Leveraging High-Throughput Experimentation to Drive Pharmaceutical Route Invention: A Four-Step Commercial Synthesis of Branebrutinib (BMS-986195)

The invention of a commercial route to the Bruton's tyrosine kinase inhibitor branebrutinib (BMS-986195) in four total chemical steps is described. The execution of high-throughput experimentation (HTE) coupled with a first-principles approach across the proposed synthetic route enabled the identification of a novel indolization reaction that rapidly generated high synthetic complexity, as the centerpiece of the synthesis. A parallel HTE strategy during route design enabled the efficient and rapid evaluation of multiple options within a short timeframe to complete rigorous process development while mitigating the risks associated with implementing new chemistry featuring an aggressive disconnection strategy.