Discovery of a Novel Class of Exquisitely Selective Mesenchymal-Epithelial Transition Factor (C-met) Protein Kinase Inhibitors and Identification of the Clinical Candidate 2-(4-(1-(Quinolin-6-Ylmethyl)-1H-[1,2, 3]Triazolo[4,5-B]Pyrazin-6-Yl)-1H-Pyrazol-1-Yl)Ethanol (Pf-04217903) for the Treatment of Cancer.
Cui, J.J., Mctigue, M., Nambu, M., Tran-Dube, M., Pairish, M., Shen, H., Jia, L., Cheng, H., Hoffman, J., Le, P., Jalaie, M., Goetz, G.H., Ryan, K., Grodsky, N., Deng, Y., Parker, M., Timofeevski, S., Murray, B.W., Yamazaki, S., Aguirre, S., Li, Q., Zou, H., Christensen, J.(2012) J Med Chem 55: 8091
- PubMed: 22924734 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/jm300967g
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
3ZXZ, 3ZZE, 4AOI, 4AP7 - PubMed Abstract: 
The c-MET receptor tyrosine kinase is an attractive oncology target because of its critical role in human oncogenesis and tumor progression. An oxindole hydrazide hit 6 was identified during a c-MET HTS campaign and subsequently demonstrated to have an unusual degree of selectivity against a broad array of other kinases. The cocrystal structure of the related oxindole hydrazide c-MET inhibitor 10 with a nonphosphorylated c-MET kinase domain revealed a unique binding mode associated with the exquisite selectivity profile. The chemically labile oxindole hydrazide scaffold was replaced with a chemically and metabolically stable triazolopyrazine scaffold using structure based drug design. Medicinal chemistry lead optimization produced 2-(4-(1-(quinolin-6-ylmethyl)-1H-[1,2,3]triazolo[4,5-b]pyrazin-6-yl)-1H-pyrazol-1-yl)ethanol (2, PF-04217903), an extremely potent and exquisitely selective c-MET inhibitor. 2 demonstrated effective tumor growth inhibition in c-MET dependent tumor models with good oral PK properties and an acceptable safety profile in preclinical studies. 2 progressed to clinical evaluation in a Phase I oncology setting.
Organizational Affiliation: 
La Jolla Laboratories, Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, 10770 Science Center Drive, San Diego, California 92121, USA. jean.cui@pfizer.com