ARQ-092 is an orally bioavailable, selective, and potent allosteric Akt inhibitor with IC50s of 2.7 nM, 14 nM and 8.1 nM for Akt1, Akt2, Akt3, respectively.
ARQ-092 (Compound 21a) demonstrates high enzymatic potency against Akt1, Akt2 and Akt3, as well as potent cellular inhibition of Akt activation and the phosphorylation of the downstream target PRAS40. ARQ-092 shows strong affinity for un-phosphorylated fulllength Akt1 and potently inhibited the phosphorylated form of full-length Akt isoforms. In a large panel of cell lines derived from various tumor types, ARQ-092 shows potent anti-proliferative activity in cell lines containing PIK3CA/PIK3R1 mutations compared to those with wild-type (wt) PIK3CA/PIK3R1 or PTEN loss. ARQ-092 shows excellent inhibition of p-Akt (S473) and p-Akt (T308) in both AN3CA and A2780 cells. The inhibition of the downstream protein p-PRAS40 (T246) is observed with ARQ-092 (IC50=0.31 uM)[1].
In a mouse pharmacokinetic study, (po at 100 mg/kg, iv at 5 mg/kg), ARQ-092 (Compound 21a) shows an oral bioavailability of 23%. ARQ-092 results in 99%, 95% and 58% reductions in p-Akt (S473), p-Akt (T306) and p-PRAS40 (T246), respectively, after tumor-bearing mice are treated with 100 mg/kg po. The inhibition of phosphorylation is sustained at eight hours.The plasma concentration of ARQ-092 at one hour is 2.1 uM and decreased to 0.26 uM at 8 hours, while in the tumor, the concentration is 21.0 uM at one hour and 9.6 uM at 8 hours[1]. To determine the effects of ARQ-092 on cardiac function, echocardiographic analysis of SHP2+/+ and SHP2Y279C/+ littermates is conducted, either in the presence of orally administered vehicle or ARQ-092 (100 mg/kg/day), at 12, 14, and 16 weeks of age. By 12 weeks of age, SHP2Y279C/+ mice show significant left ventricular hypertrophy, as indicated by decreased chamber dimension and increased posterior wall thickness compared with those of littermate controls; hypertrophy in these mice continued to progress over the 4 week time period. Treatment of the SHP2Y279C/+ mice with ARQ-092 normalizes the hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) phenotype as early as 2 weeks following treatment, with levels comparable to those in SHP2+/+ at this time point[2].
References:
[1]. Lapierre JM, et al. Discovery of 3-(3-(4-(1-Aminocyclobutyl)phenyl)-5-phenyl-3H-imidazo[4,5-b]pyridin-2-yl)pyridin-2-amine (ARQ 092): An Orally Bioavailable, Selective, and Potent Allosteric AKT Inhibitor. J Med Chem. 2016 Jul 14;59(13):6455-69.
[2]. Wang J, et al. In vivo efficacy of the AKT inhibitor ARQ 092 in Noonan Syndrome with multiple lentigines-associated hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. PLoS One. 2017 Jun 5;12(6):e0178905.