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Cerny MA, Kalgutkar AS, Obach RS, Sharma R, Spracklin DK, Walker GS. Effective Application of Metabolite Profiling in Drug Design and Discovery. J Med Chem 2020; 63:6387-6406. [PMID: 32097005 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.9b01840] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/17/2022]
Abstract
At one time, biotransformation was a descriptive activity in pharmaceutical development, viewed simply as structural elucidation of drug metabolites, completed only once compounds entered clinical development. Herein, we present our strategic approach using structural elucidation to enable chemistry design/SAR development. The approach considers four questions that often present themselves to medicinal chemists optimizing their compounds for candidate selection: (1) What are the important clearance mechanisms that mediate the disposition of my molecule? (2) Can metabolic liabilities be modulated in a favorable way? (3) Does my compound undergo bioactivation to a reactive metabolite? (4) Do any of the metabolites possess activity, either on- or off-target? An additional question necessary to support compound development relates to metabolites in safety testing (MIST) and our approach also addresses this question. The value in structural elucidation is derived from its application to better design molecules, guide their clinical development, and underwrite patient safety.
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Affiliation(s)
- Matthew A Cerny
- Medicine Design, Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Eastern Point Road, Groton, Connecticut 06340, United States
| | - Amit S Kalgutkar
- Medicine Design, Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, 1 Portland Street, Cambridge Massachusetts 02139, United States
| | - R Scott Obach
- Medicine Design, Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Eastern Point Road, Groton, Connecticut 06340, United States
| | - Raman Sharma
- Medicine Design, Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Eastern Point Road, Groton, Connecticut 06340, United States
| | - Douglas K Spracklin
- Medicine Design, Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Eastern Point Road, Groton, Connecticut 06340, United States
| | - Gregory S Walker
- Medicine Design, Pfizer Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Eastern Point Road, Groton, Connecticut 06340, United States
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Pennington LD, Moustakas DT. The Necessary Nitrogen Atom: A Versatile High-Impact Design Element for Multiparameter Optimization. J Med Chem 2017; 60:3552-3579. [PMID: 28177632 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.6b01807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 183] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Abstract
There is a continued desire in biomedical research to reduce the number and duration of design cycles required to optimize lead compounds into high-quality chemical probes or safe and efficacious drug candidates. The insightful application of impactful molecular design elements is one approach toward achieving this goal. The replacement of a CH group with a N atom in aromatic and heteroaromatic ring systems can have many important effects on molecular and physicochemical properties and intra- and intermolecular interactions that can translate to improved pharmacological profiles. In this Perspective, the "necessary nitrogen atom" is shown to be a versatile high-impact design element for multiparameter optimization, wherein ≥10-, 100-, or 1000-fold improvement in a variety of key pharmacological parameters can be realized.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lewis D Pennington
- Medicinal Chemistry and ‡Modeling and Informatics, Alkermes, Plc , 852 Winter Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02451-1420, United States
| | - Demetri T Moustakas
- Medicinal Chemistry and ‡Modeling and Informatics, Alkermes, Plc , 852 Winter Street, Waltham, Massachusetts 02451-1420, United States
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