VX-765 is an orally-absorbed pro-drug of VRT-043198, a potent and selective inhibitor of ICE/caspase-1 sub-family caspases. VRT-043198 exhibits 100-10,000-fold selectivity against other caspase-3 and -6-9. In cultures of peripheral blood mononuclear cells and whole blood from healthy subjects stimulated with bacterial products, VRT-043198 inhibited the release of Interleukin (IL)-1beta and IL-18, but had little effect on the release of several other cytokines, including IL-1alpha, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, IL-6 and IL-8. VX-765 has been shown to inhibit acute seizures in preclinical models of acute epilepsy and has shown activity in preclinical models of chronic epilepsy that do not respond to standard anti-epileptic drugs.