Apremilast

**Semantic type:** Pharmacologic Substance

**Definition:** An orally bioavailable, small molecule inhibitor of phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4), with potential anti-inflammatory activity. Upon oral administration, apremilast targets, binds to and inhibits the activity of PDE4, thereby blocking cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) degradation and increasing intracellular cAMP levels. This may decrease the production of the proinflammatory cytokines including tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha). PDE4 is an enzyme that plays an important role in the degradation of cAMP and in cytokine production in inflammatory cells.

**Synonyms:** - (+)-N-(2-((1S)-1-(3-Ethoxy-4-methoxyphenyl)-2-(methylsulfonyl)ethyl)-1,3-dioxo- 2,3-dihydro-1H-isoindol-4-yl)acetamide - APREMILAST - CC 10004 - CC-10004 - CC10004 - Otezla