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KRAS is genomically altered in about one third of all human tumors. Due to its central role in oncogenesis, many attempts have been made in the last four decades to drug mutant KRAS, either directly or indirectly. Despite recent advances in targeting KRAS using small molecule inhibitors, the majority of KRAS alterations do not yet have an existing targeted therapy, and where inhibitors are available, resistance rapidly emerges. Thus, novel approaches to drugging KRAS are needed. Eliminating mutant KRAS using a targeted protein degradation approach may lead to superior efficacy relative to inhibiting the protein. KRAS PROTAC® degraders that selectively target the G12D mutant form of KRAS were identified and profiled in KRAS-dependent cancer models. In vitro, PROTAC degraders targeting the G12D mutant degrade KRAS with picomolar potency, robustly suppress MAPK and PI3K/AKT signaling, induce apoptosis, and have antiproliferative activity that is superior to known inhibitors. These molecules are selective for mutant KRAS G12D, neither degrading wild-type KRAS nor the related isoforms HRAS and NRAS. In vivo, these degraders can eliminate >95% of mutant KRAS from relevant xenograft models, induce apoptosis, and lead to tumor regression. Consistent with the extended pharmacodynamics often observed with PROTAC degraders, a single dose of a G12D PROTAC results in prolonged KRAS degradation and significant pERK suppression up to one week after administration. Combined, these data show that degrading mutant KRAS G12D in tumors is highly efficacious and may have advantages over inhibition, making it an exciting potential new approach for the treatment of KRAS mutant cancers. Citation Format: Kathryn Smith, Andrea Lopez-Arroyo, Jason Berk, Peter Hegan, Peter Nower, Samantha Tice, Aurelie Moutran, Jennifer Pizzano, Amanda Dowtin, Mark Bookbinder, Elizabeth Bortolon, Greg Cadelina, Fazlul Karim, Katie Digianantonio, Miklos Bekes, Jesus Medina. KRAS-targeted PROTAC degraders are broadly efficacious against KRAS-dependent tumor models [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference: Targeting RAS; 2023 Mar 5-8; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Mol Cancer Res 2023;21(5_Suppl):Abstract nr PR09.

ARV-471 is a selective, orally bioavailable PROteolysis-TArgeting Chimera (PROTAC®) small molecule that induces wild-type and mutant estrogen receptor (ER) alpha degradation via the ubiquitin-proteasome system. ARV-471 demonstrates superior ER degradation and antitumor activity compared to fulvestrant in endocrine sensitive and resistant xenograft models and has shown significant ER degradation and promising clinical benefit in late-line ER+ breast cancer patients. Dual pathway inhibition combining ER targeting agents with CDK4/6 or PIK3CA/mTOR pathway inhibitors is now a central strategy for treatment of advanced ER+ breast cancer. However, resistance to aromatase inhibitors resulting from ESR1 gene mutations, suboptimal ER degradation and the intramuscular route of administration of fulvestrant underscore a need for superior orally bioavailable endocrine therapy backbones for these combinations. Here, we assessed the effects of ARV-471 in combination with CDK4/6 or PIK3CA/mTOR pathway inhibitors in preclinical models of ER+ breast cancer. In vitro studies revealed evidence of synergistic interactions between ARV-471 and the CDK4/6 inhibitors abemaciclib and ribociclib, the mTOR inhibitor everolimus, or the PIK3CA inhibitors alpelisib and inavolisib in ER+ breast cancer cells. Evidence of synergistic effects between ARV-471 and everolimus was also observed in ER+ breast cancer cells expressing ER Y537S or D538G mutations. ARV-471 in combination with CDK4/6, PIK3CA or mTOR inhibitors led to tumor regressions in MCF7 xenografts when compared to single agents alone. ARV-471 also displayed greater anti-tumor activity in combination with abemaciclib, ribociclib or inavolisib than that observed with fulvestrant in combination with these agents. Taken together, these data suggest the potential utility of ARV-471 as a combination partner for clinically relevant targeted agents for treatment of early and late-stage ER+ disease. Citation Format: Jessica Teh, Elizabeth Bortolon, Jennifer Pizzano, Melissa Pannone, Sean Landrette, Richard Gedrich, Ian Taylor. Enhanced efficacy of ARV-471, a novel PROTAC® estrogen receptor degrader, in combination with targeted agents in estrogen receptor-positive (ER+) breast cancer models [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 3075.

ARV-471 is an orally bioavailable cereblon (CRBN)-based PROteolysis-TArgeting Chimera (PROTAC®) small molecule that demonstrates superior ER degradation and anti-tumor activity compared to fulvestrant in endocrine sensitive and resistant xenograft models and has shown significant ER degradation and promising clinical benefit in late-line ER-positive breast cancer patients. Innate and acquired drug resistance limits the response to and durability of many cancer therapies. To identify potential mechanisms of resistance to ARV-471, we generated ARV-471-resistant MCF7 cell lines which were then characterized using DNA, RNA and functional proteomic profiling. Acquired resistance to ARV-471 was associated with downregulation of ER protein expression and signaling and upregulation of HER family (EGFR, HER2, HER3) and MAPK/AKT signaling. NRAS copy number gain was also observed, which was accompanied by increased NRAS expression. Although EGFR, HER2 and HER3 expression and activation were upregulated, no corresponding genomic alterations were observed in resistant cells. Importantly, we show that NRAS and EGFR overexpression in MCF7 cells conferred resistance to ARV-471 in vitro. Furthermore, ARV-471-resistant cells with HER pathway upregulation were sensitive to EGFR and pan-HER inhibitors. Unlike recent reports indicating the association of E3 ligase alterations with PROTAC resistance, CRBN mutations/loss were not detected, nor were ESR1 mutations. CRBN knockout in ER+ breast cancer cells did not confer resistance to ARV-471, consistent with ARV-471 possessing ER antagonist activity independent of its degrader activity. Together, these data suggest that acquired resistance to ARV-471 may be associated with alterations within Receptor Tyrosine Kinase/MAPK signaling pathways rather than ER signaling or E3 ligase machinery. Citation Format: Jessica Teh, Shannon Bessonett, Wendy Wu, Christopher Kuhlberg, Alissa Wynne, Sean Landrette, Monica Andreoli, Elizabeth Bortolon, Jennifer Pizzano, Richard Gedrich, Ian Taylor. Mechanisms of acquired resistance to ARV-471, a novel PROTAC® estrogen receptor degrader [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2023; Part 1 (Regular and Invited Abstracts); 2023 Apr 14-19; Orlando, FL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2023;83(7_Suppl):Abstract nr 432.

