Deuterium isotope effects were evaluated as a strategy to optimize the pharmacokinetics of 7-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)-3-(4-methoxy-2-methylphenyl)-2,6-dimethylpyrazolo [5,1-b]oxazole (NVS-CRF38), a novel corticotropin-releasing factor receptor 1 (CRF 1 ) antagonist. In an attempt to suppress O-demethylation of NVS-CRF38 without losing activity against the CRF 1 receptor, the protons at the site of metabolism were replaced with deuterium. For in vitro and in vivo studies, intrinsic primary isotope effects (K H /K D ) were determined by the ratio of intrinsic clearance (CL int ) obtained for NVS-CRF38 and deuterated NVS-CRF38. In vitro kinetic isotope effects (K H /K D ) were more pronounced when CL int values were calculated based on the rate of formation of the O-desmethyl metabolite (K H /K D ∼7) compared with the substrate depletion method (K H /K D ∼2). In vivo isotope effects were measured in rats after intravenous (1 mg/kg) and oral (10 mg/kg) administration. For both administration routes, isotope effects calculated from in vivo CL int corresponding to all biotransformation pathways were lower (K H /K D ∼2) compared with CL int values calculated from the O-demethylation reaction alone (K H /K D ∼7). Comparative metabolite identification studies were undertaken using rat and human microsomes to explore the potential for metabolic switching. As expected, a marked reduction of the O-demethylated metabolite was observed for NVS-CRF38; however, levels of NVS-CRF38's other metabolites increased, compensating to some extent for the isotope effect.