A highly water-soluble, pan histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, with potential antineoplastic activity. Upon administration, HDAC inhibitor CKD-581 targets and inhibits HDAC, resulting in an accumulation of highly acetylated histones, the induction of chromatin remodeling, and an altered pattern of gene expression. This leads to the inhibition of tumor oncogene transcription, and the selective transcription of tumor suppressor genes, which results in the inhibition of tumor cell division and the induction of tumor cell apoptosis. HDACs, upregulated in many tumor cell types, are a family of metalloenzymes responsible for the deacetylation of chromatin histone proteins.