). The structure of this sequence is shown below.

The structure of this sequence contains the standard single letter amino acid code with exception of residues N-methyl Isoleucine at position 1, and K at position 29 where the structures of these amino acid residues have been expanded.

The compound according to SEQ ID NO: 5 of the present invention is synthesized similarly as described above for Example 4.

In a synthesis performed essentially as described above, the purity of Example 5 was examined by analytical reversed-phase HPLC, and identity was confirmed using LC/MS (observed: M+3H ⁺ /3 =1715.7; Calculated M+3H ⁺ /3 =1716.4; observed: M+4H ⁺ /4 =1287.0; Calculated M+4H ⁺ /4 =1287.5; observed: M+5H ⁺ /5 =1029.7; Calculated M+5H ⁺ /5 =1030.2).

EXAMPLE 6

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAX4ILAQV-NH2 wherein X1 is I in which the N terminus is modified via methylation; X2 is L; X3 is L; X4 is E; and the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon- amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) ₂ -(γE) ₂ -CO- (CH2)18-CO2H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO: 6). The structure of this sequence is shown below.

The structure of this sequence 6 contains the standard single letter amino acid code with exception of residues N-Methyl Isoleucine at position 1 and K at position 29 where the structures of these amino acid residues have been expanded.

The compound according to SEQ ID NO: 6 of the present invention is synthesized similarly as described above for Example 4.

In a synthesis performed essentially as described above, the purity of Example 6 was examined by analytical reversed-phase HPLC, and identity was confirmed using LC/MS (observed: M+3H ⁺ /3 =1719.7; Calculated M+3H ⁺ /3 =1720.4; observed: M+4H ⁺ /4 =1289.8; Calculated M+4H ⁺ /4 =1290.5; observed: M+5H ⁺ /5 =1032.2; Calculated M+5H ⁺ /5 =1032.6).

EXAMPLE 7

X1IVX2SLDVPIGLLQILX3EQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAX4ILAQV-NH2 wherein X1 is I in which the N terminus is modified via methylation ; X2 is T; X3 is I; X4 is E; and the K ^* at position 29 is chemically modified through conjugation to the epsilon- amino group of the K side-chain with ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) ₂ -(γE) ₂ -CO- (CH2)18-CO2H; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO: 7). The structure of this sequence is shown below.

The structure of this sequence contains the standard single letter amino acid code with exception of residues N-methyl Isoleucine at position 1 and K at position 29, where the structures of these amino acid residues have been expanded.

The compound according to SEQ ID NO: 7 of the present invention is synthesized similarly as described above for Example 4.

In a synthesis performed essentially as described above, the purity of Example 7 was examined by analytical reversed-phase HPLC, and identity was confirmed using LC/MS (observed: M+3H ⁺ /3 =1715.6; Calculated M+3H ⁺ /3 =1716.4; observed: M+4H ⁺ /4 =1286.8; Calculated M+4H ⁺ /4 =1287.5; observed: M+5H ⁺ /5 =1029.8; Calculated M+5H ⁺ /5 =1030.2).

EXAMPLE 8

The following compounds of the present invention are synthesized similarly as described above for Example 4. The structures shown below contains the standard single letter amino acid code with exception of residues N-methylated I at position 1 and K at position 29 where the structures of these amino acid residues have been expanded.

X ₁ IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified with the following fatty acid side chain:

-γE-([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) ₂ -(γE) ₂ -CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₈ -COOH; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:9). X1IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein X ₁ has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified with the following fatty acid side chain:

-γE-([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) ₂ –(γE) ₂ -CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₆ -COOH;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:10).

X ₁ IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein X ₁ has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified with the following fatty acid side chain:

-γE-γE-γE-γE-CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₈ -COOH;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:11).

X ₁ IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified with the following fatty acid side chain:

-γE-γE-([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)-γE-γE-CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₈ -COOH; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:12). X1IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified with the following fatty acid side chain:

-γE-γE-([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-γE-γE-CO-(C H2)18-COOH; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:13).

X1IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified with the following fatty acid side chain:

-γE-([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)-γE-γE-CO-(CH2)18 -COOH;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:14).

EXAMPLE 9

The following compounds of the present invention are synthesized similarly as described above for Example 4. The structures shown below contains the standard single letter amino acid codes. All of the following compounds or synthetic molecules fall within the scope of Formula III. The purity of these compounds was tested by analytical reversed- phase HPLC, and identity was confirmed using LC/MS, in the manner outlined herein.

IVLSLDVPIGLLQK ^* LLEQEKQEKEKQQATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 14 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₄ -CH ₃ group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:21).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ is an unmodified I residue, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is R, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is R, X ₅ is one γE residue and X6 is a C16 mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 14). IVLSLDVPIGLLQIK ^* LEQEKQEKEKQQATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 15 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₄ -CH ₃ group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:22).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ is an unmodified I residue, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is R, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is R, X ₅ is one γE residue and X6 is a C16 mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 15).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLK ^* QEKQEKEKQQATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 17 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH2)14-CH3 group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:23).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ is an unmodified I residue, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is R, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is R, X ₅ is one γE residue and X ₆ is a C ₁₆ mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 17).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQK ^* KQEKEKQQATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 19 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH2)14-CH3 group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:24^).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is one γE residue and X ₆ is a C ₁₆ mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 19).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEK ^* QEKEKQQATTNARILARV-NH2 wherein the K ^* at position 20 has been chemically such that the epsilon-amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH2)14-CH3 group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:25).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ is an unmodified I residue, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is R, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is R, X ₅ is one γE residue and X ₆ is a C ₁₆ mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 20).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKK ^* EKEKQQATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 21 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH2)14-CH3 group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:26).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is one γE residue and X ₆ is a C ₁₆ mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 21).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQK ^* KEKQQATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 22 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₄ -CH ₃ group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:27).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is one γE residue and X6 is a C16 mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 22).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEK ^* EKQQATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 23 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH2)14-CH3 group; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:28).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is one γE residue and X6 is a C16 mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 23).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKK ^* KQQATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 24 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH2)14-CH3 group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:29).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ is an unmodified I residue, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is R, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is R, X ₅ is one γE residue and X6 is a C16 mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 24).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEK ^* QQATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 25 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH2)14-CH3 group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:30).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is one γE residue and X ₆ is a C ₁₆ mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 25).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEK ^* QQATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 25 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-γE- CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₄ -CH ₃ group; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:31). This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is two γE residues and X ₆ is a C ₁₆ mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 25).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEK ^* QQATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 25 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)-γE- CO-(CH2)14-CH3 group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:32).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is a combination of one γE residue and one ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) group and X ₆ is a C16 mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 25). IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKK ^* QATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 26 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₄ -CH ₃ group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:33).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is one γE residue and X6 is a C16 mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 26).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKK ^* QATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 26 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-γE- CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₄ -CH ₃ group; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:34). This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is two γE residues and X ₆ is a C ₁₆ mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 26).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQK ^* ATTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 27 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₄ -CH ₃ group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:35).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is one γE residue and X6 is a C16 mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 27).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQK ^* TTNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 28 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₄ -CH ₃ group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:36).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ is an unmodified I residue, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is R, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is R, X ₅ is one γE residue and X6 is a C16 mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 28).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH2)14-CH3 group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:37).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is one γE residue and X6 is a C16 mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-γE-CO-(CH2)14-CH3 group; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:38).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X7 is T, X8 is R, X5 is two γE residues and X ₆ is a C ₁₆ mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQATK ^* NARILARV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 30 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a -γE-CO-(CH2)14-CH3 group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:39).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is R, X8 is R, X5 is one γE residue and X6 is a C16 mono fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid (e.g., X ₇ ) at position 30).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQK ^* LLEQEKQEKEKQQATTNAQILAHV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 14 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2-γE- γE -CO-(CH2)16-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:40).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is H, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X6 is a C18 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 14).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQIK ^* LEQEKQEKEKQQATTNAQILAHV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 15 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl) ₂ -γE- γE -CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₆ -COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:41).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ is an unmodified I residue, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is Q, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is H, X ₅ is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X6 is a C18 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 15).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILK ^* EQEKQEKEKQQATTNAQILAHV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 16 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl) ₂ -γE- γE -CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₆ -COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:42).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is H, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X6 is a C ₁₈ diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid (e.g., X ₃ ) at position 16).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLK ^* QEKQEKEKQQATTNAQILAHV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 17 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2-γE- γE -CO-(CH2)16-COOH group; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:43).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is H, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X6 is a C ₁₈ diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 17).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEK ^* EKQEKEKQQATTNAQILAHV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 18 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2-γE- γE -CO-(CH2)16-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:44).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is H, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X ₆ is a C ₁₈ diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 18).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKK ^* EKEKQQATTNAQILAHV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 21 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2-γE- γE -CO-(CH2)16-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:45).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ is an unmodified I residue, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is Q, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is H, X ₅ is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X ₆ is a C18 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 21). IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEK ^* QQATTNAQILAHV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 25 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2-γE- γE -CO-(CH2)16-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:46).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is H, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X6 is a C ₁₈ diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 25).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKK ^* QATTNAQILAHV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 26 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2-γE- γE -CO-(CH2)16-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:47).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is H, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X ₆ is a C18 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 26).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAHV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl) ₂ -γE- γE -CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₆ -COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:48). This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is H, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X ₆ is a C18 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

IVLSLDVPIK ^* LLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQATTNAQILAQV-amide

wherein the K ^* at position 10 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2-γE- γE -CO-(CH2)16-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:49).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ is an unmodified I residue, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is Q, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is Q, X ₅ is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X6 is a C18 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 10).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLK ^* QEKQEKEKQQATTNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 17 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl) ₂ -γE- γE -CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₆ -COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:50).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is Q, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X6 is a C ₁₈ diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 17).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKK ^* QATTNAQILAQV-NH2 wherein the K ^* at position 26 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl) ₂ -γE- γE -CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₆ -COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:51).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ is an unmodified I residue, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is Q, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is Q, X ₅ is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X6 is a C18 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 26).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2-γE- γE -CO-(CH2)16-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:52).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is Q, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X6 is a C ₁₈ diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLK ^* QEKQEKEKQQATENAQILAQV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 17 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2-γE- γE -CO-(CH2)16-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:53).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is E, X8 is Q, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X6 is a C18 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 17).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKK ^* QATENAQILAQV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 26 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl) ₂ -γE- γE -CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₆ -COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:54).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is E, X8 is Q, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X6 is a C ₁₈ diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 26).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* ENAQILAQV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2-γE- γE -CO-(CH2)16-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:55).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is E, X8 is Q, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and two γE residues and X ₆ is a C18 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* ENAQILAQV-NH2

