Ozanimod (RPC1063) is a potent sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor-1 (S1P1 ) and receptor-5 (S1P5 ) agonist with autoimmune disease-modifying activity.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Sphingosine1-phosphate (S1P) receptors mediate multiple events including lymphocyte trafficking, cardiac function, and endothelial barrier integrity. Stimulation of S1P1 receptors sequesters lymphocyte subsets in peripheral lymphoid organs, preventing their trafficking to inflamed tissue sites, modulating immunity. Targeting S1P receptors for treating autoimmune disease has been established in clinical studies with the non-selective S1P modulator, FTY720 (fingolimod, Gilenya™). The purpose of this study was to assess RPC1063 for its therapeutic utility in autoimmune diseases. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: The specificity and potency of RPC1063 (ozanimod) was evaluated for all five S1P receptors, and its effect on cell surface S1P1 receptor expression, was characterized in vitro. The oral pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters and pharmacodynamic effects were established in rodents, and its activity in three models of autoimmune disease (experimental autoimmune encephalitis, 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulfonic acid colitis and CD4(+) CD45RB(hi) T cell adoptive transfer colitis) was assessed. KEY RESULTS: RPC1063 was specific for S1P1 and S1P5 receptors, induced S1P1 receptor internalization and induced a reversible reduction in circulating B and CCR7(+) T lymphocytes in vivo. RPC1063 showed high oral bioavailability and volume of distribution, and a circulatory half-life that supports once daily dosing. Oral RPC1063 reduced inflammation and disease parameters in all three autoimmune disease models. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: S1P receptor selectivity, favourable PK properties and efficacy in three distinct disease models supports the clinical development of RPC1063 for the treatment of relapsing multiple sclerosis and inflammatory bowel disease, differentiates RPC1063 from other S1P receptor agonists, and could result in improved safety outcomes in the clinic.

Preparation of highly selective stationary phases for high-performance liquid chromatographic separation of enantiomers by direct copolymerization of monomers with single or twin chiral ligands.

Uniformly sized macroporous polymer beads, which can be used as chiral stationary phase (CSP), have been prepared by the staged templated suspension polymerization process using chiral monomer as one of the copolymerization components. This approach enables the preparation of CSPs for which properties such as pore size, pore volume, surface area, chemistry, and chiral ligands can be tuned over a broad range. Several types of well-defined chiral monomers were prepared and allowed to assess synergistic effect of multiple selectors attached to a branched linker as well as the effect of the length and chemistry of the linker. Microscale batch screening was used for simple and rapid evaluation of selectivity. The most promising candidate CSPs were prepared on a larger scale and packed into HPLC columns. Their performance was demonstrated on the separation of racemic N-(3,5-dinitrobenzoyl)-alpha-amino acid alkylamides. The highest separation factors alpha of up to 27 were observed for CSPs prepared from monomers containing the branched spacer. These highly selective CSPs also enabled the separation of larger amounts of the target racemates upon column overload conditions.

Synthesis of indan-based unusual alpha-amino acid derivatives under phase-transfer catalysis conditions.

Conformationally constrained cyclic alpha-amino acid derivatives were synthesized under solid-liquid phase-transfer catalysis conditions. This methodology involves the bis-alkylation of ethyl isocyanoacetate with various alpha,alpha'-dibromo-o-xylene derivatives [alpha,alpha'-dibromo-o-xylene 5, 2,3-bis(bromomethyl)-1, 4-dimethoxybenzene 6, 1,2-bis(bromomethyl)-4,5-dibromobenzene 7, 2, 3-bis(bromomethyl)naphthalene 8, 1,8-bis(bromomethyl)-naphthalene 9, 6,7-bis(bromomethyl)-2,2-dimethyl-1H-phenalene-1,3(2H)-dione 10, 2, 3-bis(bromomethyl)-1,4-anthraquinone 11, 6, 7-bis(bromomethyl)quinoxaline 12, 3,4-bis(bromomethyl)furan 13, 1,2, 4,5-tetrakis(bromomethyl)benzene 28, and hexakis(bromomethyl)benzene 30] using potassium carbonate as a base and tetrabutylammonium hydrogensulfate as a phase-transfer catalyst to give corresponding isonitrile derivatives, which upon hydrolysis with HCl in ethanol gave amino esters. Using this method electron-deficient as well as electron-rich and halogen-substituted indan-based alpha-amino acids were prepared. The preparation of bis-indan as well as tris-indan alpha-amino esters is also described.