Discovery of BI-9508, a Brain-Penetrant GPR88-Receptor-Agonist Tool Compound for Mouse Studies.

Decreased activity and expression of the G-protein coupled receptor GPR88 is linked to many behavior-linked neurological disorders. Published preclinical GPR88 allosteric agonists all have pharmacokinetic properties that preclude their progression to the clinic, including high lipophilicity and poor brain penetration. Here, we describe our attempts to improve GPR88 agonists' drug-like properties and our analysis of the trade-offs required to successfully target GPR88's allosteric pocket.

Structural basis of inhibition of the human SGLT2-MAP17 glucose transporter.

Human sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (hSGLT2) mediates the reabsorption of the majority of filtrated glucose in the kidney. Pharmacological inhibition of hSGLT2 by oral small-molecule inhibitors, such as empagliflozin, leads to enhanced excretion of glucose and is widely used in the clinic to manage blood glucose levels for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Here we determined the cryogenic electron microscopy structure of the hSGLT2-MAP17 complex in the empagliflozin-bound state to an overall resolution of 2.

Discovery of tetrahydroindazoles as a novel class of potent and in vivo efficacious gamma secretase modulators.

The identification and optimization of a novel series of centrally efficacious gamma secretase modulators (GSMs) offering an alternative to the privileged aryl imidazole motif is described. Chiral bicyclic tetrahydroindazolyl amine substituted triazolopyridines were identified as structurally distinct novel series of GSMs. Representative compound BI-1408 ((R)-42) was demonstrated to be centrally efficacious in rats at a 30 mg/kg oral dose.

Discovery of BI-2545: A Novel Autotaxin Inhibitor That Significantly Reduces LPA Levels in Vivo.

In an effort to find new therapeutic interventions addressing the unmet medical need of patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, we initiated a program to identify new autotaxin (ATX) inhibitors. Starting from a recently published compound (PF-8380), we identified several highly potent ATX inhibitors with improved pharmacokinetic and safety profiles. Further optimization efforts resulted in the identification of a single-digit nanomolar lead compound (BI-2545) that shows substantial lowering of LPA in vivo and is therefore considered a valuable tool for further studies.