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2- γE -CO-(CH2)16-COOH group; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:56).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 is an unmodified I residue, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is E, X8 is Q, X5 is a combination of two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and a single γE residue and X ₆ is a C ₁₈ diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

X1IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* ENAEILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)- γE -γE-CO-(CH2)18-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:57).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ represents that the I residue has been methylated at the N-terminus, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is E, X ₇ is E, X ₈ is Q, X ₅ is a combination of a single ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl) group and two γE residues and X6 is a C20 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

X ₁ IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* ENAEILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a γE -γE-CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₈ -COOH group; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:58).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ represents that the I residue has been methylated at the N-terminus, X ₂ is L, X3 is L, X4 is E, X7 is E, X8 is Q, X5 is two γE residues and X6 is a C20 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29). X1IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* ENAEILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a γE-([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)- γE -γE-CO-(CH2)18-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:59).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 represents that the I residue has been methylated at the N-terminus, X2 is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is E, X ₇ is E, X ₈ is Q, X ₅ is a combination of a γE residue, a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl) group and then two more γE residues and X6 is a C20 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

X ₁ IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a γE-([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl) ₂ - γE -γE-CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₈ -COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:60).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 represents that the I residue has been methylated at the N-terminus, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is Q, X5 is a combination of a γE residue, two ([2-(2-Amino- ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and then two more γE residues and X ₆ is a C ₂₀ diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

X1IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein X ₁ has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a γE-([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)- γE -γE-CO-(CH2)18-COOH group; and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:61).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 represents that the I residue has been methylated at the N-terminus, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is Q, X5 is a combination of a γE residue, a ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl) group and then two more γE residues and X ₆ is a C ₂₀ diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

X1IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a γE-γE-([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl)2- γE -γE-CO-(CH2)18-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:62).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X ₁ represents that the I residue has been methylated at the N-terminus, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is Q, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is Q, X ₅ is a combination of two γE residues, two ([2-(2-Amino- ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and then two more γE residues and X6 is a C20 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

X ₁ IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a γE-γE-([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)- ethoxy]-acetyl)- γE -γE-CO-(CH2)18-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:63).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 represents that the I residue has been methylated at the N-terminus, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is Q, X5 is a combination of two γE residues, a single ([2-(2- Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) group and then two more γE residues and X6 is a C20 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

X ₁ IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAQILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a γE-γE-γE-γE-CO-(CH ₂ ) ₁₈ -COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:64).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 represents that the I residue has been methylated at the N-terminus, X2 is L, X3 is L, X4 is Q, X7 is T, X8 is Q, X5 is a combination of four γE residues and X6 is a C20 diaciddiacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29). X1IVTSLDVPIGLLQILLEQEKQEKEKQQAK ^* TNAEILAQV-NH2

wherein X1 has the N-terminus of the I residue modified by methylation;

wherein the K ^* at position 29 has been chemically modified such that the epsilon- amino group of the K-side chain is bonded with a γE-([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- acetyl)2- γE-γE-CO-(CH2)18-COOH group;

and the C-terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide (SEQ ID NO:66).

This sequence falls within the scope of Formula III (in that, in this particular embodiment, X1 represents that the I residue has been methylated at the N-terminus, X2 is T, X ₃ is L, X ₄ is E, X ₇ is T, X ₈ is Q, X ₅ is a combination of a γE residue, two ([2-(2-Amino- ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) groups and then two more γE residues and X6 is a C20 diacid fatty acid and the K ^* residue has replaced the original amino acid at position 29).

It should be noted that, in addition to the methods of preparing the compounds described above, a convergent synthesis may also be used. For example, in this convergent synthesis, an acylated lysine sidechain is constructed and/or obtained. This acylated lysine side chain fragment may have the acid fragments protected orthogonally as t-butyl esters or other protecting groups commonly known in peptide synthesis. It is believed that such a method of synthesis may produce the acylated sidechain in high purity, > 98% which may reduce the downstream chromatography requirements, potentially leading to improved purity and increased process efficiency. For example, in an all linear build, the acylated lysine component (i.e. the fatty acid side chain having the amino-ethoxy moieties, etc. ) is typically installed at the end of the synthesis, and this can create high levels of process impurities such as, but not limited to impurities have greater or fewer numbers of amino- ethoxy moieties which can be problematic to remove. Using the convergent (outlined herein) strategy may de-risk an all linear synthetic build strategy, wherein a single mistake can result in a total loss. In addition, using a convergent synthesis approach may improve supply chain flexibility with comparable resourcing requirements to a standard all linear build.

Additionally a convergent synthesis strategy may also be a means of lowering COPS (cost of product sold) and further improving robustness. Another benefit may be that the N-terminus N-methyl isoleucine residue is frequently a difficult coupling for a large peptide.

Incorporation of N-methyl isoleucine onto a smaller fragment may be potentially a good means of de-risking this coupling issue.

Using the compound of Example 4 as an example, the acylated lysine side chain is close to the C-terminus, a strategic retrosynthetic break for a convergent synthesis process may be between the alanine (A) at position 28 and the lysine (K) at position 29. Thus, this “fragment” will include the lysine at position 29 (and its accompanying side chain) along with the final 9 residues (leading up to the C-terminus). In some embodiments, this “fragment” may be the primary parent fragment produced on Rink Amide or Sieber Amide resin. Another retrosynthetic disconnection may be between the Glycine (G) at position 10 and the Leucine (L) at position 11. Making a fragment of these sequences may ensure that such a sequence has no (or a lower) propensity for racemization. The third fragment of 18 amino acids (e.g., from the residue at position 11 to the Alanine at position 28 could also be produced. This 18 residue fragment, along with the initial 10 amino acid fragment (e.g., the N-terminus to the G at position 10) could both be produced, for example, by a 2-CTC resin. The 2-CTC resin may often be preferred for synthesis of most fragments as the resin can be orthogonally cleaved while leaving peptide protecting groups in tact.

Thus, in summary, the following synthesis method for the compound of Example 4 is provided below:

1) Construct the fatty acid side chain that is connected to a Lysine (e.g., the K that will ultimately be K at position 29);

2) Construct a 10 amino acid fragment starting with the Lysine with the fatty acid side chain (e.g., the K that will ultimately be K at position 29) and add the other amino acids to ending in the C-terminus after the final V residue;

3) Construct the 18 amino acid residue fragment, starting with the L at position 11 and ending with the A at position 28;

4) Construct the 10 amino acid fragment starting with the modified I at position 1 and ending with the G at position 10;

5) The 18 residue fragment of step 3 could be coupled to the 10 reside fragment of step 4, and then this 28 construct could be coupled to the fragment of step 2 (having the side chain); alternatively the 18 residue fragment of step 3 could be coupled to the added to 10 amino acid fragment of step 2, and then this residue construct could be coupled to the fragment of step 4.

Again, one of the benefits of using this“fragment” based construction technique is that each fragment could be produced sequentially or simultaneously. Further, the smaller fragments of the peptides may be easier to purify and sometimes can be isolated in crystalline form which imparts high purity. Likewise, if an error is made in one of the fragment, only that fragment has to be discarded and re-created (rather than having to re-create the entire compound). Other strategic fragment breaks are posssible to further improve purity and efficiency such as but not limited to fragment condensation to produce the 18 amino acid residue.

In some embodiments, lyophilization may be incorporated as the strategy as a means of potentially de-risking potential physical property issues of the compound. Specifically, the compound may be constructed by in which it is purified via chromatography. Once purified, the solution may be concentrated and then isolated as a solid (e.g., dry powder) via lyophilization. In alternate embodiments, a solid may be obtained and isolated using a precipitation/filtration/drying/humidification procedure.

Lyophilization is the most commonly practiced ( > 80%) industrial means for production of solid peptide drug products for storage or reconstitution. In some

embodiments, the primary drawback to precipitation is the extensive material and design space development necessary to assure a robust process. Precipitated compounds may also contain high density particles which tend to agglomerate and frequently these precipated products may slowly dissolve with standard dissolution assays and / or drug product formulations. On the other hand, high surface area product produced by lyophilization may assure maximized dissolution rates in dissolution assays and / or drug product formulations. However, precipitation products may also be used, as this method tends to be less expensive for high volume products.

In other embodiment, the present invention is also directed to a compound comprising the following amino acid sequence:

X ₁ I V X ₂ S L D V P I G L L Q I L X ₃ E Q E K Q E K E K Q Q A K T N A X ₄ I L A Q V- NH ₂

wherein X1 denotes that the I residue is modified by either acetylation or methylation at the N-terminus;

wherein X ₂ is L or T;

wherein X3 is L or I;

wherein X4 is Q or E (SEQ ID NO:18).

This sequence has use as an intermediate. Specifically, this sequence may be used as an intermediate to construct the compounds described herein. In this particular method, synthesis on this intermediate would begin on a solid phase (in the manner outlined above) starting from the V at position 38 and finishing at the I (with either the acyl or N-methyl group at the N-terminus). Once this sequence is constructed, the K at position 29 would be deprotected such that the orthogonal protecting group is removed. Then, the particular group of the formula–X5–X6 could then be added to the epsilon-amino group of the K-side chain at position 29. Any of the particular side chains for the group of the formula–X5–X6 outlined herein may be used. Such addition of the group of the formula–X5–X6 may be added while the peptide is still attached to the solid phase. After adding the group of the formula–X ₅ –X ₆ , the peptide may be released from the resin and purified. ASSAYS

Provided below are the conditions and data for some of the above-recited Examples in several assays: in vitro function and selectivity, pharmacokinetics, type II diabetes, muscle atrophy, chronic kidney disease (diabetic nephropathy, hypertensive nephropathy), and blood pressure.

