Encouraged by the above data, and the broad expression of smbrd3 across the parasite's lifecycle (Figure ), we evaluated the effects of these compounds on sexually immature larval schistosomula, sexually mature adult worms, and snail-infective miracidia, using a series of ex vivo assays. We were concerned that the carboxylic acid-containing I-BET726 analogues might not show high parasite permeability, and therefore we also evaluated their ethyl ester precursors, which we reasoned could act as prodrugs to release the SmBRD3(2)-binding ligand in situ.