Syntheses, Biological Evaluations, and Mechanistic Studies of Benzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazole Derivatives as Potent PD-L1 Inhibitors with In Vivo Antitumor Activity

A series of novel benzo[c][1,2,5]oxadiazole derivatives were designed, synthesized, and biologically evaluated as inhibitors of PD-L1. Among them, compound L7 exhibited 1.8 nM IC50 value in a homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence (HTRF) assay, which was 20-fold more potent than the lead compound BMS-1016. In the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) assay, L7 bound to human PD-L1 (hPD-L1) with a KD value of 3.34 nM, without showing any binding to hPD-1. In the cell-based coculture assay, L7 blocked PD-1/PD-L1 interaction with an EC50 value of 375 nM, while BMS-1016 had an EC50 value of 2075 nM. Moreover, compound L24, an ester prodrug of L7, was orally bioavailable and displayed significant antitumor effects in tumor models of syngeneic and PD-L1 humanized mice. Mechanistically, L24 exhibited significant in vivo antitumor effects probably through promoting antitumor immunity. Together, this series of benzoxadiazole PD-L1 inhibitors holds promise for tumor immunotherapy. Preclinical trials with selected compounds are ongoing in our laboratory.