In vitro function and selectivity

CRHR agonistic activity is measured in a cell-based cAMP assay. Serial dilutions of the test peptides are made in assay buffer containing Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS, without phenol red) supplemented with 20mM HEPES and 0.05% lactalbumin enzymatic hydrolysate (LAH) (“assay buffer”). The highest concentration that is used starts from 1µM in the human CRHR2b, whereas 100µM starting concentration is used in the human CRHR1 assay. A one to three dilution of the test peptides is used in both assays.

Receptor over-expressing Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cell line is used for the human CRHR2b assay. CHO cells are grown in DMEM supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum at 37°C under suspension conditions and transiently transfected with cDNA constructs of human CRHR2b (Genbank accession number: AF011406.1). Forty-eight hours after the transfection, the cells are centrifuged to remove the culture media and resuspended in fetal bovine serum containing 5% DMSO. They are cryofrozen and stored in vials in liquid nitrogen (20 x 106 cells/ml/vial). On the day of the assay, cells are thawed and resuspended in cold 30ml culture media supplemented with 20mM HEPES. The cells are then centrifuged to remove the media and washed once with HBSS supplemented with 20mM HEPES. Finally, following the last centrifugation, the cells are resuspended in assay buffer. Thirty-thousand cells are used in the human CRHR2b assay for each treatment. The human Retinoblastoma cell line Y79 (ATCC #HTB-18), which expresses endogenous human CRHR1, is used in the human CRHR1 assay. The cells are grown in RPMI 1640 (Hyclone, #SH30255) containing 20% fetal bovine serum and 10mM HEPES, in suspension culture. Cells are centrifuged to remove the culture media and washed once in HBSS supplemented with 20mM HEPES. The cells are resuspended in the assay buffer and 20,000 cells are used per treatment in the human CRHR1 assay.

The cells are dispensed into Costar 96-well black polystyrene half area EIA/RIA plates (Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY) followed by the addition of the diluted peptides, each at a volume of 20 µL. The agonist induced cAMP levels are detected using a HTRF cAMP Dynamic 2 kit (CisBio, Bedford, MA). After incubation at 37 °C for 30 min, the assay is stopped by cell lysis via the addition of 20 µL of d2-labeled cAMP and followed by 20 µL of cryptate-labeled anti-cAMP antibody, as described by the manufacturer. Cellular cAMP (as a result of agonist stimulation) competes with the d2-labeled cAMP for binding to the antibody. HTRF detection is performed on an Envision plate reader (Perkin Elmer Life and Analytical Sciences, Waltham, MA) by measuring ratiometric emission at 620 and 665 nm after excitation at 320 nm.

The data are converted to picomoles of cAMP using a standard curve obtained from the same assay performed with varying concentrations of unlabeled cAMP. Percent of the maximum activation of the cells is calculated using converted picomole cAMP data by comparing to the amount of cAMP produced by 1 µM human UCN2 for the human CRHR2b or 1 µM human UCN1 for the human CRHR1 assay. The data are analyzed using a Curve Fitting Tool to calculate ED50. Numeric values shown below in Table 1 represent the mean of multiple runs (number of runs shown in parentheses) following the mean value ± SEM.

Table 1. In vitro activity for hCRHR2b and hCRHR1.

These data demonstrate that the compounds of Examples 1 to 7 have CRHR2 agonist activity in a cAMP assay. These data further demonstrate that the compounds of Examples 1 to 7 are selective for CRHR2, over CRHR1.

Pharmacokinetics

Plasma concentrations of compounds were determined by LC/MS methods. Each method measured the intact compound; peptide plus linked time extension. For each assay, the compound and an analog, used as an internal standard (IS), were extracted from 100% mouse, rat or monkey plasma (25 µl) using acetonitrile. Two distinct layers were formed upon centrifugation with the compound and the IS located in the supernatant layer. An aliquot of the supernatant (80 µl) was transferred to a Thermo Protein Precipitation Plate with water (150 µl) and formic acid (25 µl) followed by mixing. A final 31% acetonitrile in 10% formic acid sample (10 µl) was loaded onto a Supelco Analytical Discovery BIO Wide Pore C5-3 column (5 cm X 1 mm, 3 µm). The column effluent was directed into a Thermo Q-Exactive mass spectrometer for detection and quantitation.

Male Cynomolgus monkeys were administered a single subcutaneous dose or intravenous dose (96.4 nmol/kg) of a compound described herein in 20mM Tris-HCl Buffer (pH 7) at a volume of 1 mL/kg. Blood was collected from each animal at 2, 6, 24, 48, 72, 96, 168, 240, 336, 408, and 504 hours postdose for pharmacokinetic characterization.

Male Cynomolgus monkeys were also administered a single subcutaneous dose (50 nmol/kg) of a compound described herein in 20mM Tris-HCl Buffer (pH 8) at a volume of 0.26 mL/kg. Blood was collected from each animal at 3, 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 168, 192, 240, 336, 408, and 504 hours postdose for pharmacokinetic characterization. Male Sprague Dawley rats were administered a single subcutaneous dose (50 or 150 nmol/kg) of a compound described herein in 20mM Tris-HCl Tris Buffer (pH 8) at a volume of 0.26 or 0.77 mL/kg. Blood was collected from each animal at 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144, 168, 192, 240, 288, and 336 hours postdose for pharmacokinetic characterization.

Male CD-1 mice were administered a single subcutaneous dose (350, 386 or 388 nmol/kg) of a compound described herein in 20mM Tris-HCl Tris Buffer (pH 7 or 8) at a volume of 0.05 or 0.06 mL/animal. Blood was collected at 6, 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120 and 168 hours postdose for pharmacokinetic characterization (101). Table 2: Individual and Mean Pharmacokinetic Parameters Following a Single 50 or 96.4 nmol/kg Subcutaneous Dose to Male Cynomolgus Monkeys

Abbreviations for this table: AUC0-inf = area under the curve from time 0 hours to infinity, CL/F = clearance/bioavailability, Tmax = time to maximal concentration, Cmax = maximum observed plasma concentration, T1/2 = half-life. Table 3: Individual and Mean Pharmacokinetic Parameters Following a Single

96.4 nmol/k Intravenous Dose to Male C nomol us Monke s

Abbreviations for this table: AUC _0-inf = area under the curve from time 0 hours to infinity, CL = clearance, C ₀ = Estimated plasma concentration at time zero, T _1/2 = half-life. Table 4: Individual and Mean Pharmacokinetic Parameters Following a Single 50 or 150 nmol/kg Subcutaneous Dose to Male Sprague Dawley Rats

Abbreviations for this table: AUC0-inf = area under the curve from time 0 hours to infinity, CL/F = clearance/bioavailability, Tmax = time to maximum concentration, Cmax = maximum observed plasma concentration, T1/2 = half-life. Table 5: Mean Pharmacokinetic Parameters Following a Single Subcutaneous Dose to Male CD-1 Mice

Abbreviations for this table: AUC0-inf = area under the curve from time 0 hours to infinity, CL/F = clearance/bioavailability, Tmax = time to maximal concentration, Cmax = maximum observed concentration, T1/2 = half-life. These data demonstrate that the above compounds have a pharmacokinetic profile suitable for once weekly administration or other types of administration such as bi-monthly or monthly.

Type II Diabetes

In vivo Diet Induced Obesity (DIO) Model– chronic dose administration

The DIO model represents a pre-diabetic state that is sensitive to insulin. These animals, although not diabetic, display insulin resistance, dyslipidemia, and hepatic steatosis, all characteristics of metabolic syndrome, after being placed on a high fat (60% Kcal from fat) diet for 12 weeks (Surwit RS et al., Diet-induced type II diabetes in C57BL/6J mice. Diabetes 37(9): 1163-7 (1988)). The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of the molecules of Examples 4, 5, 6, and 7 on fasting glucose, fasting insulin, weight loss, and body composition.

Male C57BL6 mice 22 weeks old (on high fat diet since 6 weeks of age, Jackson Laboratories 3800050; Bar Harbor, ME) are housed 1 per cage and maintained on D12492 chow (60% lard high fat diet: Research diets New Brunswick NJ) for 2 weeks in the vivarium and on a normal light cycle prior to experiment start. Animals are randomized by body weight to treatment groups using block randomization. On day 1 of experiment animals and food are weighed and recorded. Animals are separated in to two equal groups and started on separate days (data combined) to simplify the logistics of the study. Animals are given a single subcutaneous injection (s.c.) of the indicated treatment in 20mM citrate pH 7 on days 1(start), 4, 7, 10, and 13 of experiment at a volume of 10ml/kg. Vehicle control animals are injected with a similar volume of this solution. The solutions are kept in sterile capped vials stored at 4ºC for the duration of the study. Each treatment arm has an n of 5 mice per group.

From study day 1 to study day 15 the animals and their food are weighed daily prior to dose administration. These data are used to calculate body weight gain and food consumption. The animals or the wire rack containing the food are placed in a weigh pan and the balance is allowed to stabilize. The weight is recorded.

On Study Day 15, the animals are fasted overnight (approximately 16-18 hours) by placing them in a clean cage with a clean wire rack without food but allowed access to water, and on day 16 are subjected to a intraperitoneal glucose tolerance test (ipGTT). This is performed as follows; the tail of the animal is resected and baseline blood and serum samples (Time 0) are collected and the animals are injected intraperitoneally (ip) with a bolus of 2g/kg glucose in sterile saline at a volume of 5ml/kg. Thereafter, blood glucose and serum samples for insulin are collected at 20, 60, and 120 minutes after injection. Blood glucose is measured using an Accu-Chek Aviva glucose meter (Roche; Indianapolis, IN). The serum samples are centrifuged in a micro hematocrit centrifuge at 9000 relative centrifugal force (rcf) for 5 minutes. The serum is collected and analyzed for insulin using a Rat/ Mouse Insulin Kit (Mesoscale Discovery). Statistical significance ( _* =p>0.05 vs.0 dose; one way ANOVA Dunnett’s post hoc) is calculated using GraphPad Prizm software (La Jolla, Ca). Glucose and insulin AUC are calculated using GraphPad Prism software (GraphPad Software Inc., La Jolla, CA). The area is computed between 0 and the curve, starting from the first X value in the data set and ending at the largest X value (from 0, Trapezoid rule).

