Discovery of Clinical Candidate (5-(3-(4-Chlorophenoxy)prop-1-yn-1-yl)-3-hydroxypicolinoyl)glycine, an Orally Bioavailable Prolyl Hydroxylase Inhibitor for the Treatment of Anemia
Xiaojin Zhang, Yonghua Lei, Tianhan Hu, Yue Wu, Zhihong Li, Zhensheng Jiang, Changyong Yang, Lianshan Zhang, Qidong You
Abstract
The design and discovery of a new series of (5-alkynyl-3-hydroxypicolinoyl)glycine inhibitors of prolyl hydroxylase (PHD) are described. These compounds showed potent in vitro inhibitory activity toward PHD2 in a fluorescence polarization-based assay. Remarkably, oral administration of 17, with an IC50 of 64.2 nM toward PHD2, was found to stabilize HIF-α, elevate erythropoietin (EPO), and alleviate anemia in a cisplatin-induced anemia mouse model with an oral dose of 25 mg/kg. Rat and dog studies showed that 17 has good pharmacokinetic properties, with oral bioavailabilities of 55.7 and 54.0%, respectively, and shows excellent safety profiles even at a high dose of 200 mg/kg in these animals. Based on these results, 17 is currently being evaluated in a phase I clinical trial for anemia.