Discovery of Selective and Orally Bioavailable Heterobifunctional Degraders of Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 2

Cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) plays an important role in cell cycle regulation and has emerged as a compelling target for the treatment of cancer, largely because of its potential to overcome the resistance associated with CDK4/6 inhibition. Efforts to develop CDK2 inhibitors have historically proven challenging due to undesirable safety profiles associated with inhibiting off-target CDK isoforms. Herein, we describe the structure-guided discovery of a series of orally bioavailable and selective degraders of CDK2. Degrader 37 demonstrated improved phenotypic selectivity compared to a clinical CDK2 inhibitor, with greater specificity for disease-relevant cyclin E1 (CCNE1)-amplified cancer cells vs nonamplified cohort. The antitumor activity of 37 in mice bearing CCNE1-amplified HCC1569 tumors correlated with sustained >90% degradation of CDK2 and sustained 90% inhibition of Rb phosphorylation.