On study day 1 and study day 15 (prior to fasting for the IPGTT measurement), body composition is analyzed using Quantitative Nuclear Magnetic Resonance EchoMRI analyzer (EMR-166-s, EchoMRI; Houston Tx). After calibrating the analyzer with a known amount of canola oil, the animals are placed in the analyzer which measures fat and non-fat (lean) mass in grams. Change in mass is calculated by subtraction of the day 15 value from the day 1 value.

Tables 6, 7, 8 and 9 below show data corresponding to each of the above

measurements. The data are represented as the arithmetic mean with SEM.

The data in Tables 6 to 9 demonstrate that subcutaneous administration of Examples 4-7 once every three days for 15 consecutive days results in the following significant differences: (1) decreases in: total body weight and improved body composition (represented as a decrease in fat mass with no significant change in lean mass) when compared to the Vehicle DIO mice. Further, Examples 4-7 when injected every third day s.c. for 15 consecutive days showed the following significant differences: (1) reduction of fasting serum glucose and serum insulin and (2) improvements in: glucose tolerance (represented by the reductions in glucose and insulin AUC during IPGTT). When an ED ₅₀ for fasting serum insulin lowering is calculated, Example 4, 5, and 6 produced ED ₅₀ ’s of 6.47, 6.23 and 16.97 nmol/kg, respectively.

- ⁰ - ₆

C57BL6 mice 22 weeks old (on high fat diet since 6 weeks of age, Jackson Laboratories80050; Bar Harbor, ME) are housed and treated as described above. Animals are randomized byody weight to treatment groups using block randomization. On day 1 of experiment animals and od are weighed and recorded. Animals are separated into three equal groups and started on parate days (data combined) to simplify the logistics of the study. Animals are given a singlec. injection of the indicated treatment in 20mM citrate pH 7 on days 1 (start), 4, 7, 10, and 13 of periment at a volume of 10ml/kg. Vehicle control animals are injected with a similar volume this solution. The solutions are kept in sterile capped vials stored at 4ºC for the duration of theudy.

On the 14 ^th day of study (the morning of the in vivo glucose uptake experiment), DIOice are placed in clean cages and food is removed for 4 hours. Animals are then anesthetizedith 2% isoflurane, and10µCi of [ ³ H]-2-deoxyglucose together with the indicated insulin dose or line (together in 100 ul of sterile saline) is injected retro-orbitally with a 0.3 ml syringe. The tip the tail is resected and at 2, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes after isotope injection, a drop ofood is taken for measurement of blood glucose in triplicate via Accu-Chek Aviva glucoseeter (Roche; Indianapolis , IN). These values represent Cp. At the same time points indicated ove, an additional 10 µl of blood is taken and placed into a Heparin tube, mixed, and placed one. Five 5 µl of the heparizined blood is then transferred to a clean microcentrifuge tube, and25 µl of 1 M Ba(OH)2 and 125 µl of 1 M ZnSO4 are added sequentially. The tube is then mixed d placed on ice. The tubes are centrifuged at 8000 rcf for 5 minutes. Two hundred µl of the pernatant is combined with 5 ml of scintilation fluid and counted in order to determine plasmasintegrations per minute (DPM). These values represent C*p.

After the final blood sample is collected at 30 minutes, the animals are then euthanizedy cervical dislocation and tissues samples (red quadriceps (RQ), white quadriceps (WQ), leus, extensor digitorum longus (EDL)) are removed and frozen between clamps cooled inquid nitrogen. Tissues are stored at -80ºC until processed. Tissues are then processed for unting by placing 50-100 mg of dry tissue weight in a 2 ml Lysing Matrix D tube kept on drye. One 1 ml of 0.5% Perchloric acid is added to the tube and the tissue is homogenized on tting 6.0 for 30 seconds using Fastprep-24 (MP Bio, Santa Ana, CA). The sample is utralized by the addition of 20 µl of 5N KOH mixed and centrifuged at 2000 rcf for 15 inutes at 4ºC. Three hundred µl of the neutralized supernatant is placed into two separate clean5 ml microcentrifuge tubes. Three hundred ul of distilled water is added to the first tube, while50 µl of Barium Hydroxide (Ba(OH) ₂ and 150 µl of Zinc Sulfate (ZnSO ₄ ) are sequentially ded to the second tube. The samples are then mixed and incubated for 1 hour on ice. Both sets tubes are then centrifuged at 3000 rcf for 15 minutes at 4°C.Two hundred ul from each tube is ded to a 7 ml scintilation vial and 5 ml of scintilation fluid (Scinti-Safe) is then added. Theals are then counted for DPM in a Beckman Scintillation counter (Beckman-Coulter, BreaA). The difference in the DPM between these samples represents C*m.

ptake of 2-deoxyglucose by the respective tissues is calculated by the following formula:

g = (C*m) / ^ Cp*/Cp dt

g = glucose metabolic rate (µmol/100g/min)

*m = accumulated 2DG6P (dpm/100 g wet weight) at t = 30 min

*p = plasma 2DG activity (dpm/ml)

p is plasma glucose (mM)

Tables 10 and 11 below show the data corresponding to each of the above measurements.he data are represented as the arithmetic mean with SEM.

The data in Table 10 demonstrate that subcutaneous administration once every three days Example 7 for 14 consecutive days results in a significant increase in muscle glucose uptakehen stimulated by a submaximal insulin concentration (0.5 U/kg) in RQ, WQ and EDL, whileptake in the soleus muscle is not altered when compared to the corresponding value for theehicle DIO mice. In addition, the data in Table 11 indicate that the combined weights of bothDL muscles are significantly increased by subcutaneous administration once every three days Example 7 for 14 consecutive days.

able 10. In vivo muscle glucose uptake in male DIO mice treated with the molecule ofxample 7.

represents significance (p<0.05) compared to Vehicle DIO and is calculated by Two-WayNOVA with a Dunnett’s Comparison using JMP Software (V 5.0; SAS Institute, Cary, NC). able 11. Combined EDL and Soleus muscle weights from in vivo muscle glucose uptake periment in male DIO mice treated with the molecule of Example 7.

represents significance (p<0.05) compared to Vehicle DIO and is calculated by One-WayNOVA with a Dunnett’s Comparison using GraphPad Prizm software (La Jolla, Ca). vivo Leptin Receptor Deficient (C57Bl/6db-/db-) mice– chronic dose administration

In vivo pharmacology studies investigating diabetes efficacy parameters are performed r the molecules of Examples 1, 2, 3, and 4, in the db/db mouse, a commonly used preclinicalodel of T2D. This mouse strain has a genetic mutation in the leptin receptor resulting in a lack leptin signaling, an important adipokine for maintenance of food intake (Coleman DL. Obese d diabetes: two mutant genes causing diabetes-obesity syndromes in mice. Diabetologia;

4(3):141-8, (1978)). These mice become obese around 3 to 4 weeks on a normal rodent chowet. They demonstrate elevations in plasma insulin and blood glucose, and display lowering ofood glucose in response to a number of insulin sensitizing agents. Therefore, the purpose ofis study is to assess the ability to improve insulin sensitivity and subsequently lower plasmaucose.

Male db/db (BKS.Cg-+ Lepr ^db /+ Lepr ^db /OlaHsd) (Harlan Indianapolis) mice 5-6 weeksd are housed 3-4 per cage and maintained on water bottles and 5008 chow (LabDiet; St Louis) r 2 weeks in the vivarium and on a normal light cycle prior to experiment start. Assessment ofody weight, food consumption and other serum parameters are determined as explained above the in vivo DIO Model– chronic dose administration, with the exception of food consumptionhich is averaged over each cage of animals (3-4 animals per cage; 2 cages per treatment).

ercent body weight change is the percent change at end of study from the day 1 body weight.

On study day 1 mice are lightly restrained and the tail is resected using a clean scalpel.ne drop of blood is placed on a glucose test strip and analyzed using an accuCheck blooducose meter (Roche, Indianapolis). The animals are then randomized based on blood glucoseto treatment groups by block randomization. Animals are given a single subcutaneous injection the indicated treatment (4 day studies) or dosed once every three days of experiment (startingn day 1; 14 and 16 day studies) at a volume of 10ml/kg in either 20mM Tris HCl pH 8 or0mM citrate pH7. Vehicle control animals are injected with a similar volume of this solution.he solutions are kept in sterile capped vials stored at 4ºC for the duration of the study. Each day the study (16 day) or each dosing day (14 day study) just prior to dosing animals are bled for termination of blood glucose as described below. Animals are sacrificed by CO2 asphyxiationter glucose measurement on either day 4, 14 or 16 (based on study length). Glucose AUC (from 0, Trapazoid rule) and statistical significance ( _* =p>0.05 vs.0 dose;ne way ANOVA Dunnett’s post hoc) are calculated using GraphPad Prizm software (La Jolla,a).

Tables 12, 13, and 14 below show data corresponding to each of the above

easurements. The data are represented as the arithmetic mean with SEM.

The data in Table 12 demonstrate that Examples 1-3 significantly lower blood glucoseUC measured over 4 days following a single injection. The data in Table 12 and 13

monstrate that Examples 1-3 induced a significant decrease in body weight after being ministered by s.c. administration for 4 (one injection) or 13 (injected on days 1, 4, 7, 10 and 13 study days). Table 14 below demonstrates that Example 4 significantly reduces both bodyeight and glucose AUC (dosed on day 1,4,7,10, and 13 of study) in a 16 day study in db/dbice. The significant glucose and body weight lowering effects of Example 4 produced a lculated ED ₅₀ of 13.04 nmol/kg and 30.16 nmol/kg respectively.

