2. Academic Validation
  3. Discovery of Diaminopyrimidine Carboxamide HPK1 Inhibitors as Preclinical Immunotherapy Tool Compounds

Discovery of Diaminopyrimidine Carboxamide HPK1 Inhibitors as Preclinical Immunotherapy Tool Compounds

  • ACS Med Chem Lett. 2021 Mar 19;12(4):653-661. doi: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00096.
Brandon A Vara 1,  Samuel M Levi 1,  Abdelghani Achab 1,  David A Candito 1,  Xavier Fradera 1,  Charles A Lesburg 1,  Shuhei Kawamura 1,  Brian M Lacey 1,  Jongwon Lim 1,  Joey L Methot 1,  Zangwei Xu 1,  Haiyan Xu 1,  Dustin M Smith 1,  Jennifer A Piesvaux 1,  J Richard Miller 1,  Mark Bittinger 1,  Sheila H Ranganath 1,  David J Bennett 1,  Erin F DiMauro 1,  Alexander Pasternak 1
Affiliations

Affiliation

  • 1 Discovery Chemistry, Computational and Structural Chemistry, Quantitative Biosciences, Pharmacokinetics and Drug Metabolism, Oncology Early Discovery, Merck & Co., Inc., Boston, Massachusetts 02115, United States.
PMID: 33859804 DOI: 10.1021/acsmedchemlett.1c00096
Abstract

Hematopoietic progenitor kinase 1 (HPK1), a serine/threonine kinase, is a negative immune regulator of T cell receptor (TCR) and B cell signaling that is primarily expressed in hematopoietic cells. Accordingly, it has been reported that HPK1 loss-of-function in HPK1 kinase-dead syngeneic mouse models shows enhanced T cell signaling and cytokine production as well as tumor growth inhibition in vivo, supporting its value as an immunotherapeutic target. Herein, we present the structurally enabled discovery of novel, potent, and selective diaminopyrimidine carboxamide HPK1 inhibitors. The key discovery of a carboxamide moiety was essential for enhanced Enzyme inhibitory potency and kinome selectivity as well as sustained elevation of cellular IL-2 production across a titration range in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells. The elucidation of structure-activity relationships using various pendant amino ring systems allowed for the identification of several small molecule type-I inhibitors with promising in vitro profiles.

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