ADB-5'Br-PINACA.

ADB-5'Br-PINACA belongs to the generation of synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists of the indazole-3-carboxamide class that appeared after the Chinese generic scheduling of July 2021: it is ADB-PINACA to which a bromine atom has been added at position 5 of the indazole ring, a modification intended to escape existing legal definitions. In vitro, the molecule behaves as a full agonist of the CB1 receptor, with an EC50 of 19.8 nM and a maximal efficacy of 108% relative to JWH-018, values measured in a calcium-release assay on CHO-K1 cells expressing the human receptor. This is the point that matters: THC is only a partial CB1 agonist and its effect plateaus, whereas full activation does not plateau, which is what makes this class dangerous. Bromine does not weaken potency, which remains indistinguishable from that of JWH-018 and close to that of ADB-BUTINACA. Beyond this measurement the literature is thin: the CB2 receptor has not been tested, no data exist on TRPV1, GPR55, PPARγ or 5-HT1A, and metabolism has been described only in vitro, in human hepatocytes, where ten metabolites were identified and the terminal hydroxylated derivative retained as a screening marker. No study in human beings has been published: human data are lacking, on effects as on toxicity, tolerance and dependence.

Source

A wholly synthetic molecule, absent from cannabis as from every living organism: it is found neither in hemp, nor in flowers, nor in any cannabidiol product. The synthetic agonists of this series, bearing a bromine at position 5 of the indazole core, appeared on the recreational market after the Chinese generic controls came into force in July 2021 (Gréen et al., 2025).

No biosynthetic pathway: the molecule is produced by no living organism and arises from organic synthesis, described here by chemical class only.

European Union

No control measure specific to the Union level: the molecule does not appear among the substances listed in the annex to Framework Decision 2004/757/JHA, and no risk assessment report by the European drugs agency has been devoted to it. It is, however, monitored by the Union's early warning system, to which it was notified in 2022, within the series of brominated indazoles that appeared after the Chinese generic scheduling of July 2021; compounds of this same series have also been detected outside the Union, in the United States, Scotland, New Zealand, South Korea and Kuwait. Control today is national before it is European: in France, the molecule falls under the generic clause for 3-carboxamide indazole derivatives. Internationally, the molecule appears in the schedules of neither the 1961 Single Convention nor the 1971 Convention, and no assessment by the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence has been published on it.

France

Classified as a narcotic in France, but not under its own name. It falls under the generic definition in annex IV of the decree of 22 February 1990, devoted to indazole-3-carboxamide derivatives: the text covers those bearing on the nitrogen at position 1 an alkyl or haloalkyl substituent, and on the nitrogen of the carboxamide bridge a 1-amino-1-oxo-butan-2-yl group, whether or not that group is substituted at position 3 by one or two alkyl, cycloalkyl or phenyl substituents. The definition further specifies that it applies "whether or not the indazole ring is otherwise substituted": the bromine at position 5 therefore does not take the molecule outside the scope of the text, its pentyl tail satisfies the first branch and its tert-leucine amide head the third. The list names the non-brominated ADB-PINACA as well as 5F-ADB-PINACA, but no brominated compound of this series appears in it by name: the attachment is therefore generic and not nominative. Production, possession, transfer, importation and use fall under the narcotics regime. The substance has no food, cosmetic or therapeutic status and enters into no legally sold cannabidiol product.

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

Family

Synthetic CB receptor agonist › New psychoactive substance

Class

indazole-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. 1Gréen H, McKenzie C, Hamra E, Rautio T, Wu X, Juneskog E, Sandblom R, Monti MC, Persson M, Norman C. In vitro CB1 receptor activity of halogenated indazole synthetic cannabinoid receptor agonists. Arch Toxicol. 2025 (EC50 19.8 nM and Emax 108% of JWH-018 for ADB-5'Br-PINACA) (new tab)PMID 40382747
2. 2Rautio T, Obrist R, Krebs L, Klingstedt T, Dahlén J, Wu X, Gréen H. In vitro metabolism study of ADB-P-5Br-INACA and ADB-4en-P-5Br-INACA using human hepatocytes, liver microsomes, and in-house synthesized references. Drug Test Anal. 2025;17(5):701-712 (new tab)PMID 39039949
3. 3ANSM, consolidated list of substances classified as narcotics (order of 22 February 1990), Annex IV, generic definition of indazole-3-carboxamide derivatives (new tab)
4. 4Center for Forensic Science Research and Education, NPS Discovery, analytical monograph ADB-5'Br-PINACA, 2023 (new tab)
5. 5PubChem, Compound Summary CID 168323135, ADB-5'Br-PINACA (new tab)

SMILES

CCCCCN1C2=C(C=C(C=C2)Br)C(=N1)C(=O)NC(C(=O)N)C(C)(C)C

Machine-readable entry (JSON)

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