Discovery and design of benzimidazolone based inhibitors of p38 MAP kinase.

A new class of benzimidazolone p38 MAP kinase inhibitors was discovered through high-throughput screening. X-ray crystallographic data of the lead molecule with p38 were used to design analogues with improved binding affinity and potency in a cell assay of LPS-induced TNFalpha production. Herein, we report the SAR of this new class of p38 inhibitors.