Preclinical discovery and initial clinical data of WVT078, a BCMA × CD3 bispecific antibody.

B-cell maturation antigen (BCMA) is an ideal target in multiple myeloma (MM) due to highly specific expression in malignant plasma cells. BCMA-directed therapies including antibody drug conjugates, chimeric antigen receptor-T cells and bispecific antibodies (BsAbs) have shown high response rates in MM. WVT078 is an anti-BCMA× anti-CD3 BsAb that binds to BCMA with subnanomolar-affinity. It was selected based on potent T cell activation and anti-MM activity in preclinical models with favorable tolerability in cynomolgus monkey. In the ongoing first-in-human phase I dose-escalation study (NCT04123418), 33 patients received intravenous WVT078 once weekly at escalated dosing. At the active doses of 48-250 µg/kg tested to date (n = 26), the overall response rate (ORR) was 38.5% (90% CI: 22.6-56.4%) and the complete response rate (CRR, stringent complete response + complete response) was 11.5%, (90% CI: 3.2-27.2%). At the highest dose level tested, the ORR was 75% (3 of 4 patients). 26 (78.8%) patients reported at least one Grade ≥3 AE and 16 of these AEs were suspected to be drug related. 20 patients (60.6%) experienced cytokine release syndrome. WVT078 has an acceptable safety profile and shows preliminary evidence of clinical activity at doses tested to date.

Discovery and evaluation of a novel monocyclic series of CXCR2 antagonists.

Antagonism of the chemokine receptor CXCR2 has been proposed as a strategy for the treatment of inflammatory diseases such as arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and asthma. Earlier series of bicyclic CXCR2 antagonists discovered at AstraZeneca were shown to have low solubility and poor oral bioavailability. In this Letter we describe the design, synthesis and characterisation of a new series of monocyclic CXCR2 antagonists with improved solubility and good pharmacokinetic profiles.

Efficient and facile synthesis of acrylamide libraries for protein-guided tethering.

A kinetic template-guided tethering (KTGT) strategy has been developed for the site-directed discovery of fragments that bind to defined protein surfaces, where acrylamide-modified fragments can be irreversibly captured in a protein-templated conjugate addition reaction. Herein, an efficient and facile method is reported for the preparation of acrylamide libraries from a diverse range of amine fragments using a solid-supported quaternary amine base.

Towards the enantioselective synthesis of (-)-euonyminol--preparation of a fully functionalised lower-rim model.

The development of a stereoselective total synthesis of ß-dihydroagarofuran 4 is described. This compound contains the same oxygenation pattern on its 'lower-rim' as found in the natural sesquiterpene (-)-euonyminol (1) and it is expected that the route described should be applicable to the synthesis of that complex natural product. (-)-Euonyminol is found as the core scaffold of a series of complex macrodilactone sesquiterpenoids isolated from the Celastraceae which possess interesting biological activities (e.g. anti-HIV activity). The synthetic route builds upon an epoxidative asymmetric desymmetrisation of meso-diallylic alcohol 10 that we have reported previously. It features a lactate Ireland-Claisen rearrangement to establish the quaternary stereocentre at C11 (27→28a) and an unusual dealkylative intramolecular epoxide-opening by the C11 methyl ether to establish the tetrahydrofuranyl C-ring of the ß-dihydroagarofuran skeleton (35→36).

Absolute configuration assignment by asymmetric syntheses of the homalium alkaloids (-)-(R,R,R)-hoprominol and (-)-(4'S,4″R,2‴R)-hopromalinol.

The conjugate addition of lithium (R)-N-(3-chloropropyl)-N-(α-methylbenzyl)amide to α,ß-unsaturated esters was used as the key step in the syntheses of all possible diastereoisomers of the homalium alkaloids hoprominol and hopromalinol. Comparison of the specific rotation data for these synthetic samples with those of samples isolated from the natural source enabled the absolute configurations within these alkaloids to be confidently assigned for the first time as (-)-(R,R,R)-hoprominol and (-)-(4'S,4″R,2‴R)-hopromalinol. The asymmetric syntheses of (-)-(R,R,R)-hoprominol (in 10 steps and 4.0% overall yield) and (-)-(4'S,4″R,2‴R)-hopromalinol (in 10 steps and 9.3% overall yield), from commercially available starting materials in each case, therefore represent the first total asymmetric syntheses of these alkaloids to be reported.

Asymmetric syntheses of the homalium alkaloids (-)-(S,S)-homaline and (-)-(R,R)-hopromine.

The highly diastereoselective conjugate additions of the novel lithium amide reagents lithium (R)-N-(3-chloropropyl)-N-(α-methylbenzyl)amide and lithium (R)-N-(3-chloropropyl)-N-(α-methyl-p-methoxybenzyl)amide to α,ß-unsaturated esters were used as the key steps in syntheses of the homalium alkaloids (-)-(S,S)-homaline and (-)-(R,R)-hopromine. The asymmetric synthesis of (-)-(S,S)-homaline was achieved in 8 steps and 18% overall yield, and the asymmetric synthesis of (-)-(R,R)-hopromine was achieved in 9 steps and 23% overall yield, from commercially available starting materials in each case. These syntheses therefore represent by far the most efficient total asymmetric syntheses of these alkaloids reported to date. A sample of the (4'R,4''S)-epimer of hopromine was also produced using this approach, which provided the first unambiguous confirmation of its absolute configuration and therefore that of natural (-)-(R,R)-hopromine.

A practical method for targeted library design balancing lead-like properties with diversity.

A practical and pragmatic method is demonstrated that aligns lead-like properties with compound diversity for the picking of compounds to synthesise from large virtual libraries. Methods are highlighted for decreasing synthetic attrition through the prior filtration of reagents sets grouped by reaction type. Also disclosed are protocols that use a combination of predicted physicochemical parameters and potential toxicological liabilities to enable the synthesis of lead-like compounds with a low potential risk of exhibiting toxicity or undesirable physicochemical properties. Lastly, a compound-picking process for a 2D compound matrix is demonstrated that maximises the diversity coverage whilst minimising synthetic effort. Thus a very highly optimised process is shown that delivers premium sample quality where lead-likeness and novelty are aligned to afford the best possible enhancement for the corporate compound collection.