Discovery of a series of 2-(pyridinyl)pyrimidines as potent antagonists of GPR40

A series of 2-(pyridinyl) pyrimidines were identified as potent GPR40 antagonists. Despite significant challenges related to improving the combination of potency and lipophilicity within the series, the compounds were optimised to identify a suitable in vivo probe compound, which was confirmed to exhibit pharmacology consistent with GPR40 antagonism.