Development of Gut-Selective Pan-Janus Kinase Inhibitor TD-1473 for Ulcerative Colitis: A Translational Medicine Programme.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Oral systemic pan-Janus kinase [JAK] inhibition is effective for ulcerative colitis [UC] but is limited by toxicities. We describe preclinical to clinical translation of TD-1473-an oral gut-selective pan-JAK inhibitor-from in vitro characterization through a Phase 1b study in patients with UC. METHODS: TD-1473 JAK inhibition potency was evaluated in vitro; plasma pharmacokinetics, safety and efficacy were assessed in mice. In a first-time-in-human study, plasma pharmacokinetics and safety were assessed after single and multiple [14 days] ascending doses administered orally to healthy subjects. The Phase 1b study randomized patients with moderately to severely active UC to receive once-daily oral TD-1473 20, 80 or 270 mg, or placebo for 28 days. Plasma and colonic tissue concentrations were measured; safety was assessed; and efficacy was evaluated by UC clinical parameters, disease-surrogate biomarkers, endoscopy, histology and colonic tissue JAK signalling. RESULTS: TD-1473 exhibited potent pan-JAK inhibitory activity in vitro. Oral TD-1473 administration to mice achieved high, biologically active colonic tissue concentrations with low plasma exposure and decreased oxazolone-induced colitis activity without reducing blood cell counts vs placebo. TD-1473 administration in healthy human subjects and patients with UC yielded low plasma exposure and was generally well tolerated; treatment in patients with UC resulted in biologically active colonic tissue concentrations and descriptive trends toward reduced clinical, endoscopic and histological disease activity vs placebo. CONCLUSION: Gut-selective pan-JAK inhibition with TD-1473 administration resulted in high intestinal vs plasma drug exposure, local target engagement, and trends toward reduced UC disease activity. [Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02657122, NCT02818686].

Concomitant angiotensin AT1 receptor antagonism and neprilysin inhibition produces omapatrilat-like antihypertensive effects without promoting tracheal plasma extravasation in the rat.

Dual inhibition of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) and neprilysin (NEP) by drugs such as omapatrilat produces superior antihypertensive efficacy but cause high incidence of angioedema. We examined whether dual inhibition of angiotensin AT1 receptor (ARB) and NEP (ARB-NEPI, valsartan-candoxatril) provides similar efficacy to omapatrilat without the risk of angioedema. Activity of test compounds at the targets was assayed using fluorescence-based enzyme assays (ACE, NEP, aminopeptidase P) or competition binding assays (AT1). Target engagement in vivo (ACE, AT1, and NEP) was quantified by measuring inhibition of angiotensin-pressor responses and potentiation of atrial natriuretic peptide-induced urinary cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) output in rats. Tracheal plasma extravasation (TPE) was used as a surrogate to assess propensity of compounds to promote upper airway angioedema. Antihypertensive efficacy in renin-dependent and -independent states was measured in spontaneously hypertensive rats and deoxycorticosterone acetate salt hypertensive rats, respectively. Administration of omapatrilat and coadministration of valsartan and candoxatril blocked angiotensin induced vasopressor responses and potentiated atrial natriuretic peptide-induced increase in urinary cGMP output. In spontaneously hypertensive rats, valsartan, omapatrilat, and valsartan-candoxatril combination all produced reduction in blood pressure to a similar extent, whereas candoxatril was ineffective. In deoxycorticosterone acetate rats, omapatrilat, candoxatril, and valsartan-candoxatril combination but not valsartan produced reduction in blood pressure. Antihypertensive doses of omapatrilat produced robust increases in TPE; by contrast, valsartan, candoxatril, or their combination did not increase TPE. Pretreatment with icatibant, a bradykinin B2 antagonist, abolished omapatrilat-induced TPE but not its antihypertensive effects. On the background of NEP inhibition, suppression of the renin-angiotensin system through ARB and ACE inhibition shows a similar antihypertensive efficacy but exerts differential effects on bradykinin metabolism and TPE indicative of reduced risk of angioedema. Thus, dual AT1 receptor blockade and NEP inhibition is potentially an attractive approach to retain the excellent antihypertensive effects of omapatrilat but with a superior safety profile.

Telavancin, a multifunctional lipoglycopeptide, disrupts both cell wall synthesis and cell membrane integrity in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

The emergence and spread of multidrug-resistant gram-positive bacteria represent a serious clinical problem. Telavancin is a novel lipoglycopeptide antibiotic that possesses rapid in vitro bactericidal activity against a broad spectrum of clinically relevant gram-positive pathogens. Here we demonstrate that telavancin's antibacterial activity derives from at least two mechanisms. As observed with vancomycin, telavancin inhibited late-stage peptidoglycan biosynthesis in a substrate-dependent fashion and bound the cell wall, as it did the lipid II surrogate tripeptide N,N'-diacetyl-L-lysinyl-D-alanyl-D-alanine, with high affinity. Telavancin also perturbed bacterial cell membrane potential and permeability. In methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, telavancin caused rapid, concentration-dependent depolarization of the plasma membrane, increases in permeability, and leakage of cellular ATP and K(+). The timing of these changes correlated with rapid , concentration-dependent loss of bacterial viability, suggesting that the early bactericidal activity of telavancin results from dissipation of cell membrane potential and an increase in membrane permeability. Binding and cell fractionation studies provided direct evidence for an interaction of telavancin with the bacterial cell membrane; stronger binding interactions were observed with the bacterial cell wall and cell membrane relative to vancomycin. We suggest that this multifunctional mechanism of action confers advantageous antibacterial properties.