_g / ^k o _l mn 4 ₁ ⁴ g / ^k o _l mn 7 ² n _{s g} i ^o / t _l ^k e ^c ₄ o j _e m i ⁿ _p ^l n 5 ^m ₂ ^{4 ,} _{a y} ^x d ^a _{E g} 6 ^k / 1 o _l mn 2 ₇ ^. - ⁷

- _{6 g} k/ o _l nm 4 ₂ ^. g k/ o _l mn 0

These data demonstrates that the compounds outlined herein are capable of treating type diabetes.

Chronic kidney disease- hypertensive nephropathy

A mouse remnant kidney model (“remnant”) involving surgical reduction of ¾ of the tire renal mass is used as a preclinical model of hypertensive renal disease (Kidney Int.

4(1):350-5, (2003)). This model results in hypertension and modest albuminuria over time and so shows elevations in serum creatinine consistent with decreases in glomerular filtration rateGFR) and thus represents the later stages of human chronic kidney disease (approximating stage .

Surgical reduction of renal mass (N=40 mice) or sham surgery is performed by Taconic, c. in male 129S6 mice at 8-9 weeks of age (obtained by Taconic, Inc.). Randomization into 5 uivalent groups of 8 remnant kidney mice is done at 15 weeks post-surgery by urine albumin creatinine ratio (ACR) and body weight. Either 0.9% physiological saline with 20 mM citrate saline control”) or different dose levels of the compound of Example 2 (7.2, 24, 72 and 144mol/kg) are dosed subcutaneously three times weekly beginning at 16 weeks of age for 2 eeks.

Study duration is 9 weeks. After 2 weeks of dosing, a necropsy is done on all groups cept the 144 nmol/kg group of Example 2 which continues to be monitored for ACR for other 7 weeks to determine the durability of the effects of the compound of Example 2 on ine ACR.

For all groups except the 144 nmol/kg group of Example 2, the endpoints of the study areody weight, kidney weight, heart weight, serum creatinine and urine ACR. For the 144mol/kg group of Example 2, the endpoints are body weight and urine ACR. There are no aths during the study.

Body weight is determined at baseline and at termination with a Metler Toledo Balance.he heart and kidney are removed at necropsy and weighed on a Metler Toledo Balance. Blood 00 ul) is collected from the retro-orbital sinus at termination under isoflurane anesthesia. The otted blood is centrifuged to obtain serum. Serum is analyzed for BUN and creatinine on a oche Hitachi Modular Analytics P analyzer with reagents from Roche. Table 15 below shows data corresponding to the above measurements. Data shown present the arithmetic mean ± the SEM for the parameters listed. All data represent an N value 8 animals per group.

able 15. In vivo measurement of body weight, heart weight, kidney weight, serum BUNnd creatinine in a chronic kidney disease model of hypertensive nephropathy.

denotes significant differences relative to the saline control group.

d-denotes not determined.

The data in Table 15 demonstrate that the disease control shows significant increases in art weight, kidney weight, serum BUN and serum creatinine relative to the sham control due to ronic kidney disease associated with surgically reduced renal mass. The data in Table 15 monstrate that the compound of Example 2 significantly reduces body weight at all dose levels cept the 7.2 nmol/kg relative to the saline control. The compound of Example 2 also gnificantly reduces heart weight at the 24 and 72 nmol/kg dose levels with no effect on kidney eight compared to the saline control group. The compound of Example 2 also significantly duces serum BUN at the 24 and 72 nmol/kg dose levels and serum creatinine at the 24 nmol/kgose level compared to the saline control group. A spot urine collection to measure urine ACR is performed at baseline (-1), 1 and 2 eeks for the saline and all the dose levels of the compound of Example 2. Spot urine collections e also collected for the 144 nmol/kg dose level of Example 2 at 4, 6 and 9 weeks. Spot urine llections are done by placing mice on top of a 96 well polypropylene microplate to collect their ine over a 2 hr time period. The collected urine is placed on ice, centrifuged and subjected to bumin and creatinine analysis.

Urine albumin and creatinine are determined on a Roche Hitachi Modular Analytics P alyzer. Urine creatinine is determined with the Creatinine Plus reagent by Roche. For urine bumin, the Roche Microalbumin assay is modified to adapt the calibration curve for measuring ine albumin in mice. The assay limit of detection for albumin in urine is 4.9 mcg per ml.

ham mice do not have detectable albumin in the urine.

able 16 shows data corresponding to measurements of urine ACR. The data shown are the ithmetic mean ± the SEM at each time point. There are 8 mice per group.

able 16. In vivo measurement of Albumin to Creatinine Ratio (ACR) in a chronic kidney sease model of hypertensive nephropathy.

denotes significant differences relative to the saline control group.

d-denotes not determined.

The data in Table 16 demonstrate that the compound of Example 2 significantly reduces ine ACR at the 24 nmol/kg dose level as early as 1 week of dosing and at all dose levels lative to the saline control after 2 weeks of dosing in the remnant kidney model. The data in able 16 further demonstrate there is durability in the urine ACR lowering effect with the mpound of Example 2 at 144 nmol/kg and that the reduction in ACR may not simply be modynamic in origin as the effect persists out to 7 weeks after the dosing of the compound ofxample 2 is stopped.

Overall, these data demonstrate that the compound of Example 2 improves renal functionnder hypertensive conditions associated with chronic kidney disease with reductions in serum UN, serum creatinine and urine ACR relative to the untreated controls.

All data are analyzed with JMP v.8.0 software (SAS Institute). Statistical analysis of buminuria (ACR) was done by the following: 1) data were analyzed on log scale to stabilize riance over different treatment groups 2) data analysis was carried out in JMP v.8.0 using a NOVA and a Dunnett’s t test at each time point. All other data were evaluated by ANOVA ith log transformed data if the data were skewed and a Students unpaired t test. Statisticalutliers were removed prior to analysis. A P value of < 0.05 was considered statistically gnificant.

This data demonstrate that the compounds outlined herein are capable of treating chronic dney disease caused by hypertensive nephropathy. Chronic kidney disease- hypertensive nephropathy

A mouse remnant kidney model (“remnant”) involving surgical reduction of ¾ of the tire renal mass is used as a preclinical model of hypertensive renal disease (Kidney Int.

4(1):350-5, (2003)). This model results in hypertension and modest albuminuria over time and so shows elevations in serum creatinine consistent with decreases in glomerular filtration rateGFR) and thus represents the later stages of human chronic kidney disease (approximating stage .

Surgical reduction of renal mass (N=32 mice) (obtained by Taconic, Inc.) is performedy Taconic, Inc. in male 129S6 mice at 9-10 weeks of age. Randomization into 4 equivalent oups of 8 remnant kidney mice is done at 17 weeks post-surgery by urine albumin to creatinine tio (ACR) and body weight. Either 0.9% physiological saline for injection (“saline control”) or fferent dose levels of Example 4 (2.6, 7.2 and 24 nmol/kg, Lot # BCA-BE03935-019) areosed subcutaneously three times weekly beginning at 18 weeks post-surgery.

Study duration is 8 weeks. An intermittent dosing strategy is used as Example 4 is ministered only during the first two weeks and then again during the fourth week of the study, us there are periods of time during the study in which there is no exposure of the animals to xample 4. This is done to determine if effects of the compound of Example 4 on albuminuria e simply hemodynamic driven or if there are longer lasting effects on kidney function.

For all groups, the endpoints for the study are body weight, kidney weight, heart weight, buminuria, serum creatinine and renal pathology scores for pelvic dilation, tubular changes, bular protein, tubular regeneration, glomerular changes, interstitial inflammation, interstitial brosis, Masson’s score and a PAS score. There is one death in the 2.6 nmol/kg dose group of xample 4 during the study.

Body weight is determined at baseline and at termination with a Metler Toledo Balance. he heart and kidney are removed at necropsy and weighed on a Metler Toledo Balance. Blood 00 ul) is collected from the retro-orbital sinus at termination under isoflurane anesthesia. The otted blood is centrifuged to obtain serum. Serum is analyzed for creatinine on a Roche itachi Modular Analytics P analyzer with reagents from Roche.

Table 17 below shows data corresponding to the above measurements. Data shown present the arithmetic mean ± the SEM for the parameters listed. All data represent an N value 7-8 animals per group.

able 17. In vivo measurement of body weight, heart weight, kidney weight and serum eatinine in a chronic kidney disease model of hypertensive nephropathy.

denotes significant differences relative to the saline control group The data in Table 17 demonstrate that that the compound of Example 4 shows no gnificant effects on body weight, heart weight or kidney weight, although there is a trend for wer heart weight with the compound of Example 4. The compound of Example 4 at the 24mol/kg dose level significantly reduces serum creatinine relative to the saline group.

easurement of albuminuria

A spot urine collection to measure urine albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR) is performed baseline, 1, 2, 4, 6 and 8 weeks of dosing for the saline and all of the Example 4 dose groups. pot urine collections are done by placing mice on top of a 96 well polypropylene microplate to llect their urine over a 2 hr time period. The collected urine is placed on ice, centrifuged and bjected to albumin and creatinine analysis.

Urine albumin and creatinine are determined on a Roche Hitachi Modular Analytics P alyzer. Urine creatinine is determined with the Creatinine Plus reagent by Roche. For urine bumin, the Roche Microalbumin assay is modified to adapt the calibration curve for measuring ine albumin in mice.

Table 18 shows data corresponding to measurements of albuminuria. The data shown are e arithmetic mean ± the SEM at each time point. There are 9-10 mice per group.

able 18. In vivo measurement of Albumin to Creatinine Ratio (ACR) in a chronic kidney sease model of hypertensive nephropathy for 8 weeks.

denotes significant differences relative to the saline control group. The data in Table 18 demonstrate that the compound of Example 4 significantly reduces buminuria at all dose levels relative to the saline control in the remnant kidney model. The data Table 18 further demonstrate there is a dose dependent effect on albuminuria relative to the line control group as early as 1 week of dosing with the compound of Example 4 that results in return of albuminuria to near normal values after only 2 weeks of dosing at the highest dose vel of the compound of Example 4. The data further demonstrate that the effect of the mpound of Example 4 on albuminuria may not simply be hemodynamic in origin as the effect rsists at the 6 and 8 week time points when the compound of Example 4 is no longer present sed on the pharmacokinetic properties of the compound of Example 4.

