1,2,4-Oxadiazole benzoic acid compounds and their use for nonsense suppression and the treatment of disease

A method for treating a disease or disorder associated with a premature stop codon in a patient in need thereof, comprising administering to the patient a therapeutically effective amount of a compound having the formula:

• or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein:
• Z is substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycle, substituted or unsubstituted arylalkyl;
• R1 is hydrogen, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, —(CH2CH2O)nR6 or any biohydrolyzable group;
• R2, R3, R4, R5 and R6 are independently hydrogen, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkynyl;
• substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, alkoxy, aryloxy, heteroaryloxy, halogen, CF3, OCF3, OCHF2, CN, COOH, COOR7, SO2R7, NO2, NH2, or N(R7)2;
• each occurrence of R7 is independently hydrogen, substituted or unsubstituted alkyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkenyl, substituted or unsubstituted alkynyl;
• substituted or unsubstituted cycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted heterocycloalkyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, substituted or unsubstituted heteroaryl, alkoxy, aryloxy, heteroaryloxy, halogen or CF3;
• and
• n is an integer from 1 to 7,
• wherein the disease or disorder associated with a premature stop codon is cystic fibrosis, a muscular dystrophy, retinitis pigmentosa, hemophilia, ataxia-telangiectasia, tuberous sclerosis, neurofibromatosis, Marfan syndrome, Parkinson's disease, mucopolysaccharidosis type III A, mucopolysaccharidosis type VI or mucopolysaccharidosis type VII.