ARX788, a Site-specific Anti-HER2 Antibody-Drug Conjugate, Demonstrates Potent and Selective Activity in HER2-low and T-DM1-resistant Breast and Gastric Cancers.

First-generation antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) are heterogeneous mixtures that have shown clinical benefit, but generally exhibited safety issues and a narrow therapeutic window due, in part, to off-target toxicity caused by ADC instability. ARX788 is a next-generation, site-specific anti-HER2 ADC that utilizes a unique nonnatural amino acid-enabled conjugation technology and a noncleavable Amberstatin (AS269) drug-linker to generate a homogeneous ADC with a drug-to-antibody ratio of 1.9.

Nonclinical Development of Next-generation Site-specific HER2-targeting Antibody-drug Conjugate (ARX788) for Breast Cancer Treatment.

Conventional antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) utilize native surface-exposed lysines or cysteines on the antibody of interest to conjugate cytotoxic payload. The nonspecific conjugation results in a mixture with variable drug-to-antibody ratios (DAR), conjugation sites, and ADCs that are often unstable in systemic circulation. ARX788 is an ADC consisting of a HER2-targeting antibody site-specifically conjugated with a potent antitubulin cytotoxic drug-linker, AS269.

Structure-activity relationships of bivalent aminoglycosides and evaluation of their microbiological activities.

A library of 4,5- and 4,6-linked bivalent aminoglycoside (AMG) antibiotics consisting of neamine and nebramine pharmacophores have been synthesized. We probed the effect of the linker on antibiotic activity with a series of selected synthetic analogues with varied length and substituents. A number of compounds demonstrated in vitro activity against several bacterial strains and showed activity against drug resistant strains of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Synthesis and biological activity of new 5-O-sugar modified ketolide and 2-fluoro-ketolide antibiotics.

A series of new triazole-containing ketolides and 2-fluoro-ketolides in which the 5-O-desosamine was replaced by unnatural sugars were synthesized and evaluated against relevant macrolide-sensitive and macrolide-resistant respiratory pathogens. Excellent in vitro antibacterial activities were demonstrated for ketolide analogues having the 6'-OBz-3'-dimethylamino-glucose and 6'-OBz-4'-deoxy-3'-dimethylamino-glucose substituents.

Glyco-optimization of aminoglycosides: new aminoglycosides as novel anti-infective agents.

Glyco-optimization (OPopS) of aminoglycosides has been performed by replacing the existing sugar moiety with a variety of sugar derivatives. Glycosylation of the 6-position of nebramine provided a library of novel 4,6-linked aminoglycosides (AMGs). Among them, compounds 8b,g,i,l, and 8u with 2"-amino, 2",3"-diamino, 2",4"-diamino, 3",4"-diamino, 3"-amino groups, respectively, showed significant antimicrobial activity against Gram-(+) and -(-) bacteria.

New catalysts for the asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketones discovered by mass spectrometry screening.

A method for determining enantiomeric excess by mass spectrometry was employed to screen a family of chiral phosphite P,N-ligands for activity in the rhodium-catalyzed asymmetric hydrosilylation of ketones. The identification of an effective set of ligands was followed by preliminary studies of the reaction scope and mechanism. Asymmetric induction of 84-88% ee for larger-scale reactions was observed, which is close to the level of the best alternative catalysts previously discovered.

Chiral CO(2)-Synthons via Catalytic Asymmetric Hetero-Diels-Alder Reactions of Ketomalonate and Dienes.

A catalytic enantioselective approach for the formation of chiral CO(2)-synthons is presented. The described methodology is based on the reaction of dienes with diethyl ketomalonate using C(2)-symmetric bisoxazolines as the chiral ligands and copper(II) and zinc(II) as the Lewis acids. For cyclic dienes the reaction proceeds in good yield and with up to 93% ee for 1,3-cyclohexadiene, while for cyclopentadiene the reaction also proceeds well at low temperature, but increasing the temperature leads to a retro-Diels-Alder reaction.

Catalytic Approach for the Formation of Optically Active Allyl alpha-Amino Acids by Addition of Allylic Metal Compounds to alpha-Imino Esters.

A new catalytic enantioselective approach for the formation of allyl alpha-amino acid derivatives by reaction of N-tosyl alpha-imino esters with allyl stannanes and silanes catalyzed by chiral copper(I) complexes has been developed. A series of different BINAP and phosphine-oxazoline (P,N) ligands have, in combination with various Lewis acids, been tested as chiral catalysts for allylation of N-tosyl alpha-imino esters. It has been found that both type of ligands, in combination with copper(I) salts, give highly valuable unsaturated alpha-amino acid derivatives.

Total Synthesis of (R)-Dihydroactinidiolide and (R)-Actinidiolide Using Asymmetric Catalytic Hetero-Diels-Alder Methodology.

The total synthesis of the naturally occurring bicyclic lactones (R)-dihydroactinidiolide and (R)-actinidiolide is presented. The key step in the syntheses is the copper(II)-bisoxazoline-catalyzed hetero-Diels-Alder reaction of a cyclic diene with ethyl glyoxylate giving the hetero-Diels-Alder product in high yield and with very high regio-, diastereo-, and enantioselectivity. The total syntheses proceed via an intermediate, which also has the potential for a series of other natural products.

Catalytic Enantioselective Aza Diels-Alder Reactions of Imino Dienophiles.

1 mol% of catalyst is sufficient: The hetero Diels-Alder reaction of α-imino esters 1 with activated conjugated dienes 2 (R=H, Me) needs only 1 mol% of a 2,2'-bis(diarylphosphanyl)-1,1'-binaphthyl (BINAP) copper(I) complex as the catalyst to generate the adducts 3 in good yields and with enantioselectivities up to 96%. The reaction can also be carried out on gram scale! Tos=H CC H SO ; TMS=Me Si.