Overall, these data demonstrate that the compound of Example 4 improves renal function nder hypertensive conditions with reductions in serum creatinine and albuminuria that are sociated with chronic kidney disease.

enal Pathology

emnant kidneys are removed at study termination, fixed in formalin and processed for paraffin ctioning according to standard methodology. Sections of kidney are evaluated for renal lesions y a board certified pathologist. Tubular protein, tubular regeneration, glomerular sclerosis, peri- omerular fibrosis/inflammation, interstitial inflammation and interstitial fibrosis are semi- uantitatively scored using the following scale: none (0), minimal (1), slight (2), moderate (3), arked (4) and severe (5). Pathology scores are obtained with H&E, Masson’s Trichrome and AS stained sections.

Table 19 shows data corresponding to measurements of renal pathology. The data shown e the arithmetic mean ± the SEM for each parameter. There are 7-8 mice per group.

able 19. In vivo measurement of renal pathology in a hypertensive chronic kidney disease odel.

denotes significant differences relative to the saline control group.

The data in Table 19 demonstrate that the compound of Example 4 significantly reduces nal pathology at all dose levels relative to the saline control for tubular protein and interstitial brosis in the remnant kidney model. The data in Table 19 further demonstrate that the mpound of Example 4 shows significant reductions in tubular regeneration, glomerular lerosis, and interstitial inflammation at the highest dose level relative to the saline control oup. These data demonstrate that the improvement in renal function with the compound of xample 4 in this model is accompanied by significant improvements in renal structure with ductions in renal pathology due to hypertensive renal disease.

atistical Methods

Pathology data are statistically evaluated with R software by fitting an ordered logit odel to the categorical scores, and then comparing the differences between different treatment oups. Statistical analysis of albuminuria (ACR) is done with R software by the following: 1) ta are analyzed on log scale to stabilize variance over different treatment groups, 2) data alysis is carried out using a mixed model with treatment group, time and their interactions as odel terms, plus baseline ACR is included as covariate, 3) observations from each animal at fferent times are treated as repeated measurements using a CS covariance structure and 4) the st p values are not adjusted for multiple testing. All other data are evaluated by ANOVA with g transformed data and a Students unpaired t test with JMP v.8.0 software (SAS Institute). atistical outliers were removed prior to analysis. A P value of < 0.05 was considered atistically significant.

This data demonstrate that the compounds outlined herein are capable of treating chronic dney disease caused by hypertensive nephropathy. The effects of long acting urocortin 2 on blood pressure regulation in SHR model Male spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR/NCrl, Charles River Laboratories, Inc.) were mplanted with Data Science International transmitters (TA11PA-C40) for blood pressure and art rate data collection. All SHR were allowed to recover from the surgical implantation ocedure for at least 2 weeks prior to the initiation of the experiments. During the monitoring hase (Day-1 to Day21), cardiovascular parameters (mean arterial, systolic and diastolic pressure d heart rate) were continuously monitored via the radiotransmitter in conscious, freely moving d undisturbed SHR in their individual home cages. The telemetry data from the DSI telemetrymplants were then converted to a calibrated analog signal which inputs to a commercially oduced data acquisition and analysis system (PONEMAH). All rats were individually housed a temperature and humidity controlled room and are maintained on a 12 hour light/dark cycle.

SHR were randomized to groups according to mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) llected 7 days prior to dosing started. Rats were administered with vehicle (20 mM Tris-HCl uffer, pH8.0) or one of the 4 dose levels (2.4, 7.2, 24, 72 nmol/kg) of the compound of Example twice weekly for 2 weeks with subcutaneous injection (injections on day 1, 4, 8 and 11). Blood essure data were collected for one additional week to evaluate the blood pressure responses ter withdrawal of Example 4treatment.

The compound of Example 4 dose-dependently reduced blood pressure (Table 21, 22). aximal MAP reduction was achieved at 24 hours post dosing. Blood pressure lowering effects the compound of Example 4 were diminished with repeated dosing as demonstrated in the ble comparing MAP after 1 ^st on day 1 and 4 ^th injection on day 11. After withdrawal of the mpound of Example 4, blood pressure levels in all treatment groups were recovered and were ot different from vehicle group.

Table 20 below shows the AUC results with P values for time periods (1-68 hrs) and 41-332 hrs).

able 20: 1-way ANCOVA for AUC over 68 hours following the first dose (Day 1), and over 92 ours following the last dose (Day 11).

able 21: MAP after 1 ^st or 4 ^th injections of vehicle or the compound of Example 4. N=7-8/group. ours indicate time post respective injection on day 1 or day 11.

able 22: 1-way ANCOVA for AUC over 68 hours following the 1st injection (Day 1) or the 4th jection (Day 11), with baseline AUC (over 22 hours) as the covariate and comparison of each eatment to vehicle by Dunnett’s test.

The data in Tables 20-22 and statistical results in Table 20 demonstrate that the mpound of Example 4 dose-dependently reduces blood pressure after the first injection.

aximal MAP reduction is achieved at 24 hours post dose. After withdrawal of the compound ofxample 4, MAP in all treatment groups recovers and is not different from the vehicle group at36 hrs.

MAP data are statistically evaluated with SAS software by 1-way ANCOVA for AUCver 68 hours following the first dose (Day 1), and over 92 hours following the last dose (Day1).

Chronic kidney disease- diabetic nephropathy

The uninephrectomized db/db adeno-associated viral (AAV) renin model represents a ogressive model of diabetic kidney disease with hypertension driven by an AAV reninansgene (Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol.309(5):R467-74, (2015)). This model hibits overt albuminuria that progressively increases over time and also shows decreases in omerular filtration rate (GFR) and thus represents the later stages of human diabetic phropathy (approximating stage 3-4).

The uninephrectomy (UniNx) surgery on female db/db mice on a C57BLKS/J

ckground (obtained from Harlan Laboratories) is performed by Harlan Laboratories at 4 weeks age with removal of the right kidney to accelerate the diabetic kidney disease. Animals areceived at 5 weeks of age and housed in micro-isolator cages at 3 mice per cage and are on a 12our light/dark cycle. All db/db mice are fed ad libitum with Purina special diet 5008 andlowed free access to autoclaved water.

Mice are acclimated for 7 weeks prior to administration of AAV Renin (5 x 10 ⁹ GC)travenously by the retro-orbital sinus to induce persistent hypertension. Randomization by ine albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR), blood glucose and body weight is done at 15 weeks of e (a point at which renal disease and pathology are established in this model based onbservations) into 2 groups of 12 saline control mice and 33 mice to receive Lisinopril treatment.

Dosing with Lisinopril (30 mg/L) begins at 16 weeks of age. After 2 weeks of Lisinoprileatment, the 33 mice are randomized by urine ACR, blood glucose and body weight into 4 oups (one group of 9 mice and 3 groups of 8 mice).

In the 4 groups of UniNx db/db AAV renin mice receiving Lisinopril treatment, either9% physiological saline for injection (“saline control” N=9) or different dose levels ofxample 4 (7.2, 24 or 72 nmol/kg, N=8 per dose level) are dosed at 0.2 mL s.c. per injection ginning at 18 weeks of age and continued 3 times weekly for 12 weeks. Albumin andeatinine are measured in urine with a Roche Hitachi Modular Analytics P analyzer with Rocheagents for detection of albumin and creatinine.

There were 6 deaths in the saline disease control group, 2 deaths in the Lisinopril plus line group, 1 death in the Lisinopril plus 7.2 nmol/kg Example 4 group, 3 deaths in the sinopril plus 24 nmol/kg Example 4 group and 3 deaths in the Lisinopril plus 72 nmol/kgxample 4 group over the course of the study.

For all the groups, the parameters measured are body weight, kidney weight, hearteight, urine albumin to creatinine ratio, serum creatinine and renal pathology scores foresangial matrix expansion, glomerular fibrosis, tubular regeneration, interstitial inflammation d interstitial fibrosis. At 15 and 27 weeks of age, blood (30 to 50 uL) from all the UniNx db/db AAV Renin ice is obtained from the tail vein and dropped onto a Precision PCx blood glucose sensor ectrode strip (Abbott Laboratories) for blood glucose determination with a MediSense ecision PCx glucometer (Abbott Laboratories). Blood glucose data is used to block the UniNx b/db mice into equivalent groups. Body weight is determined at baseline and at termination ith a Metler Toledo Balance. The heart and kidney are removed at necropsy and weighed on a etler Toledo Balance. Blood (500 ul) is collected from the retro-orbital sinus at termination nder isoflurane anesthesia. The clotted blood is centrifuged to obtain serum. Serum is analyzed r creatinine on a Roche Hitachi Modular Analytics P analyzer with reagents from Roche.

Table 23 below shows data corresponding to measurements of body weight, blood ucose, kidney weight, heart weight and serum creatinine. Data shown represent the arithmetic ean ± the SEM for the parameters listed. All data represent an N value of 5-8 animals per oup except for the saline control group (N=6-12).

able 23. In vivo measurement of body weight, blood glucose, kidney weight, heart weight nd serum creatinine in a chronic kidney disease diabetic nephropathy model after 12 eeks.

denotes significant differences relative to the saline control group.

denotes significant differences relative to the Lisinopril alone group. The data in Table 23 demonstrate that that the saline control group loses weight duringe course of the study due to the effects of the renin transgene, while addition of Lisinopril events this effect on body weight. The compound of Example 4 at the 7.2 nmol/kg dose level ded to Lisinopril significantly increases body weight relative to the saline control group. Thess of body weight in the saline control group also leads to a reduction in blood glucose at the d of the study while Lisinopril significantly prevents this effect on blood glucose. The dition of Example 4 at the 7.2 and 72 nmol/kg dose levels to Lisinopril results in a significantduction in blood glucose relative to the Lisinopril alone group. Lisinopril alone has no effectn kidney weight relative to the saline control group, while addition of the compound ofxample 4 at the dose level of 72 nmol/kg to Lisinopril results in a significant reduction ofdney weight relative to the saline control group and the Lisinopril alone group. The Lisinoprileatment alone as well as addition of the compound of Example 4 (24 and 72 nmol/kg) to sinopril results in a significant reduction of heart weight relative to the saline control group.he addition of the compound of Example 4 at the 24 nmol/kg dose level to Lisinopril as well as sinopril alone results in a significant reduction of serum creatinine relative to the saline control oup. The addition of the compound of Example 4 at the 72 nmol/kg dose level to Lisinoprilsults in a significant increase in serum creatinine relative to the Lisinopril alone group.

