Structure-Guided Optimization Provides a Series of TTK Protein Inhibitors with Potent Antitumor Activity

TTK is an essential spindle assembly checkpoint enzyme in many organisms. It plays a central role in tumor cell proliferation and is aberrantly overexpressed in a wide range of tumor types. We recently reported on a series of potent and selective TTK inhibitors with strong antiproliferative activity in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) cell lines (8: TTK IC₅₀ = 3.0 nM; CAL-51 IC₅₀ = 84.0 nM). Inspired by previously described potent tricyclic TTK inhibitor 6 (TTK IC₅₀ = 0.9 nM), we embarked on a structure-enabled design and optimization campaign to identify an improved series with excellent potency, TTK selectivity, solubility, CYP inhibition profile, and in vivo efficacy in a TNBC xenograft model. These efforts culminated in the discovery of 25 (TTK IC₅₀ = 3.0 nM; CAL-51 IC₅₀ = 16.0 nM), which showed significant single-agent efficacy when dosed iv in a TNBC xenograft model without body weight loss.