Novel library synthesis of 3,4-disubstituted pyridin-2(1H)-ones via cleavage of pyridine-2-oxy-7-azabenzotriazole ethers under ionic hydrogenation conditions at room temperature.

In our hands, efficient access to the 4-amino-3-carboxamide disubstituted pyridine-2(1H)-one kinase hinge-binder motif proved to be more challenging than anticipated requiring a significant investment in route scouting and optimization. This full paper focuses on the synthesis issues that we encountered during our route exploration and the original solutions we found that helped us to identify two optimized library-style processes to prepare our large kinase inhibitor library.

Structure-based design of Trifarotene (CD5789), a potent and selective RARγ agonist for the treatment of acne.

Retinoids have a dominant role in topical acne therapy and to date, only RARß and RARγ dual agonists have reached the market. Given the tissue distribution of RAR isoforms, it was hypothesized that developing RARγ -selective agonists could yield a new generation of topical acne treatments that would increase safety margins while maintaining the robust efficacy of previous drugs. Structural knowledge derived from the X-ray structure of known γ-selective CD437, suggested the design of a novel triaryl series of agonists which was optimized and ultimately led to the discovery of Trifarotene/CD5789.

Rational Drug Design of Topically Administered Caspase 1 Inhibitors for the Treatment of Inflammatory Acne.

The use of an interleukin ß antibody is currently being investigated in the clinic for the treatment of acne, a dermatological disorder affecting 650M persons globally. Inhibiting the protease responsible for the cleavage of inactive pro-IL1ß into active IL-1ß, caspase-1, could be an alternative small molecule approach. This report describes the discovery of uracil 20, a potent (38 nM in THP1 cells assay) caspase-1 inhibitor for the topical treatment of inflammatory acne. The uracil series was designed according to a published caspase-1 pharmacophore model involving a reactive warhead in P1 for covalent reversible inhibition and an aryl moiety in P4 for selectivity against the apoptotic caspases. Reversibility was assessed in an enzymatic dilution assay or by using different substrate concentrations. In addition to classical structure-activity-relationship exploration, topical administration challenges such as phototoxicity, organic and aqueous solubility, chemical stability in solution, and skin metabolic stability are discussed and successfully resolved.