Abstract ND05: The discovery of ARV-393, a potent, orally bioavailable BCL6 targeting PROTAC® for the treatment of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma

Abstract

Abstract Discovery of ARV-393, a potent, orally bioavailable BCL6 targeting PROTAC® for the treatment of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (NHL)Dan Sherman, Sheryl M. Gough, Lynn DeCarr, Sarah Eaton, Mark Bookbinder, Jennifer Pizzano, Elizabeth Bortolon, John Corradi, Rashaun Wilson, Daniel Rogoz, Ram Lingamaneni, Wei Zhang, Michelle Zhang, Xin Chen, Gan Wang, Hanqing Dong, Michael Berlin, Keith R. Hornberger, Lawrence Snyder, Achal Pashine and Ian Taylor. Arvinas, Inc., 5 Science Park, New Haven, CT, USA. Approximately 18,000 cases of Diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) are diagnosed worldwide per year making this cancer the most prevalent (30%) of the non-Hodgkin’s Lymphomas (NHL). Despite the success of R-CHOP treatment, approximately 40% of patients are refractory or relapse. While much progress has been made with CAR-Ts and bi-specific antibodies following frontline therapy in recent years, there remains a need for an orally bioavailable small-molecule that targets molecular drivers of NHL. The BCL6 transcription factor has long been known as an oncogenic driver of B-cell malignancy. The BCL6 gene has been found to be translocated and/or mutated resulting in deregulation of its expression, predominantly in DLBCL and Burkitt’s lymphoma (BL). The deregulated expression and scaffolding role of BCL6 in the transcriptional repressor complex make it an ideal target for the PROteolysis Targeting Chimera (PROTAC®) technology with one BCL6 degrader recently entering Phase 1 trials. We undertook a medicinal chemistry campaign to identify a BCL6-targeting PROTAC®. This effort identified ARV-393, an orally bioavailable PROTAC® that recruits BCL6 and the E3 ligase cereblon to rapidly degrade BCL6 via the cell’s natural ubiquitin proteasome system. ARV-393 is potent, demonstrating DC50 and GI50 values <1 nM in numerous DLBCL and BL cell lines. This agent demonstrates deep BCL6 degradation in vitro and in vivo, resulting in excellent TGI in several tumor xenograft models supporting a first-in-human trial in 1H 2024. We will present the chemical structure of ARV-393 and selected pre-clinical data. Citation Format: Dan Sherman. The discovery of ARV-393, a potent, orally bioavailable BCL6 targeting PROTAC® for the treatment of Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 2 (Late-Breaking, Clinical Trial, and Invited Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(7_Suppl):Abstract nr ND05.