Exhaustive <i>in silico</i> design and screening of novel antipsychotic compounds with improved pharmacodynamics and blood-brain barrier permeation properties

Antipsychotic drugs or neuroleptics are widely used in the treatment of psychosis as a manifestation of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, their effectiveness largely depends on the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeation (pharmacokinetics) and drug-receptor pharmacodynamics. Therefore, in this study, we developed and implemented the <i>in silico</i> pipeline to design novel compounds (n = 260) as leads using the standard drug scaffolds with improved PK/PD properties from the standard scaffolds. As a result, the best candidates (n = 3) were evaluated in molecular docking to interact with serotonin and dopamine receptors. Finally, haloperidol (HAL) derivative (1‐(4‐fluorophenyl)‐4‐(4‐hydroxy‐4‐{4‐[(2‐phenyl‐1,3‐thiazol‐4‐yl)methyl]phenyl}piperidin‐1‐yl)butan‐1‐one) was identified as a “magic shotgun” lead compound with better affinity to the 5-HT_2A, 5-HT_1D, D₂, D₃, and 5-HT_1B receptors than the control molecule. Additionally, this hit substance was predicted to possess similar BBB permeation properties and much lower toxicological profiles in comparison to HAL. Overall, the proposed rational drug design platform for novel antipsychotic drugs based on the BBB permeation and receptor binding might be an invaluable asset for a medicinal chemist or translational pharmacologist. Communicated by Ramaswamy H. Sarma