Phenotype-Led Identification of IL-10 Upregulators in Human CD4 T-cells and Elucidation of Their Pharmacology as Highly Selective CDK8/CDK19 Inhibitors.

Therapeutics promoting the endogenous production of IL-10 have the potential to restore homeostasis in inflammatory disorders such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Here we describe the identification of a series of IL-10 upregulators based on a pyrimidyl-piperidine scaffold through a high throughput phenotypic CD4 T-cell multiplex assay. optimization of the initial hit yielded a lead with good potency and an clearance profile, compound 3-7, which additionally demonstrated efficacy in a murine endotoxin challenge PK-PD mechanistic model.