Drug-Eluting Embolic Loaded with Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitor Targeted Therapies for Transarterial Chemoembolization in a VX2 Model.

Drug-eluting embolic transarterial chemoembolization (DEE-TACE) improves the overall survival of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), but the agents used are not tailored to HCC. Our patented liposomal formulation enables the loading and elution of targeted therapies onto DEEs. This study aimed to establish the safety, feasibility, and pharmacokinetics of sorafenib or regorafenib DEE-TACE in a VX2 model. DEE-TACE was performed in VX2 hepatic tumors in a selective manner until stasis using liposomal sorafenib- or regorafenib-loaded DEEs. The animals were euthanized at 1, 24, and 72 h timepoints post embolization. Blood samples were taken for pharmacokinetics at 5 and 20 min and at 1, 24, and 72 h. Measurements of sorafenib or regorafenib were performed in all tissue samples on explanted hepatic tissue using the same mass spectrometry method. Histopathological examinations were carried out on tumor tissues and non-embolized hepatic specimens. DEE-TACE was performed on 23 rabbits. The plasma concentrations of sorafenib and regorafenib were statistically significantly several folds lower than the embolized liver at all examined timepoints. This study demonstrates the feasibility of loading sorafenib or regorafenib onto commercially available DEEs for use in TACE. The drugs eluted locally without release into systemic circulation.

Novel Reagent Space: Identifying Unorderable but Readily Synthesizable Building Blocks.

Drug discovery building blocks available commercially or within an internal inventory cover a diverse range of chemical space and yet describe only a tiny fraction of all chemically feasible reagents. Vendors will eagerly provide tools to search the former; there is no straightforward method of mining the latter. We describe a procedure and use case in assembling chemical structures not available for purchase but that could likely be synthesized in one robust chemical transformation starting from readily available building blocks. Accessing this vast virtual chemical space dramatically increases our curated collection of reagents available for medicinal chemistry exploration and novel hit generation, almost tripling the number of those with 10 or fewer atoms.

Azetidine-based selective glycine transporter-1 (GlyT1) inhibitors with memory enhancing properties.

A strategy to conformationally restrain a series of GlyT1 inhibitors identified potent analogs that exhibited slowly interconverting rotational isomers. Further studies to address this concern led to a series of azetidine-based inhibitors. Compound 26 was able to elevate CSF glycine levels in vivo and demonstrated potency comparable to Bitopertin in an in vivo rat receptor occupancy study. Compound 26 was subsequently shown to enhance memory in a Novel Object Recognition (NOR) behavioral study after a single dose of 0.03 mg/kg, and in a contextual fear conditioning (cFC) study after four QD doses of 0.01-0.03 mg/kg.

Design and Synthesis of Novel and Selective Glycine Transporter-1 (GlyT1) Inhibitors with Memory Enhancing Properties.

We report here the identification and optimization of a novel series of potent GlyT1 inhibitors. A ligand design campaign that utilized known GlyT1 inhibitors as starting points led to the identification of a novel series of pyrrolo[3,4- c]pyrazoles amides (21-50) with good in vitro potency. Subsequent optimization of physicochemical and in vitro ADME properties produced several compounds with promising pharmacokinetic profiles. In vivo inhibition of GlyT1 was demonstrated for select compounds within this series by measuring the elevation of glycine in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of rats after a single oral dose of 10 mg/kg. Ultimately, an optimized lead, compound 46, demonstrated in vivo efficacy in a rat novel object recognition (NOR) assay after oral dosing at 0.1, 1, and 3 mg/kg.

Solvent-Controlled, Site-Selective N-Alkylation Reactions of Azolo-Fused Ring Heterocycles at N1-, N2-, and N3-Positions, Including Pyrazolo[3,4- d]pyrimidines, Purines, [1,2,3]Triazolo[4,5]pyridines, and Related Deaza-Compounds.

Alkylation of 4-methoxy-1 H-pyrazolo[3,4- d]pyrimidine (1b) with iodomethane in THF using NaHMDS as base selectively provided N2-methyl product 4-methoxy-2-methyl-2 H-pyrazolo[3,4- d]pyrimidine (3b) in an 8/1 ratio over N1-methyl product (2b). Interestingly, conducting the reaction in DMSO reversed selectivity to provide a 4/1 ratio of N1/N2 methylated products. Crystal structures of product 3b with N1 and N7 coordinated to sodium indicated a potential role for the latter reinforcing the N2-selectivity. Limits of selectivity were tested with 26 heterocycles which revealed that N7 was a controlling element directing alkylations to favor N2 for pyrazolo- and N3 for imidazo- and triazolo-fused ring heterocycles when conducted in THF. Use of 1H-detected pulsed field gradient-stimulated echo (PFG-STE) NMR defined the molecular weights of ionic reactive complexes. This data and DFT charge distribution calculations suggest close ion pairs (CIPs) or tight ion pairs (TIPs) control alkylation selectivity in THF and solvent-separated ion pairs (SIPs) are the reactive species in DMSO.

