| abstract |
Compounds of formula (I) and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof: wherein A is a 5-membered heterocyclic moiety, wherein the 5-membered heterocyclic moiety is either:         substituted by a 6-membered moiety or a 6-membered heteroaryl moiety, the 6-membered aryl moiety or the 6-membered heteroaryl moiety being unsubstituted or substituted by from one to four independently seleted R5 groups; or          fused to a 6-membered aryl or heteroaryl moiety to form a 9-membered fused bicyclic ring system, the 6-membered aryl moiety or 6-membered heteroaryl moiety being unsubstituted or substituted by from one to four independently selected R5 groups;         and wherein the 5-membered heterocyclic moiety is unsubstituted or substituted; R1, R2 and R3 are each independently selected from hydrogen and a substituent; R4 is a substituent where n is 0, 1, 2, 3 or 4. These compounds are hedgehog pathway agonists. Specifically, the compounds of the invention are useful as Smoothened (SMO) agonists. The compounds are useful for treating conditions treatable by the inhibition of the Hedgehog pathway and SMO, for example cancer. Other pharmaceutical uses include the treatment of benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH) and psoriasis. |