Discovery of a novel class of exquisitely selective mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (c-MET) protein kinase inhibitors and identification of the clinical candidate 2-(4-(1-(quinolin-6-ylmethyl)-1H-[1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-b]pyrazin-6-yl)-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)ethanol (PF-04217903) for the treatment of cancer

J Med Chem. 2012 Sep 27;55(18):8091-109. doi: 10.1021/jm300967g. Epub 2012 Sep 10.

Abstract

The c-MET receptor tyrosine kinase is an attractive oncology target because of its critical role in human oncogenesis and tumor progression. An oxindole hydrazide hit 6 was identified during a c-MET HTS campaign and subsequently demonstrated to have an unusual degree of selectivity against a broad array of other kinases. The cocrystal structure of the related oxindole hydrazide c-MET inhibitor 10 with a nonphosphorylated c-MET kinase domain revealed a unique binding mode associated with the exquisite selectivity profile. The chemically labile oxindole hydrazide scaffold was replaced with a chemically and metabolically stable triazolopyrazine scaffold using structure based drug design. Medicinal chemistry lead optimization produced 2-(4-(1-(quinolin-6-ylmethyl)-1H-[1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-b]pyrazin-6-yl)-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)ethanol (2, PF-04217903), an extremely potent and exquisitely selective c-MET inhibitor. 2 demonstrated effective tumor growth inhibition in c-MET dependent tumor models with good oral PK properties and an acceptable safety profile in preclinical studies. 2 progressed to clinical evaluation in a Phase I oncology setting.

MeSH terms

  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Antineoplastic Agents / chemistry
  • Antineoplastic Agents / metabolism
  • Antineoplastic Agents / pharmacology*
  • Cell Line, Tumor
  • Drug Discovery*
  • Drug Stability
  • High-Throughput Screening Assays
  • Humans
  • Indoles / chemistry
  • Models, Molecular
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Oxindoles
  • Protein Conformation
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / chemistry
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / metabolism
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors / pharmacology*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / antagonists & inhibitors*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / chemistry
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met / metabolism
  • Pyrazines / chemistry
  • Pyrazines / metabolism
  • Pyrazines / pharmacology*
  • Substrate Specificity
  • Triazoles / chemistry
  • Triazoles / metabolism
  • Triazoles / pharmacology*

Substances

  • 2-(4-(3-quinolin-6-ylmethyl-3H-(1,2,3)triazolo(4,5-b)pyrazin-5-yl)pyrazol-1-yl)ethanol
  • Antineoplastic Agents
  • Indoles
  • Oxindoles
  • Protein Kinase Inhibitors
  • Pyrazines
  • Triazoles
  • 2-oxindole
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-met