Molecular Weight

• 404.3517

• OriginatorNorthwestern University; University of Illinois at Chicago
• DeveloperActuate Therapeutics; Incyte Corporation; Levine Cancer Institute; University of Kansas Medical Center
• ClassAntineoplastics; Benzofurans; Dioxolanes; Indoles; Pyrroles; Small molecules
• Mechanism of ActionGlycogen synthase kinase 3 beta inhibitors

• Orphan Drug StatusYes – Glioblastoma; Neuroblastoma

• Phase IIAdenoid cystic carcinoma; Myelofibrosis; Neuroblastoma; Pancreatic cancer; Salivary gland cancer
• Phase I/IICancer
• PreclinicalBrain cancer; Chronic lymphocytic leukaemia; Colorectal cancer

• 20 Sep 2022Elraglusib – Actuate Therapeutics receives Fast Track designation for Pancreatic cancer [IV] (Combination therapy, First-line therapy, Late-stage disease, Metastatic disease, Recurrent) in USA
• 03 Jun 2022Efficacy and safety data from a phase I trial in cancer presented at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO-2022)
• 08 Apr 2022Preclinical trials in Brain cancer in USA (unspecified route)

9-ING-41 is under investigation in clinical trial NCT04218071 (Actuate 1901: 9-ING-41 in Myelofibrosis).

SYN

WO2019079299

https://patentscope.wipo.int/search/en/detail.jsf?docId=WO2019079299

3-(5-Fluorobenzofuran-3-yl)-4-(5-methyl-5H-[l,3]dioxolo[4,5-f]indol-7-yl)pyrrole-2,5-dione (“9-ING-41”) has the following chemical structure:

[0004] 9-ING-41 has been reported as being useful for the treatment of cancers, including brain, lung, breast, ovarian, bladder, neuroblastoma, renal, and pancreatic cancers, as well as for treatment of traumatic brain injury.

[0005] The structure, properties, and/or biological activity of 9-ING-41 are set forth in U.S. Patent Number 8,207,216; Gaisina et al., From a Natural Product Lead to the Identification of Potent and Selective Benzofuran-3-yl-(indol-3-yl)maleimides as Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β Inhibitors That Suppress Proliferation and Survival of Pancreatic Cancer Cells, J. Med. Chem. 2009, 52, 1853-1863; and Hilliard, et al., Glycogen synthase kinase 3β inhibitors induce apoptosis in ovarian cancer cells and inhibit in-vivo tumor growth, Anti-Cancer Drugs 2011, 22:978-985.

Example 1: Preparation of 9-ING-41

[0056] Crude 9-ING-41 can be obtained by the general methods described in U.S. Patent Number 8,207,216, and in Gaisina et al., From a Natural Product Lead to the

Identification of Potent and Selective Benzofuran-3-yl-(indol-3-yl)maleimides as Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3β Inhibitors That Suppress Proliferation and Survival of Pancreatic Cancer Cells, J. Med. Chem. 2009, 52, 1853-1863.

Example 2: Preparation of 9-ING-41 Crystalline Form I

[0057] Crystalline Form I of 9-ING-41 may also be prepared as follows.

Synthesis of Intermediate 1

[0058] Into a 3-L 4-necked round-bottom flask, purged and maintained with an inert atmosphere of nitrogen, was placed 6-nitro-2H-l,3-benzodioxole-5-carbaldehyde (200 g, 1.02 mol, 1.00 equiv), ammonium acetate (200 g, 2.59 mol, 2.53 equiv), acetic acid (2 L), and nitromethane (313 g, 5.13 mol, 5.00 equiv). The solution was stirred for 12 h at lOOoC. The reaction repeated three times. The solutions were combined and diluted with 20 L of water. The resulting solution was extracted with 3×10 L of ethyl acetate and the organic layers were combined. The mixture was washed with 3×10 L of brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated under vacuum. This resulted in 450 g (crude) of 5-nitro-6-[(E)-2-nitroethenyl]-2H-l,3-benzodioxole (1) as a dark green solid.