Pfizer Global Virtual Library (PGVL): a chemistry design tool powered by experimentally validated parallel synthesis information.

An unprecedented amount of parallel synthesis information was accumulated within Pfizer over the past 12 years. This information was captured by an informatics tool known as PGVL (Pfizer Global Virtual Library). PGVL was used for many aspects of drug discovery including automated reactant mining and reaction product formation to build a synthetically feasible virtual compound collection. In this report, PGVL is discussed in detail. The chemistry information within PGVL has been used to extract synthesis and design information using an intuitive desktop Graphic User Interface, PGVL Hub. Several real-case examples of PGVL are also presented.

Combinatorial library-based design with Basis Products.

Uncovering useful lead compounds from a vast virtual library of synthesizable compounds continues to be of tremendous interest to pharmaceutical researchers. Here we present the concept of Basis Products (BPs), a new and broadly applicable method for achieving efficient selections from a combinatorial library. By definition, Basis Products are a strategically selected subset of compounds from a potentially very large combinatorial library, and any compound in a combinatorial library can represented by its BPs. In this article we will show how to use BP docking scores to find the top compounds of a combinatorial library. Compared with the brute-force docking of an entire virtual library, docking with BPs are much more efficient because of the substantial size reduction, saving both time and resources. We will also demonstrate how BPs can be used for property-based combinatorial library designs. Furthermore, BPs can also be considered as fragments carrying chemistry knowledge, hence they can potentially be used in combination with any fragment-based design method. Therefore, BPs can be used to integrate combinatorial design with structure-based design and/or fragment-based design. Other potential applications of BPs include lead hopping and consensus core building, which we will describe briefly as well in this report.

Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution. 13.(1) Kinetics and Spectroscopy of the Chloromethylation of Benzene and Toluene with Methoxyacetyl Chloride or Chloromethyl Methyl Ether and Aluminum Chloride in Nitromethane or Tin Tetrachloride in Dichloromethane. The Methoxymethyl Cation as a Remarkably Selective Common Electrophile.

Vacuum line kinetics studies have been made of the reaction in nitromethane between benzene and/or toluene, methoxyacetyl chloride (MAC), and AlCl(3) to produce benzyl or xylyl chlorides, CO, and a CH(3)OH(-)AlCl(3) complex. For both arenes, the rate law appears to be R = (k(3)/[AlCl(3)](0)) [AlCl(3)](2)[MAC]. When chloromethyl methyl ether (CMME) is substituted for MAC, a similar rate law is obtained. Both chloromethylation reactions yielded similar, large k(T)()/k(B)() ratios (500-600) and similar product isomer distributions with low meta percentages ( approximately 0.4) which suggest CH(3)OCH(2)(+) or the CH(3)OCH(2)(+)Al(2)Cl(7)(-) ion pair as a common, remarkably selective, electrophile. The kinetics of MAC decomposition to CMME and CO in the presence of AlCl(3) yielded the rate law R = k(2)[AlCl(3)](0)[MAC]. Here AlCl(3) is a catalyst (no CH(3)OH is formed), and thus the rate law is equivalent to the chloromethylation rate law. All three reactions have comparable reactivities, which is consistent with rate-determining production of the electrophile. Kinetics studies of benzene or toluene with SnCl(4) and MAC or CMME in dichloromethane were also completed. With MAC and benzene the rate law is R = k(3)[SnCl(4)](0)[MAC][benzene] and with toluene R = k(2)[SnCl(4)](0)[MAC]. MAC decomposition, again followed by CO production, was unaffected by the presence of either aromatic and obeyed the rate law R = k(2)' [SnCl(4)](0)[MAC] where k(2) approximately k(2)'. Chloromethylation with CMME followed the rate law R = k(3)[SnCl(4)](0)[CMME][arene] for benzene and toluene and produced a k(T)()/k(B)() ratio and product isomer distributions very similar to those determined with AlCl(3) in nitromethane, further supporting a common electrophile. Low-temperature (13)C and (119)Sn FT-NMR and Raman spectroscopic studies suggest the existence of a weak 1:1 adduct between MAC and SnCl(4) of the type RCXO --> SnCl(4), with electron donation to the metal through carboxy oxygen. Finally, an explanation is provided for the range of chloromethylation k(T)()/k(B)() values and product isomer percentages published in the literature.