Showing papers by "Novartis Foundation published in 2014"
TL;DR: In vivo potency can be increased with little to no systemic exposure, localized innate immune activation and short in vivo residence times of SMIP-based adjuvants, and this work provides a systematic and generalizable approach to engineering small molecules for use as vaccine adjuvant.
Abstract: Adjuvants increase vaccine potency largely by activating innate immunity and promoting inflammation. Limiting the side effects of this inflammation is a major hurdle for adjuvant use in vaccines for humans. It has been difficult to improve on adjuvant safety because of a poor understanding of adjuvant mechanism and the empirical nature of adjuvant discovery and development historically. We describe new principles for the rational optimization of small-molecule immune potentiators (SMIPs) targeting Toll-like receptor 7 as adjuvants with a predicted increase in their therapeutic indices. Unlike traditional drugs, SMIP-based adjuvants need to have limited bioavailability and remain localized for optimal efficacy. These features also lead to temporally and spatially restricted inflammation that should decrease side effects. Through medicinal and formulation chemistry and extensive immunopharmacology, we show that in vivo potency can be increased with little to no systemic exposure, localized innate immune activation and short in vivo residence times of SMIP-based adjuvants. This work provides a systematic and generalizable approach to engineering small molecules for use as vaccine adjuvants.
154 citations
TL;DR: Compound 64 cured mice infected with Trypanosoma brucei when dosed orally down to 2.5 mg/kg and represents a new lead for the development of drugs to treat human African trypanosomiasis.
Abstract: A phenotypic screen of a compound library for antiparasitic activity on Trypanosoma brucei, the causative agent of human African trypanosomiasis, led to the identification of substituted 2-(3-aminophenyl)oxazolopyridines as a starting point for hit-to-lead medicinal chemistry. A total of 110 analogues were prepared, which led to the identification of 64, a substituted 2-(3-aminophenyl)imidazopyridine. This compound showed antiparasitic activity in vitro with an EC50 of 2 nM and displayed reasonable druglike properties when tested in a number of in vitro assays. The compound was orally bioavailable and displayed good plasma and brain exposure in mice. Compound 64 cured mice infected with Trypanosoma brucei when dosed orally down to 2.5 mg/kg. Given its potent antiparasitic properties and its ease of synthesis, compound 64 represents a new lead for the development of drugs to treat human African trypanosomiasis.
62 citations
TL;DR: EGF816, a novel covalent inhibitor of mutant-selective epidermal growth factor receptor, overcomes T790M-mediated resistance in NSCLC and is expected to provide long term duration of responses compared to current EGFR TKI therapy in the clinic.
Abstract: Proceedings: AACR Annual Meeting 2014; April 5-9, 2014; San Diego, CA
Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with activating epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutations initially respond to EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) but ultimately develop resistance to these therapies. The most common mechanism of resistance is a second site gate-keeper mutation within exon 20 of EGFR (T790M), followed by MET and other receptor tyrosine kinase amplification/activation. We developed a covalent mutant-selective EGFR inhibitor, EGF816 that potently inhibits both activating EGFR mutations as well as the T790M resistance mutation while sparing wild-type EGFR. EGF816 demonstrated strong tumor regressions in several EGFR activating and resistant tumor models in vivo. These include H1975 (L858R; T790M), HCC827 (exon 19 del) and H3255 (L858R) that are representative of the relevant clinical settings. In all of the models EGF816 inhibited tumor growth in a dose dependent manner and achieved regressions of established tumors at well tolerated doses. In single dose studies, EGF816 showed sustained inhibition of pEGFR, consistent with the irreversible binding mechanism of EGF816. EGF816 also performs exceptionally well in long term dosing studies providing durable responses in the preclinical models. Together, this data indicates that EGF816 exhibits excellent anti-tumor activity in the relevant patient derived tumor cell lines at well tolerated doses and is expected to provide long term duration of responses compared to current EGFR TKI therapy in the clinic.
Citation Format: Shailaja Kasibhatla, Jie Li, Celin Tompkins, Mei-Ting Vaillancourt, Jennifer Anderson, AnneMarie Culazzo Pferdekamper, Chun Li, Oliver Long, Mathew McNeill, Robert Epple, Debbie Liao, Eric Murphy, Steve Bender, Yong Jia, Gerald Lelais. EGF816, a novel covalent inhibitor of mutant-selective epidermal growth factor receptor, overcomes T790M-mediated resistance in NSCLC. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1733. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1733
11 citations