Guangxiu Dai

Discovery of (S)-1-(1-(Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridin-6-yl)ethyl)-6-(1-methyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-1H-[1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-b]pyrazine (volitinib) as a highly potent and selective mesenchymal-epithelial transition factor (c-Met) inhibitor in clinical development for treatment of cancer.

HGF/c-Met signaling has been implicated in human cancers. Herein we describe the invention of a series of novel triazolopyrazine c-Met inhibitors. The structure-activity relationship of these compounds was investigated, leading to the identification of compound 28, which demonstrated favorable pharmacokinetic properties in mice and good antitumor activities in the human glioma xenograft model in athymic nude mice.

Abstract 3612: A novel and selective c-Met inhibitor against subcutaneous xenograft and othotopic brain tumor models

Proceedings: AACR 102nd Annual Meeting 2011‐‐ Apr 2‐6, 2011; Orlando, FL HM5016504 is a novel, highly potent and selective c-Met inhibitor under development by HMPL. In preclinical studies, it demonstrated strong in vitro activity against c-Met and its downstream signaling targets, thus blocking the related cellular functions, including proliferation, migration, invasion, scattering and the secretion of VEGF that plays a pivotal role in tumor angiogenesis. The cross-talk between c-Met and EGFR was investigated, and their contribution to downstream signaling cascade was identified in certain tumor cell lines with dysregulation of both c-Met and EGFR. HM5016504 could effectively inhibit the in vivo growth of a number of human tumor xenografts. Particularly, the tumor cells or xengorafts with high fold of c-Met gene amplification showed high sensitivity to HM5016504, such as gastric cancer SNU-5, Hs746T and lung cancer H1993 and EBC-1 cells or their respective xenografts. The compound not only showed activity in subcutaneous xenograft models, but also demonstrated efficacy in an orthotopic brain tumor model induced by U87MG, indicating it could pass blood brain barrier. In vitro and in vivo activities of HM5016504 were found to be closely correlated with the c-Met expression level and activation status. In addition, HM5016504 exhibited a reasonable pharmacokinetic profile and safety window based on the toxicology study results in rats, dogs, and monkeys. The pre-clinical study results suggest that HM5016504 could be a promising c-Met targeting anti-cancer agent. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 102nd Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2011 Apr 2-6; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2011;71(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3612. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2011-3612

Abstract 3371: Preclinical disposition and pharmacokinetics of volitinib, a novel selective cMet inhibitor .

Volitinib is a novel selective cMet inhibitor. This study is to evaluate its preclinical ADME/PK profile. Volitinib has high membrane permeability (Papp (A>B) 28×10 − 6 cm/s) without efflux transport across Caco-2 cell monolayer and exhibits negligible P-gp inhibition (IC 50 > 17 μM). Metabolic stability of volitinib in liver microsomes and S9 fractions of rat, dog, monkey and human was evaluated. Five phase I metabolites were observed in liver microsomes and S9 fractions of different species, and three major metabolites resulted from demethylation (M1), hydroxylation (M2) and mono-oxygenation (M3) were found to be mediated by multiple enzymes, including CYP450s and aldehyde oxidase. Rat was the most similar species to human in terms of the in vitro metabolism and metabolite profile. Metabolism is the main route of elimination for volitinib in rat due to the fact that the fecal, urinary and biliary excretion of the parent volitinib accounted for max max =1.9 h) and moderately low distribution (Vss=0.7 L/kg), the poor oral bioavailability (1.9%) of volitinib in monkey is considered to be the result of excessive first-pass extraction. Overall, volitinib exhibited favorable preclinical PK/ADME properties. Citation Format: Yi Gu, Yang Sai, Jian Wang, Sumei Xia, Guanglin Wang, Yuansheng Zhao, Li Zhang, Wenqing Yang, Guangxiu Dai, Weihan Zhang, Qisun Gong, Zhenping Tian, Weiguo Su. Preclinical disposition and pharmacokinetics of volitinib, a novel selective cMet inhibitor . [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3371. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-3371

Abstract 971: Synergistic effect of c-Met inhibitor volitinib in combination with EGFR inhibitor Gefitnib on EGFR-TKI resistant NSCLC model HCC827C4R harboring acquired Met gene amplification.

It is well recognized that non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) patients with activating EGFR mutations will develop drug resistance after receiving EGFR-tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR-TKI). About 20% of those patients with TKI resistance were identified to harbor Met gene amplification. The aim of this study includes two aspects: a) generating an acquired c-Met amplified EGFR-TKI resistant tumor line in preclinical setting, and b) exploring combination effect of c-met inhibitor volitinib and EGFR inhibitor gefitinib on the new tumor line. Volitinib is a novel, highly potent and selective c-Met inhibitor, currently being evaluated in the phase I clinical trial. HCC827(exon 19 del E746-A750), a human NSCLC cell line, was treated with increasing concentrations of EGFR inhibitor for about 6 months and gradually produced the resistance to EGFR-TKIs, such as gefitinib and erlotinib. One of the subclones, HCC827C4R was isolated and was confirmed to carry Met gene amplification in comparison to parent cell line HCC827. It was not sensitive to volitinib treatment in cell survival assay due to dual activation of EGFR and c-Met pathways. The results from signal pathway study demonstrated that in HCC827C4R cells, volitinib or gefitinib alone only inhibited the phosphorylation of c-Met or EGFR, respectively, but had no effect on the activation of downstream molecules such as Akt and ERK which drive tumor cell proliferation and other cell functions. In contrast, combination of volitinib and gefitinib significantly inhibited phosphorylation of EGFR, c-Met, Akt and ERK in HCC827C4R, and consequently led to a synergistic effect on inhibiting tumor cell growth in vitro. These results were further confirmed in HCC827C4R xenograft model in vivo at clinically relevant doses. Combination of volitinib and gefitinib induced significant tumor regression and displayed synergistic effect compared to treatment by either gefitinib or volitinib alone. Consistent with in vitro results, combination group strongly inhibited the downstream Akt and ERK phosphorylation. In addition, combination treatment was well tolerant and no significant drug-drug exposure interaction was observed. These data indicated that both c-Met and EGFR could contribute to activating downstream signaling pathway and control HCC827C4R cell growth. Blocking either pathway may not be strong enough to stop tumor growth. In conclusion, a cell line with activating EGFR mutation and c-Met gene amplification was generated with resistance to gefitinib and insensitivity to volitinib. The combination treatment with volitinib and an EGFR inhibitor gefitinib was highly effective in vitro and in vivo, suggesting that such combination could provide a safe and effective treatment in clinics for this particular patient population. Citation Format: Feng Zhou, Yongxin Ren, Yumin Cui, Hanyang Chen, Longxian Jiao, Guangxiu Dai, Shiming Fan, Junen Sun, Yongjuan Yu, Yang Sai, Yi Gu, Weiguo Qing, Weiguo Su. Synergistic effect of c-Met inhibitor volitinib in combination with EGFR inhibitor Gefitnib on EGFR-TKI resistant NSCLC model HCC827C4R harboring acquired Met gene amplification. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 104th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2013 Apr 6-10; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2013;73(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 971. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2013-971