Discovery of 6-(2,4-Dichlorophenyl)-5-[4-[(3 S)-1-(3-fluoropropyl)pyrrolidin-3-yl]oxyphenyl]-8,9-dihydro-7 H-benzo[7]annulene-2-carboxylic acid (SAR439859), a Potent and Selective Estrogen Receptor Degrader (SERD) for the Treatment of Estrogen-Receptor-Positive Breast Cancer

J Med Chem. 2020 Jan 23;63(2):512-528. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01293. Epub 2019 Nov 27.

Abstract

More than 75% of breast cancers are estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) positive (ER+), and resistance to current hormone therapies occurs in one-third of ER+ patients. Tumor resistance is still ERα-dependent, but mutations usually confer constitutive activation to the hormone receptor, rendering ERα modulator drugs such as tamoxifen and aromatase inhibitors ineffective. Fulvestrant is a potent selective estrogen receptor degrader (SERD), which degrades the ERα receptor in drug-resistant tumors and has been approved for the treatment of hormone-receptor-positive metastatic breast cancer following antiestrogen therapy. However, fulvestrant shows poor pharmacokinetic properties in human, low solubility, weak permeation, and high metabolism, limiting its administration to inconvenient intramuscular injections. This Drug Annotation describes the identification and optimization of a new series of potent orally available SERDs, which led to the discovery of 6-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-[4-[(3S)-1-(3-fluoropropyl)pyrrolidin-3-yl]oxyphenyl]-8,9-dihydro-7H-benzo[7]annulene-2-carboxylic acid (43d), showing promising antitumor activity in breast cancer mice xenograft models and whose properties warranted clinical evaluation.

Publication types

  • News

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Breast Neoplasms / drug therapy*
  • Breast Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Crystallography, X-Ray
  • Dogs
  • Drug Discovery / methods*
  • Drug Resistance, Neoplasm
  • Female
  • Half-Life
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays
  • Humans
  • Ligands
  • Mice
  • Models, Molecular
  • Pyrrolidines / chemical synthesis*
  • Pyrrolidines / pharmacology*
  • Rats
  • Receptors, Estrogen / drug effects
  • Receptors, Estrogen / metabolism*
  • Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators / pharmacokinetics
  • Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators / pharmacology
  • Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators / therapeutic use*
  • Structure-Activity Relationship
  • Xenograft Model Antitumor Assays

Substances

  • Ligands
  • Pyrrolidines
  • Receptors, Estrogen
  • Selective Estrogen Receptor Modulators