Urine is collected by a spot collection method to collect urine over a 2-4 hr time period.n individual mouse is placed on top of a 96 well polypropylene microplate and then covered by Plexiglas chamber with holes for breathing but no access to food or water. At the end of theme period, the urine is removed from the plate with a micropipette and placed on ice, ntrifuged and subjected to albumin and creatinine analysis. Urine albumin, creatinine anducose are determined on a Roche Hitachi Modular Analytics P analyzer. Urine creatinine is termined with the Creatinine Plus reagent by Roche. For urine albumin, the Roche

icroalbumin assay is modified to adapt the calibration curve for measuring urine albumin inice. Albuminuria was defined as albumin to creatinine ratio (ACR).

Table 24 below shows data corresponding to measurements of albuminuria. The data own are the arithmetic mean ± the SEM at each time point given as weeks of treatment with e compound of Example 4. There were 6-8 mice per group over the time points except for the line group (N=5-12).

able 24. In vivo measurement of Albumin to Creatinine Ratio (ACR) in a chronic kidney sease diabetic ne hro ath model for 12 weeks.

denotes significant differences relative to the saline control group.

denotes significant differences relative to the Lisinopril plus saline group.

denotes significant differences from Week 0 to Week 12 within the group. The data in Table 24 demonstrate there is significant albuminuria in all the UniNx db/db AV Renin groups at the time that the compound of Example 4 is initiated (week 0). The data in able 24 show that Lisinopril treatment for 2 weeks prior to the dosing of the compound of xample 4 shows a trend for lower albuminuria relative to the saline control group at week 0. Anverall statistical comparison of all ACR values shows that all of the Lisinopril groups are gnificantly improved for ACR relative to the saline group. The compound of Example 4 added Lisinopril overall shows a further significant ACR lowering effect relative to Lisinopril alone the 24 and 72 nmol/kg dose levels. The compound of Example 4 at the 24 and 72 nmol/kgose levels also shows a significant reduction in ACR at week 12 relative to the respective seline values at week 0, while the saline group shows a significant increase over this time and sinopril alone has no significant effect.

Measurement of Renal Pathology

Kidneys are removed at study termination, fixed in formalin and processed for paraffin ctioning according to standard methodology. Sections of kidney are evaluated for renal lesionsy a board certified pathologist. The major renal pathologies in this diabetic model are increases glomerular and interstitial fibrosis as well as increases in interstitial inflammation. Renal thologies are semi-quantitatively scored using the following scale: none (0), minimal (1), ght (2), moderate (3), marked (4) and severe (5). Pathology scores are obtained using H&E, asson’s Trichrome and PAS stained sections.

Table 25 below shows data corresponding to measurements of renal pathology. Data own represent the arithmetic mean ± the SEM for the parameters listed. All data represent an value of 4-7 animals per group.

denotes significant differences relative to the saline control group.

denotes significant differences relative to the Lisinopril plus saline group. The data in Table 25 demonstrate that Lisinopril plus saline treatment significantly duces all of the renal pathology parameters relative to the saline control group with the ception of interstitial fibrosis. The data in Table 25 also demonstrate that Lisinopril plus the mpound of Example 4 significantly reduces renal pathology for all the parameters relative toe saline control group. The data in Table 25 further demonstrate that the Lisinopril plus the mpound of Example 4 significantly reduces renal pathology for mesangial matrix expansion,bular regeneration, interstitial inflammation and interstitial fibrosis at a minimum of at leastne dose level of Example 4 relative to the Lisinopril plus saline group.

Overall, these data demonstrate that the improvement in renal function obtained with sinopril plus the compound of Example 4 treatment in this diabetic nephropathy model is companied by significant improvements in renal structure with reductions in major renal thologies due to diabetic hypertensive kidney disease. These data demonstrate that the mpound of Example 4 is capable of treating chronic kidney disease caused by diabetes andypertension.

Pathology data are statistically evaluated with R software by fitting an ordered logitodel to the categorical scores, and then comparing the differences between different treatment oups. Statistical analysis of albuminuria (ACR) is done with R software by the following: 1) ta are analyzed on log scale to stabilize variance over different treatment groups, 2) data alysis is carried out using a mixed model with treatment group, time and their interactions asodel terms, plus baseline ACR is included as covariate, 3) observations from each animal atfferent times are treated as repeated measurements using a CS covariance structure and 4) thest p values are not adjusted for multiple testing. All other data are evaluated by ANOVA withg transformed data and a Students unpaired t test with JMP v.8.0 software (SAS Institute). atistical outliers were removed prior to analysis. A P value of < 0.05 was consideredatistically significant.

This data demonstrate that the compounds outlined herein are capable of treating chronicdney disease caused by hypertensive nephropathy.

As noted above, Table 1 provides in vitro activity for hCRHR2b for the compounds ofxamples 1-7 (as well as this data for hUCN1 and hUCN2). Table 26 below provides theCRHR2b in a cAMP assay for the compounds of Example 9. This data further shows that such mpounds have CRHR2 agonist activity in a cAMP assay.

able 26

^^

UMBERED EMBODIMENTS:

1. A compound of the Formula:

1 I V X2 S L D V P I G L L Q I L X3 E Q E K Q E K E K Q Q A K ^* T N A X4 I L A Q V-NH2 wherein X ₁ denotes that the I residue is modified by either acetylation or methylation at e N-terminus, wherein X ₂ is L or T, wherein X ₃ is L or I, wherein X ₄ is Q or E, and wherein K ^* position 29 is modified through conjugation to the epsilon-amino group of the K-side chain with group of the formula–X ₅ –X ₆ , wherein

X ₅ is selected from the group consisting of:

one to four amino acids, one to four ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) oieties, and combinations of one to four amino acids and one to four ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-hoxy]-acetyl) moieties,

X6 is a C14-C24 fatty acid (SEQ ID NO:16), or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

2. The compound or salt of numbered embodiment 1, wherein X5 is selected from the oup consisting of: one to four E or γE amino acids, one to four ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]- etyl) moieties, and combinations of one to four E or γE amino acids and one to four ([2-(2- mino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) moieties.

3. The compound or salt of numbered embodiment 2, wherein X ₅ is a combination ofne to four E or γE amino acids and one to four ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) moieties.

4. The compound or salt of numbered embodiment 3, wherein X5 is a combination ofwo to four γE amino acids and one to four ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) moieties.

5. The compound or salt of numbered embodiments 1 to 4, wherein X ₅ is a mbination of two γE amino acids and two ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) moieties.

6. The compound or salt of any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 5, wherein X6 is straight chain fatty acid of the formula CO-(CH ₂ ) _x -CO ₂ H, wherein x is 16, 18, or 20.

7. The compound or salt of any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 6, wherein group the formula–X5–X6 is ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-CO-(CH2)x-CO2H where x 16 or 18.

8. The compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 7 herein the terminal amino acid is amidated as a C-terminal primary amide.

9. The compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 8 herein X ₁ denotes that the I residue is modified by acetylation at the N-terminus, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is X4 is Q, and the group of the formula–X5–X6 is ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2- O-(CH2)x-CO2H where x is 16 or 18 (SEQ ID NO:17).

10. The compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiment 9 wherein x 18 (SEQ ID NO:2).

11. The compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiment 9 wherein x 16 (SEQ ID NO:1).

12. The compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 8 herein X1 denotes that the I residue is modified by methylation at the N-terminus, X2 is L, X3 is X4 is Q, and the group of the formula–X5–X6 is ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2- O-(CH ₂ ) ₁₈ -CO ₂ H (SEQ ID NO:4). 13. The compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 8herein X1 denotes that the I residue is modified by methylation at the N-terminus, X2 is L, X3 is X ₄ is Q, and the group of the formula–X ₅ –X ₆ is ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) ₂ -(γE) ₂ -O-(CH2)16-CO2H (SEQ ID NO:3).

14. The compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 8herein X ₁ denotes that the I residue is modified by methylation at the N-terminus, X ₂ is T, X ₃ is X ₄ is E, and the group of the formula–X ₅ –X ₆ is ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) ₂ -(γE) ₂ -O-(CH2)18-CO2H (SEQ ID NO:5).

15. The compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 8herein X ₁ denotes that the I residue is modified by methylation at the N-terminus, X ₂ is L, X ₃ is X4 is E, and the group of the formula–X5–X6 is ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-O-(CH2)18-CO2H (SEQ ID NO:6).

16. The compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 8herein X1 denotes that the I residue is modified by methylation at the N-terminus, X2 is T, X3 is X4 is E, and the group of the formula–X5–X6 is ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl)2-(γE)2-O-(CH ₂ ) ₁₈ -CO ₂ H (SEQ ID NO:7).

17. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound according to any one ofumbered embodiments 1 to 16 and one or more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers, diluents, d excipients.

18. A method for treating type II diabetes in a patient comprising administering to a tient in need of such treatment an effective amount of a compound or salt according to any one numbered embodiments 1 to 16.

19. The method of numbered embodiment 18, wherein the administering to a patient in ed of such treatment an effective amount of a compound or salt is combined with diet and ercise.

20. A method for treating chronic kidney disease in a patient comprising administering a patient in need of such treatment an effective amount of a compound or salt according to anyne of numbered embodiments 1 to 16.

21. The method according to numbered embodiment 20 wherein the chronic kidneysease is caused by diabetic nephropathy. 22. The method according to numbered embodiment 20 wherein the chronic kidneysease is caused by hypertensive nephropathy.

23. The methods according to any one of numbered embodiments 19 to 22, wherein the ministration of the compound or salt to the patient in need of such treatment is subcutaneous.

