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Subbaiah MAM, Rautio J, Meanwell NA. Prodrugs as empowering tools in drug discovery and development: recent strategic applications of drug delivery solutions to mitigate challenges associated with lead compounds and drug candidates. Chem Soc Rev 2024; 53:2099-2210. [PMID: 38226865 DOI: 10.1039/d2cs00957a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/17/2024]
Abstract
The delivery of a drug to a specific organ or tissue at an efficacious concentration is the pharmacokinetic (PK) hallmark of promoting effective pharmacological action at a target site with an acceptable safety profile. Sub-optimal pharmaceutical or ADME profiles of drug candidates, which can often be a function of inherently poor physicochemical properties, pose significant challenges to drug discovery and development teams and may contribute to high compound attrition rates. Medicinal chemists have exploited prodrugs as an informed strategy to productively enhance the profiles of new chemical entities by optimizing the physicochemical, biopharmaceutical, and pharmacokinetic properties as well as selectively delivering a molecule to the site of action as a means of addressing a range of limitations. While discovery scientists have traditionally employed prodrugs to improve solubility and membrane permeability, the growing sophistication of prodrug technologies has enabled a significant expansion of their scope and applications as an empowering tool to mitigate a broad range of drug delivery challenges. Prodrugs have emerged as successful solutions to resolve non-linear exposure, inadequate exposure to support toxicological studies, pH-dependent absorption, high pill burden, formulation challenges, lack of feasibility of developing solid and liquid dosage forms, first-pass metabolism, high dosing frequency translating to reduced patient compliance and poor site-specific drug delivery. During the period 2012-2022, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved 50 prodrugs, which amounts to 13% of approved small molecule drugs, reflecting both the importance and success of implementing prodrug approaches in the pursuit of developing safe and effective drugs to address unmet medical needs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murugaiah A M Subbaiah
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Biocon Bristol Myers Squibb R&D Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra Phase IV, Bangalore, PIN 560099, India.
| | - Jarkko Rautio
- School of Pharmacy, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland
| | - Nicholas A Meanwell
- The Baruch S. Blumberg Institute, Doylestown, PA 18902, USA
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, The College of Pharmacy, The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
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Ji C. Molecular Factors and Pathways of Hepatotoxicity Associated with HIV/SARS-CoV-2 Protease Inhibitors. Int J Mol Sci 2023; 24:ijms24097938. [PMID: 37175645 PMCID: PMC10178330 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24097938] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/26/2023] [Revised: 04/21/2023] [Accepted: 04/25/2023] [Indexed: 05/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Antiviral protease inhibitors are peptidomimetic molecules that block the active catalytic center of viral proteases and, thereby, prevent the cleavage of viral polyprotein precursors into maturation. They continue to be a key class of antiviral drugs that can be used either as boosters for other classes of antivirals or as major components of current regimens in therapies for the treatment of infections with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). However, sustained/lifelong treatment with the drugs or drugs combined with other substance(s) often leads to severe hepatic side effects such as lipid abnormalities, insulin resistance, and hepatotoxicity. The underlying pathogenic mechanisms are not fully known and are under continuous investigation. This review focuses on the general as well as specific molecular mechanisms of the protease inhibitor-induced hepatotoxicity involving transporter proteins, apolipoprotein B, cytochrome P450 isozymes, insulin-receptor substrate 1, Akt/PKB signaling, lipogenic factors, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, pregnane X receptor, hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α, reactive oxygen species, inflammatory cytokines, off-target proteases, and small GTPase Rab proteins related to ER-Golgi trafficking, organelle stress, and liver injury. Potential pharmaceutical/therapeutic solutions to antiviral drug-induced hepatic side effects are also discussed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Cheng Ji
- Research Center for Liver Disease, GI/Liver Division, Department of Medicine, Keck School of Medicine of USC, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90089, USA
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A M Subbaiah M, Subramani L, Ramar T, Desai S, Sinha S, Mandlekar S, Kadow JF, Jenkins S, Krystal M, Subramanian M, Sridhar S, Padmanabhan S, Bhutani P, Arla R, Meanwell NA. Improving Drug Delivery While Tailoring Prodrug Activation to Modulate Cmax and Cmin by Optimization of (Carbonyl)oxyalkyl Linker-Based Prodrugs of Atazanavir. J Med Chem 2022; 65:11150-11176. [PMID: 35952307 DOI: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.2c00632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Structure-property relationships associated with a series of (carbonyl)oxyalkyl amino acid ester prodrugs of the marketed HIV-1 protease inhibitor atazanavir (1), designed to enhance the systemic drug delivery, were examined. Compared to previously reported prodrugs, optimized candidates delivered significantly enhanced plasma exposure and trough concentration (Cmin at 24 h) of 1 in rats while revealing differentiated PK paradigms based on the kinetics of prodrug activation and drug release. Prodrugs incorporating primary amine-containing amino acid promoieties offered the benefit of rapid bioactivation that translated into low circulating levels of the prodrug while delivering a high Cmax value of 1. Interestingly, the kinetic profile of prodrug cleavage could be tailored for slower activation by structural modification of the amino terminus to either a tertiary amine or a dipeptide motif, which conferred a circulating depot of the prodrug that orchestrated a sustained release of 1 along with substantially reduced Cmax and a further enhanced Cmin.