Synthesis of Intermediate 2

[0059] Fe (120 g, 2.14 mol, 17.01 equiv) was slowly added in portions into a suspension of 5-nitro-6-[(Z)-2-nitroethenyl]-2H-l,3-benzodioxole (30 g, 125.97 mmol, 1.00 equiv), silica gel (120 g) in acetic acid (300 mL), toluene (200 mL), and cyclohexane (400 mL) at 80oC under nitrogen. The resulting black mixture was stirred for 8h at 80oC.The reaction repeated ten times. The reaction mixtures were combined. The solids were filtrated out. The filtrate was concentrated under vacuum and the residue was applied onto a silica gel column with ethyl acetate/petroleum ether (1/5). The collected fractions were combined and concentrated under vacuum to give 67.3 g (33%) of 2H, 5H-[1, 3] dioxolo [4, 5-f] indole (2) as an off-white solid.

Synthesis of Intermediate 3

[0060] Sodium hydride (19.9 g, 497.50 mmol, 1.18 equiv, 60%) was added in portions into a solution of 2H,3H,5H-furo[2,3-f]indole (67.3 g, 422.78 mmol, 1.00 equiv) in N,N-

dimethylformamide (1.3 L) at 0°C under nitrogen. The mixture was stirred for lh at 0°C and CH3I (70.9 g, 499.51 mmol, 1.18 equiv) was added dropwise. The resulting solution was stirred for 3 h at room temperature. The solution was quenched by added 1 L of ice water. The resulting solution was extracted with 3×1 L of ethyl acetate and the organic layers were combined. The mixture was washed with 3×1 L of brine, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated under vacuum. The residue was applied onto a silica gel column with ethyl acetate/petroleum ether (1/10). The collected fractions were combined and concentrated under vacuum to give 71 g (97%) of 5-methyl-2H,3H,5H-furo[2,3-f]indole (3) as a light yellow solid.

Synthesis of Int rmediate 4

[0061] Ethyl 2-chloro-2-oxoacetate (220 g, 1.61 mol, 3.96 equiv) was added dropwise into a solution of 5-methyl-2H,3H,5H-furo[2,3-f]indole (70.4 g, 406.44 mmol, 1.00 equiv) in ethyl ether (1.6 L) at OoC under nitrogen. The resulting solution was warmed to room temperature and stirred for 4 h. The reaction was quenched slowly by the addition of 2 L of ice water and the pH value of the resulting solution was adjusted to 9 by Na2C03. The resulted mixture was extracted with 3×1.5 L of ethyl acetate. The organic layers were combined and dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated under vacuum to give 92.8 g (84%) of ethyl 2-[5-methyl-2H,3H,5H-furo[2,3-f]indol-7-yl]-2-oxoacetate (4) as a light yellow solid.

[0062] 1H MR (300 MHz, DMSO-d6): δ 8.28 (s, 4H), 7.56 (s, 4H), 7.27 (s, 4H), 6.17 (s, 1H), 6.08 (s, 8H), 4.35 (q, J = 7.1 Hz, 7H), 3.85 (s, 11H), 3.35 (s, 2H), 1.35 (t, J = 7.1 Hz, 11H), 1.25 (s, 2H).

Synthesis of Intermediate 5

5

[0063] Into a 10-L 4-necked round-bottom flask was placed 2-bromo-4-fluorophenol (500 g, 2.62 mol, 1.00 equiv), N,N-dimethylformamide (5 L), potassium carbonate (1253 g, 9.07 mol, 3.46 equiv), and ethyl (2E)-4-bromobut-2-enoate (1010 g, 5.23 mol, 2.00 equiv). The resulting solution was stirred for 12 h at room temperature. The solids were collected by filtration. The reaction was then quenched by the addition of 15 L of water and extracted with 3×10 L of ethyl acetate. The organic layers were combined and washed with 4×20 L of brine. The mixture was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated under vacuum. The residue was applied onto a silica gel column with ethyl acetate/petroleum ether (1/20). The collected fractions were combined and concentrated under vacuum to give 500 g (63%) of ethyl (2E)-4-(2-bromo-4-fluorophenoxy)but-2-enoate (5) as a white solid.