24. A compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 16 for use therapy.

25. A compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 16 for use the treatment of type II diabetes.

26. A compound or salt according to any one of numbered embodiments 1 to 16 for use the treatment of chronic kidney disease.

27. A compound or salt for use according to any one of numbered embodiments 24 to6 wherein the administration of the compound or salt is subcutaneous.

28. A compound of the Formula:

1 I V X2 S L D V P I G L L Q I L X3 E Q E K Q E K E K Q Q A K T N A X4 I L A Q V-NH2 wherein X1 denotes that the I residue is modified by either acetylation or methylation ate N-terminus, wherein X ₂ is L or T, wherein X ₃ is L or I, wherein X ₄ is Q or E (SEQ ID NO:18).

29. A compound of the formula:

le Val Xaa Ser Leu Asp Val Pro Ile Xaa Leu Leu Gln Xaa Xaa

5 10 15aa Xaa Xaa Xaa Lys Xaa Xaa Lys Xaa Lys Xaa Xaa Xaa Xaa Xaa

20 25 30sn Ala Xaa Ile Leu Ala Xaa Val (SEQ ID NO:68)

35

herein:

e at position 1 may optionally be derivatized at the N-terminal amine with a methyl or an acetyl oup;

aa at position 3 is Leu or Thr;

aa at position 10 is Gly or Lys;

aa at position 14 is Ile or Lys;

aa at position 15 is Leu or Lys; aa at position 16 is Leu, Ile, or Lys;

aa at position 17 is Glu or Lys;

aa at position 18 is Gln or Lys;

aa at position 19 is Glu or Lys;

aa at position 21 is Gln or Lys;

aa at position 22 is Glu or Lys;

aa at position 24 is Glu or Lys;

aa at position 26 is Gln or Lys;

aa at position 27 is Gln or Lys;

aa at position 28 is Ala or Lys;

aa at position 29 is Thr or Lys;

aa at position 30 is Thr, Glu or Lys;

aa at position 33 is Gln, Arg, or Glu ;

aa at position 37 is Gln, His, or Arg; and

al at position 38 is optionally amidated at the C-terminal carboxyl;

ovided that the epsilon-amine of Lys at exactly one of positions 10 and 14-30 is modified withX5-X6, where X5 is 1 to 4 amino acids and/or 1 to 4 ([2-(2-Amino-ethoxy)-ethoxy]-acetyl) oieties and X6 is C14-C24 fatty acid; and

ovided that if any of positions 10, 14-19, 21, 22, 24, and 26-30 is Lys then that position is thenly one of positions 10, 14-19, 21, 22, 24, and 26-30 that is Lys; and

ovided that when one of positions 10, 14-19, 21, 22, 24, and 26-30 is Lys, that Lys is modified ith X5-X6.

^s - ₉ ^{0 o} - o

^ ^{^} - ₉ ¹ -

- - s noted above, certain embodiments may be designed in which the patient is an animal, such as cat. Below is a list of the sequences of various Urocortin 2 sequences found in humans and some imal species.

UMAN IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQARARAAREQATTNARILARVGHC :41

OUSE VILSLDVPIGLLRILLEQARYKAARNQAATNAQILAHV--- :38

AT VILSLDVPIGLLRILLEQARNKAARNQAATNAQILARV--- :38

RANGUTAN IVLSLDVPIGLLQILLEQARARAAREQATTNARILAHVG-- :39

OG IILSLDVPIGLLQILLEQARARASREQATTNARILAQVG-- :39

OVINE ITLSLDVPLGLLQILLEQARARAVREQAAANARILAHVGH- :40

ORSE ITLSLDVPVGLLQILLEQVRARAAREQAAANARILAHVG-- :39

IG ITLSLDVPLGLLQILLEQARARAVREQAAANARILAHVG-- :39

LEPHANT ITLSLDVPLGLLQILLEQARIRAAREQAAANARILAHVG-- :39

ISH ISLDVPTSILSVLIDIAKNQDMRTKAAANAELMARIG---- :37 dditionally, information about urocortin 2 for cats is found in the GENBANK database and isproduced below: ENBANK ACCESSION NUMBER XR_002150782 (VERSION XR_002150782.1) 1 gctctgggtg ggatgggcag ggccttgggg gctgagtaga tccgggtatg ggttattgga 61 ggtctccgga tgtggagtct ctggctgctt ctctaccttg aggaccccat tcctgccctt 121 ctttgtccac gatctgctgc aagctccctc agacctgagg ctcccctttt gtccctctgt 181 gttctctcca tgccttggta tccttatttt catcatgctg tctgtctctg gggtggctcc 241 agcctctttg tcttccagtc tccctctttt gctctgcctc catgtcctcc ctctcgtctt 301 tttccctctt ctccctcccc tccccaactg tacccatctc tacatctaga tccagaccta 361 gctgtgctct ctgtctcttt cactctcctt cttgctctct ccgtctccct ggcccctgct 421 ctgtctggct gtcttgtgct ttcatctctg tctctcttat ctccgtccca tgcctggcct 481 ctctaatctc tacctctctg tctccttccc ttggtctccc tctctctgtc tgtctacttt 541 ccccgtctgc atctgtccat gcgccacggc tgcccagaac ccctgccctg agcctctttt 601 ctcctcgcag cctgaccacg cgatgaccag gtgggctctg ctggtgctga tgatcctgac 661 gtcgggcagg gccctgcttg tccccatgac ccctattcca gccttccagc tcctccctca 721 gaaccctccc caagccactc cccgccctgt ggcctcagag agcccctcag ccagcaccgt 781 gggcccctcc actgcttggg gccaccctag ccctggcccc cgcccaggcc cccgcatcac 841 tctctcactg gatgtcccca ttggcctcct gcggatctta ctggagcaag cccgagccag 901 agctgtgagg gagcaggccg ctgccaacgc tcgcatcctg gcccatgttg gccgccgctg 961 agcctcaggg cgggggtcac cctgaattag gagacctgga aggcagcagc agagcaggac 1021 gcactacatc tgggcacagt gcgcctggcc acagccccgt gcagtcactg ccatgtggtg 1081 tcatatcaca gctgagtgcc tcacagagcc acagtttgtt tggacagccc gggcattgcc 1141 atatcgggtg actgccaaat ggagtcttgc catacctgga gccacacaga cttacaatat 1201 gtctggacag cttggacact actgtggaat gtgactaccg tgtggagtct tgccatgtct 1261 gggtgcccca cagtcaaaga gcaagaatct ggacactgcc aatgtggcca ctcttgtgcc 1321 agttttagga acctcaacat aggagcccag tattgcatct cagacccatc cacctaagac 1381 cagacctgca ggtcttccct gcccccaaca ggtcaccaca caggggagtg caggctgagg 1441 gtcacatgca tgttttgtgc ttcatgaggc agcacccacc ccagaagaat ggggccgtca 1501 caggcatctc caggcatggg tgaccgtacg tggaaagtct gtggttgtga cagccttgcc 1561 ttgtgccctg cacacctggc ctcggccctt ggacacacga tgactcagga gagaggaggc 1621 tcgggctgct ggggctccgg tccagcccca tacctccttt gttgaattgt cccaagcaaa 1681 ctaaaatgtg ctcacctttc caagccttag tttcttcctc tgtaaagcag aatgatgcca 1741 ccaagcttct tgcaaacatt gagtgacggt gcacttgaag gttctagcac gcaggaagag 1801 ctcaataaat gtagtgactg ga

ENBANK ACCESSION NUMBER XM_006928725 (VERSION XM_006928725.2) 1 gtccctctgt ccagccctgg tcactgttct gtgactctca gtgtccaact tgtccccaaa 61 aaggagtaga cagagtggag gctgaggaca cgtcctcact gcccccccag gaggggatga 121 gtcagaggtg gggggctgct tcatgccgga gccgtgccca gctcctacct caggggctga 181 gagagataaa tgggcccgga agggggcaga ggcccgacca cagcacagca ccgcctggtc 241 ccagccgcgg gcagccctgg cggccccacc ttgctccaga agaggctgct gctgcctgac 301 cacgcgatga ccaggtgggc tctgctggtg ctgatgatcc tgacgtcggg cagggccctg 361 cttgtcccca tgacccctat tccagccttc cagctcctcc ctcagaaccc tccccaagcc 421 actccccgcc ctgtggcctc agagagcccc tcagccagca ccgtgggccc ctccactgct 481 tggggccacc ctagccctgg cccccgccca ggcccccgca tcactctctc actggatgtc 541 cccattggcc tcctgcggat cttactggag caagcccgag ccagagctgt gagggagcag 601 gccgctgcca acgctcgcat cctggcccat gttggccgcc gctgagcctc agggcggggg 661 tcaccctgaa ttaggagacc tggaaggcag cagcagagca ggacgcacta catctgggca 721 cagtgcgcct ggccacagcc ccgtgcagtc actgccatgt ggtgtcatat cacagctgag 781 tgcctcacag agccacagtt tgtttggaca gcccgggcat tgccatatcg ggtgactgcc 841 aaatggagtc ttgccatacc tggagccaca cagacttaca atatgtctgg acagcttgga 901 cactactgtg gaatgtgact accgtgtgga gtcttgccat gtctgggtgc cccacagtca 961 aagagcaaga atctggacac tgccaatgtg gccactcttg tgccagtttt aggaacctca 1021 acataggagc ccagtattgc atctcagacc catccaccta agaccagacc tgcaggtctt 1081 ccctgccccc aacaggtcac cacacagggg agtgcaggct gagggtcaca tgcatgtttt 1141 gtgcttcatg aggcagcacc caccccagaa gaatggggcc gtcacaggca tctccaggca 1201 tgggtgaccg tacgtggaaa gtctgtggtt gtgacagcct tgccttgtgg taggtgtacg 1261 tgtgatcggt gggtgcatct ctgctgtgg pecific embodiments may be designed in which the molecules of SEQ. ID NOS.1, 2, 3, 5, 6 d 7 are used to treat chronic kidney disease and/or diabetes in cats or other animals.