Changing for the Better: Discovery of the Highly Potent and Selective CDK9 Inhibitor VIP152 Suitable for Once Weekly Intravenous Dosing for the Treatment of Cancer.

Selective inhibition of exclusively transcription-regulating positive transcription elongation factor b/CDK9 is a promising new approach in cancer therapy. Starting from atuveciclib, the first selective CDK9 inhibitor to enter clinical development, lead optimization efforts aimed at identifying intravenously (iv) applicable CDK9 inhibitors with an improved therapeutic index led to the discovery of the highly potent and selective clinical candidate VIP152. The evaluation of various scaffold hops was instrumental in the identification of VIP152, which is characterized by the underexplored benzyl sulfoximine group.

Rogaratinib: A potent and selective pan-FGFR inhibitor with broad antitumor activity in FGFR-overexpressing preclinical cancer models.

Aberrant activation in fibroblast growth factor signaling has been implicated in the development of various cancers, including squamous cell lung cancer, squamous cell head and neck carcinoma, colorectal and bladder cancer. Thus, fibroblast growth factor receptors (FGFRs) present promising targets for novel cancer therapeutics. Here, we evaluated the activity of a novel pan-FGFR inhibitor, rogaratinib, in biochemical, cellular and in vivo efficacy studies in a variety of preclinical cancer models.

Identification of Atuveciclib (BAY 1143572), the First Highly Selective, Clinical PTEFb/CDK9 Inhibitor for the Treatment of Cancer.

Selective inhibition of exclusively transcription-regulating PTEFb/CDK9 is a promising new approach in cancer therapy. Starting from lead compound BAY-958, lead optimization efforts strictly focusing on kinase selectivity, physicochemical and DMPK properties finally led to the identification of the orally available clinical candidate atuveciclib (BAY 1143572). Structurally characterized by an unusual benzyl sulfoximine group, BAY 1143572 exhibited the best overall profile in vitro and in vivo, including high efficacy and good tolerability in xenograft models in mice and rats.

BAY 1125976, a selective allosteric AKT1/2 inhibitor, exhibits high efficacy on AKT signaling-dependent tumor growth in mouse models.

The PI3K-AKT-mTOR signaling cascade is activated in the majority of human cancers, and its activation also plays a key role in resistance to chemo and targeted therapeutics. In particular, in both breast and prostate cancer, increased AKT pathway activity is associated with cancer progression, treatment resistance and poor disease outcome. Here, we evaluated the activity of a novel allosteric AKT1/2 inhibitor, BAY 1125976, in biochemical, cellular mechanistic, functional and in vivo efficacy studies in a variety of tumor models.