AiZynth impact on medicinal chemistry practice at AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca chemists have been using the AI retrosynthesis tool AiZynth for three years. In this article, we present seven examples of how medicinal chemists using AiZynth positively impacted their drug discovery programmes. These programmes run the gamut from early-stage hit confirmation to late-stage route optimisation efforts. We also discuss the different use cases for which AI retrosynthesis tools are best suited.

Multiomic profiling of breast cancer cells uncovers stress MAPK-associated sensitivity to AKT degradation

More than 50% of human tumors display hyperactivation of the serine/threonine kinase AKT. Despite evidence of clinical efficacy, the therapeutic window of the current generation of AKT inhibitors could be improved. Here, we report the development of a second-generation AKT degrader, INY-05-040, which outperformed catalytic AKT inhibition with respect to cellular suppression of AKT-dependent phenotypes in breast cancer cell lines. A growth inhibition screen with 288 cancer cell lines confirmed that INY-05-040 had a substantially higher potency than our first-generation AKT degrader (INY-03-041), with both compounds outperforming catalytic AKT inhibition by GDC-0068. Using multiomic profiling and causal network integration in breast cancer cells, we demonstrated that the enhanced efficacy of INY-05-040 was associated with sustained suppression of AKT signaling, which was followed by induction of the stress mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). Further integration of growth inhibition assays with publicly available transcriptomic, proteomic, and reverse phase protein array (RPPA) measurements established low basal JNK signaling as a biomarker for breast cancer sensitivity to AKT degradation. Together, our study presents a framework for mapping the network-wide signaling effects of therapeutically relevant compounds and identifies INY-05-040 as a potent pharmacological suppressor of AKT signaling.

7-Step Flow Synthesis of the HIV Integrase Inhibitor Dolutegravir

Dolutegravir (DTG), an important active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) used in combination therapy for the treatment of HIV, has been synthesized in continuous flow. By adapting the reported GlaxoSmithKline process chemistry batch route for Cabotegravir, DTG was produced in 4.5 h in sequential flow operations from commercially available materials. Key features of the synthesis include rapid manufacturing time for pyridone formation, one-step direct amidation of a functionalized pyridone, and telescoping of multiple steps to avoid isolation of intermediates and enable for greater throughput.

Thiourea-catalyzed enantioselective addition of indoles to pyrones: alkaloid cores with quaternary carbons

We report the development of a catalytic method for the enantioselective addition of indoles to pyrone-derived electrophiles. Arylpyrrolidino-derived thioureas catalyze the addition with high stereoselectivity in the presence of catalytic quantities of an achiral Brønsted acid. The indole-pyrone adducts feature a quaternary stereocenter and represent an unusual class of indolines bearing structural resemblance to the hybrid natural product pleiocarpamine.

Development of an alkaloid-pyrone annulation: synthesis of pleiomaltinine

Odd Couple

Methodology for the synthesis of alkaloid-pyrones using a novel pyrone annulation of β–carbolines and indoles with 3-siloxy-4-pyrones is reported. The approach has enabled semisynthesis of the unprecedented alkaloid-pyrone pleiomaltinine from the plant-derived indole-alkaloid pleiocarpamine.

Effect of interferon on multiplication of avian sarcoma virus B77 in duck embryo fibroblasts

The effect of interferon on the multiplication of the avian sarcoma virus B77 in duck embryo fibroblasts was studied. The interferon used for this purpose as induced in duck embryo fibroblasts by high multiplicities of reovirus serotype 3 (strain Dearing) and purified to a specific activity of at least 2 x 10(7) units/ml (estimated to be at least 10% pure). Treatment of duck embryo fibroblasts transformed with B77 virus with as little as 50 units/ml of this interferon caused a rapid inhibition of the release of virus particles, and a decrease in the specific infectivity of the virus particles that were released of about six-fold. The protein composition of virus particles released from normal and interferon-treated duck embryo fibroblasts was not detectably different. Examination of the nature of the virus-specified proteins, as determined by precipitation with specific antisera, synthesized at various times after treatment of transformed duck embryo fibroblasts with 300 units/ml of interferon revealed the following major changes: i. a more than 5-fold increase in the amount of a protein with a molecular weight of about 100,000 (P100) precipitated by antiserum to reverse transcriptase. This increase was paralleled by a decrease in the amount of the gag-pol precursors Pr190 and Pr180, but the amount of the alpha and beta subunits of reverse transcriptase was not altered by interferon treatment. ii. An at last 3-fold increase in the amount of cell-associated gag proteins. iii. A two- to ten-fold decrease in the amount of a protein with an apparent molecular weight of 76,000, in all likelihood Pr76, precipitated by antiserum to gp85. The primary cause of the interferon-induced inhibition of virus particle release appears to be inability of Pr76 to associate with gPr95/gp85 in plasma cell membranes.