Discovery of a Furanopyrimidine-Based Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitor (DBPR112) as a Clinical Candidate for the Treatment of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

J Med Chem. 2019 Nov 27;62(22):10108-10123. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b00722. Epub 2019 Nov 15.

Abstract

Epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-targeted therapy in non-small cell lung cancer represents a breakthrough in the field of precision medicine. Previously, we have identified a lead compound, furanopyrimidine 2, which contains a (S)-2-phenylglycinol structure as a key fragment to inhibit EGFR. However, compound 2 showed high clearance and poor oral bioavailability in its pharmacokinetics studies. In this work, we optimized compound 2 by scaffold hopping and exploiting the potent inhibitory activity of various warhead groups to obtain a clinical candidate, 78 (DBPR112), which not only displayed a potent inhibitory activity against EGFRL858R/T790M double mutations but also exhibited tenfold potency better than the third-generation inhibitor, osimertinib, against EGFR and HER2 exon 20 insertion mutations. Overall, pharmacokinetic improvement through lead-to-candidate optimization yielded fourfold oral AUC better that afatinib along with F = 41.5%, an encouraging safety profile, and significant antitumor efficacy in in vivo xenograft models. DBPR112 is currently undergoing phase 1 clinical trial in Taiwan.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / metabolism
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Binding Sites
  • Carcinoma, Non-Small-Cell Lung / drug therapy*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Drug Design
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm / genetics
  • ErbB Receptors / antagonists & inhibitors
  • ErbB Receptors / chemistry
  • ErbB Receptors / genetics
  • ErbB Receptors / metabolism
  • Exons
  • Humans
  • Lung Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Male
  • Mice, Inbred ICR
  • Mice, Nude
  • Mutation
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / metabolism
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Pyrimidines / chemistry
  • Rats
  • Receptor, ErbB-2
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Pyrimidines
  • EGFR protein, human
  • ERBB2 protein, human
  • ErbB Receptors
  • Receptor, ErbB-2