Discovery of (R)-1-(3-(4-Amino-3-(4-phenoxyphenyl)-1H-pyrazolo[3,4-d]pyrimidin-1-yl)piperidin-1-yl)-2-(dimethylamino)ethanone (CHMFL-FLT3-122) as a Potent and Orally Available FLT3 Kinase Inhibitor for FLT3-ITD Positive Acute Myeloid Leukemia

FLT3-ITD mutant has been observed in about 30% of AML patients and extensively studied as a drug discovery target. On the basis of the structure of PCI-32765 (ibrutinib), a BTK kinase inhibitor that was recently reported to bear FLT3 kinase activity through a structure-guided drug design approach, we have discovered compound 18 (CHMFL-FLT3-122), which displayed an IC50 of 40 nM against FLT3 kinase and achieved selectivity over BTK kinase (over 10-fold). It significantly inhibited the proliferation of FLT3-ITD positive AML cancer cell lines MV4-11 (GI(50) = 22 nM), MOLM13/14 (GI(50) = 21 nM/42 nM). More importantly, 18 demonstrated 170-fold selectivity between FLT3 kinase and c-KIT kinase (GI50 = 11 nM versus 1900 nM) in the TEL-fusion isogenic BaF3 cells indicating a potential to avoid the FLT3/c-KIT dual inhibition induced myelosuppression toxicity. In the cellular context it strongly affected FLT3-ITD mediated signaling pathways and induced apoptosis by arresting the cell cycle into the G0/G1 phase. In the in vivo studies 18 demonstrated a good bioavailability (30%) and significantly suppressed the tumor growth in MV4-11 cell inoculated xenograft model (50 mg/kg) without exhibiting obvious toxicity. Compound 18 might be a potential drug candidate for FLT3-ITD positive AML.