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Affiliation(s)
- Murugaiah A M Subbaiah
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry (Prodrug Group), Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra IV Phase, Jigani Link Road, Bangalore 560099, India
| | - Lakshumanan Subramani
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry (Prodrug Group), Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra IV Phase, Jigani Link Road, Bangalore 560099, India
| | - Thangeswaran Ramar
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry (Prodrug Group), Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra IV Phase, Jigani Link Road, Bangalore 560099, India
| | - Salil Desai
- Department of Biopharmaceutics, Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra IV Phase, Jigani Link Road, Bangalore 560099, India
| | - Sarmistha Sinha
- Department of Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization, Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra IV Phase, Jigani Link Road, Bangalore 560099, India
| | - Sandhya Mandlekar
- Department of Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization, Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra IV Phase, Jigani Link Road, Bangalore 560099, India
| | - John F Kadow
- Department of Small Molecule Drug Discovery, Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Early Development, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-4000, United States
| | - Susan Jenkins
- Department of Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization, Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Early Development, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-4000, United States
| | - Mark Krystal
- Department of Virology, Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Early Development, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-4000, United States
| | - Murali Subramanian
- Department of Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization, Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra IV Phase, Jigani Link Road, Bangalore 560099, India
| | - Srikanth Sridhar
- Department of Biopharmaceutics, Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra IV Phase, Jigani Link Road, Bangalore 560099, India
| | - Shweta Padmanabhan
- Department of Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization, Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra IV Phase, Jigani Link Road, Bangalore 560099, India
| | - Priyadeep Bhutani
- Department of Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization, Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra IV Phase, Jigani Link Road, Bangalore 560099, India
| | - Rambabu Arla
- Department of Pharmaceutical Candidate Optimization, Biocon-Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Development Centre, Biocon Park, Bommasandra IV Phase, Jigani Link Road, Bangalore 560099, India
| | - Nicholas A Meanwell
- Department of Small Molecule Drug Discovery, Bristol Myers Squibb Research and Early Development, P.O. Box 4000, Princeton, New Jersey 08543-4000, United States
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Prodrug Therapies for Infectious and Neurodegenerative Diseases. Pharmaceutics 2022; 14:pharmaceutics14030518. [PMID: 35335894 PMCID: PMC8953076 DOI: 10.3390/pharmaceutics14030518] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/31/2022] [Revised: 02/17/2022] [Accepted: 02/22/2022] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Prodrugs are bioreversible drug derivatives which are metabolized into a pharmacologically active drug following chemical or enzymatic modification. This approach is designed to overcome several obstacles that are faced by the parent drug in physiological conditions that include rapid drug metabolism, poor solubility, permeability, and suboptimal pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles. These suboptimal physicochemical features can lead to rapid drug elimination, systemic toxicities, and limited drug-targeting to disease-affected tissue. Improving upon these properties can be accomplished by a prodrug design that includes the careful choosing of the promoiety, the linker, the prodrug synthesis, and targeting decorations. We now provide an overview of recent developments and applications of prodrugs for treating neurodegenerative, inflammatory, and infectious diseases. Disease interplay reflects that microbial infections and consequent inflammation affects neurodegenerative diseases and vice versa, independent of aging. Given the high prevalence, personal, social, and economic burden of both infectious and neurodegenerative disorders, therapeutic improvements are immediately needed. Prodrugs are an important, and might be said a critical tool, in providing an avenue for effective drug therapy.
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