Novel inhibitors of TGF-β1 and activin A signalling based on a 2-aryl-4-(3-(pyridin-2-yl)-1H- pyrazol-4-yl) pyridine pharmacophore have been synthesised. Compounds containing phenyl or aromatic nitrogen heterocycle substituents inhibited both types of signalling with HEK-293T cells in culture, with a selectivity preference for TGF-β1. Synthetic compounds containing pyridin-3-yl, pyrazol-4-yl, pyrazol-1-yl or 1H-imidazoyl-1-yl substituents ...