Benfluorex

Benfluorex
Clinical data
Trade names	Mediator
AHFS/Drugs.com	International Drug Names
Routes of; administration	By mouth
ATC code	A10BX06 (WHO) ;
Legal status
Legal status	BR: Class C1 (Other controlled substances);
Pharmacokinetic data
Excretion	Kidney
Identifiers
	IUPAC name (RS)-2-({1-[3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]propan- 2-yl}amino)ethyl benzoate;
CAS Number	23602-78-0 ;
PubChem CID	2318;
DrugBank	DB09022 ;
ChemSpider	2228 ;
UNII	403FO0NQG3;
KEGG	D07192 ;
ChEMBL	ChEMBL400599 ;
CompTox Dashboard (EPA)	DTXSID5048471 ;
ECHA InfoCard	100.041.601
Chemical and physical data
Formula	C19H20F3NO2
Molar mass	351.369 g·mol−1
3D model (JSmol)	Interactive image;
Chirality	Racemic mixture
	SMILES FC(F)(F)c1cccc(c1)CC(NCCOC(=O)c2ccccc2)C;
	InChI InChI=1S/C19H20F3NO2/c1-14(12-15-6-5-9-17(13-15)19(20,21)22)23-10-11-25-18(24)16-7-3-2-4-8-16/h2-9,13-14,23H,10-12H2,1H3 ; Key:CJAVTWRYCDNHSM-UHFFFAOYSA-N ;
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Benfluorex, sold under the brand name Mediator, is an anorectic and hypolipidemic agent that is structurally related to fenfluramine (a substituted amphetamine). It acts mostly as a prodrug of norfenfluramine. It was fraudulently claimed to improve glycemic control and decrease insulin resistance in people with poorly controlled type-2 diabetes through norfenfluramine acting as a 5-HT2B receptor agonist

It was on the market between 1976 and 2009, and is thought to have caused between 500 and 2,000 deaths. It was patented and manufactured by the French pharmaceutical company Servier. However, Servier is suspected of having marketed benfluorex at odds with the drug's medical properties. In fact, Benfluorex acts as a prodrug to norfenfluramine, a worldwide withdrawn anorectic because of its high incidence of cardiac fibrosis which is completely out of line for treating type 2 diabetes.

In 2023, a French court fined Servier €415m on appeal after finding it guilty of deception and manslaughter, as benfluorex's mechanism of action was fraudulently concealed, as Bbenfluorex was marketed after withdrawal of the any marketed fenfluramine anorectic (fenfluramine/phentermine, dexfenfluramine, clobenzorex, mefenorex, etc) because of their serious side effects like cardiac fibrosis and pulmonary hypertension (Benfluorex also shares the same side effects, but they were completely concealed, even though there was several reports of heart failure).