AB-PICA.

AB-PICA is a synthetic agonist at the cannabinoid receptors belonging to the indole-3-carboxamide family: an N-pentylated indole nucleus bearing an L-valinamide motif, that is, the indole homologue of AB-PINACA. In the study by Banister et al. (2015), in a functional membrane-potential assay on AtT20 cells, its EC50 is 12 nM at CB1 and 12 nM at CB2, within a set of compounds that all act as high-potency agonists (EC50 0.24 to 21 nM at CB1 and 0.88 to 15 nM at CB2). The relative efficacies and the comparison with Δ9-THC could not be re-read in the full text; Δ9-THC is moreover a partial agonist, so that a high-efficacy agonist of this family knows no such ceiling of effect: this trait, established for other molecules of the class, is not measured here for AB-PICA. No data consulted address TRPV1, GPR55, PPARγ or 5-HT1A. Beyond this in vitro profile, the literature is almost empty: no pharmacokinetics, no metabolism study, no clinical case attributable to this molecule alone. Human data are lacking and no therapeutic benefit is established.

Source

An entirely synthetic molecule, absent from cannabis and from every living organism. It is described in the pharmacological literature on synthetic cannabinoids (Banister et al., 2015). Walsh and Andersen (2020) cite it, with AB-FUBICA, among the indole carboxamides introduced into K2/Spice-type products; the sources consulted do not document any seizure of products containing AB-PICA specifically.

No biological pathway: the molecule is biosynthesised by no organism and derives from no plant precursor. It belongs to synthetic chemistry alone.

European Union

No control measure specific to AB-PICA at European Union level: the substance does not figure among the synthetic cannabinoids named in the acts extending the European definition of "drug". No nominative listing in the schedules of the 1971 Convention on Psychotropic Substances has been found (INCB Green List, 35th edition, 2024), unlike its indazole homologue AB-PINACA, listed in Schedule II: the two molecules do not share the same international status. Control therefore falls to national law; France attaches it to a generic definition of a structural family.

France

A narcotic in France, by attachment to a generic clause and not by a nominative listing. AB-PICA is not cited by name in any list: it falls under the generic family of "indole 3-carboxamide derivatives" introduced into annex IV of the decree of 22 February 1990 by the decree of 31 March 2017. This family covers indole-3-carboxamides bearing on the indole nitrogen an alkyl-type substituent, and on the nitrogen of the carboxamide bridge a 1-amino-1-oxo-butan-2-yl-type group, whether or not that group is substituted at position 3 by one or two alkyl groups. The N-pentyl chain and the L-valinamide motif of AB-PICA match this definition exactly. Production, possession, transfer and use therefore fall under the criminal regime for narcotics. The generic clause covering tetrahydrocannabinols, their esters and their ethers is not the one that applies here, the molecule having no structural kinship with THC.

Sources: EUR-Lex, UNODC, CND, ANSM, IUPHAR/BPS, ChEBI, EUDA. Our method.

Family

Synthetic CB receptor agonist › New psychoactive substance

Class

indole-3-carboxamide

Verification

Classification, sources and binding values checked on 20 October 2026; text read against its sources and Wikipedia.

Wikipedia (English)

No dedicated article.

1. 1Banister SD et al., Pharmacology of Indole and Indazole Synthetic Cannabinoid Designer Drugs, ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2015; all the compounds synthesised are high-potency agonists of CB1 (EC50 from 0.24 to 21 nM) and of CB2 (EC50 from 0.88 to 15 nM); full text not consulted (new tab)PMID 26134475
2. 2Walsh KB, Andersen HK. Molecular Pharmacology of Synthetic Cannabinoids: Delineating CB1 Receptor-Mediated Cell Signaling. Int J Mol Sci, 2020: AB-PICA and AB-FUBICA cited among the indole carboxamides introduced into K2/Spice products (new tab)PMID 32854313
3. 3Giorgetti A et al., Development and validation of a rapid LC-MS/MS method for the detection of 182 novel psychoactive substances in whole blood, Drug Testing and Analysis, 2022; AB-PICA appears in panel 3 (new tab)PMID 34599648
4. 4UNODC, early warning advisory on new psychoactive substances, AB-PICA record (synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists) (new tab)
5. 5Order of 31 March 2017 amending the order of 22 February 1990 setting the list of substances classified as narcotics, Annex IV, « indole-3-carboxamide derivatives » family, Légifrance (new tab)
6. 6PubChem, record of the compound AB-PICA (CID 137332257) (new tab)
7. 7Thomas BF et al., Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 2017: poisoning by synthetic cannabinoids has been associated with seizures, agitated delirium, coma and kidney injury (new tab)PMID 28087785
8. 8International Narcotics Control Board, Green List, 35th edition, 2024: AB-PINACA in Schedule II; AB-PICA absent (new tab)

SMILES

CCCCCN1C=C(C2=CC=CC=C21)C(=O)N[C@@H](C(C)C)C(=O)N

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

LLM ingestion format: a structured superset of the entry (identifiers, binding, versioned legal status). Full corpus.