Synthesis of Intermediate 6

[0064] Into a 2-L 3 -necked round-bottom flask, purged and maintained with an inert atmosphere of nitrogen, was placed ethyl (2E)-4-(2-bromo-4-fluorophenoxy)but-2-enoate (125 g, 412.37 mmol, 1.00 equiv), benzyltri ethyl azanium chloride (99 g, 434.64 mmol, 1.05 equiv), sodium formate dihydrate (45.1 g), Pd(OAc)₂ (2.9 g, 12.92 mmol, 0.03 equiv), sodium carbonate (92 g, 868.01 mmol, 2.10 equiv), and N,N-dimethylformamide (1.25 L). The resulting solution was stirred for 12 h at 80°C. The reaction repeated four times. The reaction mixtures were combined and the solids were filtrated out. The filtrate was diluted with 10 L of brine and extracted with 3×5 L of ethyl acetate. The organic layers were combined and washed with 4×6 L of brine. The mixture was dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated under vacuum. The residue was applied onto a silica gel column with ethyl acetate/petroleum ether (1/20). The collected fractions were combined and concentrated under vacuum. This resulted in 258 g (crude) of ethyl 2-(5-fluoro-l-benzofuran-3-yl)acetate (6) as light yellow oil.

Synthesis of Intermediate 7

7

[0065] Into a 5-L round-bottom flask was placed ethyl 2-(5-fluoro-l-benzofuran-3-yl)acetate (147 g, 661.53 mmol, 1.00 equiv), methanol (1 L), tetrahydrofuran (1 L), water (1 L), and Li OH (47.7 g, 1.99 mol, 3.01 equiv). The resulting solution was stirred for 3 h at room temperature. The reaction repeated twice. The mixture was concentrated under vacuum and then extracted with 1 L of dichloromethane. The aqueous layer was collected and the pH of the layer was adjust to 1-3 by hydrogen chloride (1 mol/L). The resulting solution was extracted with 3×1 L of ethyl acetate and the combined organic layers were dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated under vacuum. This resulted in 160 g (62%) of 2-(5-fluoro-l-benzofuran-3-yl)acetic acid (7) as a white solid.

Synthesis of Intermediate 8

[0066] Into a 10-L round-bottom flask was placed 2-(5-fluoro-l-benzofuran-3-yl) acetic acid (160 g, 824.1 mmol, 1.00 equiv), H4C1 (436 g, 8.16 mol, 9.89 equiv), N,N-dimethylformamide (6L), DIEA (1064 g, 8.24 mol, 9.99 equiv), and HATU (376 g, 988.88 mmol, 1.20 equiv). The resulting solution was stirred for 12 h at room temperature. The resulting solution was diluted with 10 L of water. The solids were collected by filtration to give in 126 g (78%) of 2-(5-fluoro-l-benzofuran-3-yl) acetamide (8) as a white solid.

Synthesis of 9-ING-41 in cr stalline Form I

8 9-ING-41

[0067] t-BuOK (1200 mL, 1 mol/L in THF) was added dropwise into a solution of ethyl 2-[5-methyl-2H,3H,5H-furo[2,3-f]indol-7-yl]-2-oxoacetate (100 g, 365.9 mmol, 1.00 equiv), 2-(5-fluoro-l-benzofuran-3-yl)acetamide (72 g, 372.7 mmol, 1.02 equiv) in tetrahydrofuran (3 L) at 0°C under nitrogen. The reaction was stirred for 2h at room temperature. The reaction was cooled to 0°C and poured into of 2 L of H4C1 (saturated solution in water) and extracted with 4×2 L of dichloromethane. The organic layers were combined, dried over anhydrous sodium sulfate and concentrated under vacuum. The residue was applied onto a silica gel column with ethyl acetate/dichloromethane/petroleum ether (1/1/5). The collected fractions were combined and concentrated under vacuum to give 107.9 g (74%) of 3-(5-fluoro-l-benzofuran-3-yl)-4-[5-methyl-2H,5H-[l,3]dioxolo[4,5-f]indol-7-yl]-2,5-dihydro-lH-pyrrole-2,5-dione as a red solid. This red solid is 9-ING-41 crystalline Form I. MS-ESI: [M+H]+ = 405.