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Sakata K, Lowe MA, Xuan M, Bruffaerts J, Stasi LP, Lallemand B, Cardenas A, Taylor RD, Vidler LR, King L, Valentin JP, Laleu B, de Haro T. Design of Novel Series of Antimalarial PMX Inhibitors with Increased Half-Life via Molecular Property Optimization. ACS Med Chem Lett 2023; 14:1582-1588. [PMID: 37974949 PMCID: PMC10641918 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.3c00404] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/11/2023] [Revised: 10/14/2023] [Accepted: 10/16/2023] [Indexed: 11/19/2023] Open
Abstract
Plasmepsin X (PMX) has been identified as a multistage antimalarial target. PMX is a malarial aspartyl protease essential for merozoite egress from infected red blood cells and invasion of the host erythrocytes. Previously, we reported the identification of PMX inhibitors by structure-based optimization of a cyclic guanidine core. Preclinical assessment of UCB7362, which displayed both in vitro and in vivo antimalarial activity, revealed a suboptimal dose paradigm (once daily dosing of 50 mg for 7 days for treatment of uncomplicated malaria) relative to current standard of care (three-dose regime). We report here the efforts toward extending the half-life (t1/2) by reducing metabolic clearance and increasing volume of distribution (Vss). Our efforts culminated in the identification of a biaryl series, with an expected longer t1/2 in human than UCB7362 while maintaining a similar in vitro off-target hit rate.
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Affiliation(s)
- Komei Sakata
- UCB, 216 Bath Road, Slough SL1 3WE, United
Kingdom
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Lloyd King
- UCB, 216 Bath Road, Slough SL1 3WE, United
Kingdom
| | | | - Benoît Laleu
- Medicines
for Malaria Venture, ICC, Route de Pré-Bois 20, 1215 Geneva, Switzerland
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Lowe MA, Cardenas A, Valentin JP, Zhu Z, Abendroth J, Castro JL, Class R, Delaunois A, Fleurance R, Gerets H, Gryshkova V, King L, Lorimer DD, MacCoss M, Rowley JH, Rosseels ML, Royer L, Taylor RD, Wong M, Zaccheo O, Chavan VP, Ghule GA, Tapkir BK, Burrows JN, Duffey M, Rottmann M, Wittlin S, Angulo-Barturen I, Jiménez-Díaz MB, Striepen J, Fairhurst KJ, Yeo T, Fidock DA, Cowman AF, Favuzza P, Crespo-Fernandez B, Gamo FJ, Goldberg DE, Soldati-Favre D, Laleu B, de Haro T. Discovery and Characterization of Potent, Efficacious, Orally Available Antimalarial Plasmepsin X Inhibitors and Preclinical Safety Assessment of UCB7362. J Med Chem 2022; 65:14121-14143. [PMID: 36216349 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c01336] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/18/2023]
Abstract
Plasmepsin X (PMX) is an essential aspartyl protease controlling malaria parasite egress and invasion of erythrocytes, development of functional liver merozoites (prophylactic activity), and blocking transmission to mosquitoes, making it a potential multistage drug target. We report the optimization of an aspartyl protease binding scaffold and the discovery of potent, orally active PMX inhibitors with in vivo antimalarial efficacy. Incorporation of safety evaluation early in the characterization of PMX inhibitors precluded compounds with a long human half-life (t1/2) to be developed. Optimization focused on improving the off-target safety profile led to the identification of UCB7362 that had an improved in vitro and in vivo safety profile but a shorter predicted human t1/2. UCB7362 is estimated to achieve 9 log 10 unit reduction in asexual blood-stage parasites with once-daily dosing of 50 mg for 7 days. This work demonstrates the potential to deliver PMX inhibitors with in vivo efficacy to treat malaria.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Zhaoning Zhu
- UCB, 216 Bath Road, Slough SL1 3WE, United Kingdom
| | - Jan Abendroth
- UCB, 7869 NE Day Road West, Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110, United States
| | | | - Reiner Class
- UCB, Chem. du Foriest 1, 1420 Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium
| | | | | | - Helga Gerets
- UCB, Chem. du Foriest 1, 1420 Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium
| | | | - Lloyd King
- UCB, 216 Bath Road, Slough SL1 3WE, United Kingdom
| | - Donald D Lorimer
- UCB, 7869 NE Day Road West, Bainbridge Island, Washington 98110, United States
| | - Malcolm MacCoss
- Bohicket Pharma Consulting LLC, 2556 Seabrook Island Road, Seabrook Island, South Carolina 29455, United States
| | | | | | - Leandro Royer
- UCB, Chem. du Foriest 1, 1420 Braine-l'Alleud, Belgium
| | | | - Melanie Wong
- UCB, 216 Bath Road, Slough SL1 3WE, United Kingdom
| | | | - Vishal P Chavan
- Sai Life Sciences Limited, Plot DS-7, IKP Knowledge Park, Genome Valley, Turkapally, Hyderabad 500078, Telangana, India
| | - Gokul A Ghule
- Sai Life Sciences Limited, Plot DS-7, IKP Knowledge Park, Genome Valley, Turkapally, Hyderabad 500078, Telangana, India
| | - Bapusaheb K Tapkir
- Sai Life Sciences Limited, Plot DS-7, IKP Knowledge Park, Genome Valley, Turkapally, Hyderabad 500078, Telangana, India
| | - Jeremy N Burrows
- Medicines for Malaria Venture, ICC, Route de Pré-Bois 20, 1215 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Maëlle Duffey
- Medicines for Malaria Venture, ICC, Route de Pré-Bois 20, 1215 Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Matthias Rottmann
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Kreuzstrasse 2, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland.,University of Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Sergio Wittlin
- Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Kreuzstrasse 2, CH-4123 Allschwil, Switzerland.,University of Basel, 4002 Basel, Switzerland
| | - Iñigo Angulo-Barturen
- The Art of Discovery, SL Biscay Science and Technology Park, Astondo Bidea, BIC Bizkaia Building, no. 612, Derio 48160, Bizkaia, Basque Country, Spain
| | - María Belén Jiménez-Díaz
- The Art of Discovery, SL Biscay Science and Technology Park, Astondo Bidea, BIC Bizkaia Building, no. 612, Derio 48160, Bizkaia, Basque Country, Spain
| | - Josefine Striepen
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York 10032, United States
| | - Kate J Fairhurst
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York 10032, United States
| | - Tomas Yeo
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York 10032, United States
| | - David A Fidock
- Department of Microbiology & Immunology, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York 10032, United States.,Center for Malaria Therapeutics and Antimicrobial Resistance, Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, New York 10032, United States
| | - Alan F Cowman
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | - Paola Favuzza
- The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville, VIC 3052, Australia
| | | | | | - Daniel E Goldberg
- Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8051, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
| | - Dominique Soldati-Favre
- Department of Microbiology and Molecular Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, CMU, 1 rue Michel-Servet, CH-1211 Genève 4, Switzerland
| | - Benoît Laleu
- Medicines for Malaria Venture, ICC, Route de Pré-Bois 20, 1215 Geneva, Switzerland
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