ARV-471, an estrogen receptor (ER) alpha PROTAC® protein degrader, is a hetero-bifunctional molecule that facilitates the interactions between estrogen receptor alpha and an intracellular E3 ligase complex, leading to the ubiquitylation and subsequent degradation of estrogen receptors via the proteasome. ARV-471 robustly degrades ER in ER-positive breast cancer cell lines with a half-maximal degradation concentration (DC50) of ~ 1 nM. PROTAC® mediated ER degradation decreases the expression of classically regulated ER-target genes and inhibits cell proliferation of ER-dependent cell lines (MCF7, T47D). Additionally, ARV-471 degrades clinically relevant ESR1 variants (Y537S and D538G) and inhibits growth of cell lines expressing those variants. In an immature rat uterotrophic model, ARV-471 degrades rat uterine ER and demonstrates no agonist activity. Daily, oral-administration of single agent ARV-471 (3, 10, and 30 mpk) leads to significant anti-tumor activity of estradiol-dependent MCF7 xenografts and concomitant tumor ER protein reductions of >90% at study termination. Moreover, when a CDK4/6 inhibitor is combined with ARV-471 in the MCF7 model, even more pronounced tumor growth inhibition is observed (131% TGI), accompanied by significant reductions in ER protein levels. In an ESR1 Y537S, hormone-independent patient-derived xenograft model, ARV-471 at 10 mpk completely inhibited growth and also significantly reduced mutant ER protein levels. Taken together, the preclinical data of ARV-471 supports its continued development as a best-in-class oral ER PROTAC® protein degrader. These preclinical data supported the clinical development of ARV-471 for the treatment of patients with breast cancer. The discovery, chemical structure and initial clinical data of ARV-471 will be presented. Citation Format: Lawrence B. Snyder, John J. Flanagan, Yimin Qian, Sheryl M. Gough, Monica Andreoli, Mark Bookbinder, Gregory Cadelina, John Bradley, Emma Rousseau, Julian Chandler, Ryan Willard, Jennifer Pizzano, Craig M. Crews, Andrew P. Crew, John Houston, Marcia Dougan Moore, Ron Peck, Ian Taylor. The discovery of ARV-471, an orally bioavailable estrogen receptor degrading PROTAC for the treatment of patients with breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 44.

Prostate cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States. The androgen receptor (AR) plays critical roles in both early disease and advanced prostate cancer. Current therapeutic approaches targeting the androgen/AR axis are initially effective, but castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) inevitably develops. CRPC is tightly linked with increased AR activity via gene overexpression, amplification, and gain-of-function mutations. To address these mechanisms of AR-dependent prostate tumor growth, we have developed a novel therapeutic agent, ARV-110, a proteolysis targeting chimera (PROTAC®) that induces a protein-protein interaction between the AR and E3 ubiquitin ligase complexes, leading to the ubiquitination of AR and its subsequent degradation via the proteasome. In vitro, ARV-110 robustly degrades AR in various prostate cancer cell lines with a half-maximal degradation concentration (DC50) of ~1 nM. Whole cell lysate proteomics and ubiquitin proteomics demonstrated high selectivity for AR in VCaP cells. ARV-110 potently downregulates androgen responsive genes, inhibits proliferation and induces apoptosis in AR dependent prostate cancer cells. In vivo, ARV-110 is orally bioavailable and robustly degrades AR with a >90% observed maximum degradation (Dmax) at efficacious doses. ARV-110 significantly and dose-dependently inhibits tumor growth in murine LNCaP and VCaP xenograft models, including enzalutamide-resistant VCaP and enzalutamide-insensitive patient-derived xenograft models. These preclinical data supported the clinical development of ARV-110 for the treatment of men with metastatic CRPC. The discovery, chemical structure and initial clinical data of ARV-110 will be presented Citation Format: Lawrence B. Snyder, Taavi K. Neklesa, Xin Chen, Hanqing Dong, Caterina Ferraro, Deborah A. Gordon, Jennifer Macaluso, Jennifer Pizzano, Jing Wang, Ryan R. Willard, Nicholas Vitale, Ron Peck, Marcia Dougan Moore, Craig M. Crews, John Houston, Andrew P. Crew, Ian Taylor. Discovery of ARV-110, a first in class androgen receptor degrading PROTAC for the treatment of men with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 43.

The mammalian SWI/SNF complex catalyzes the remodeling of chromatin through the helicase activity of two mutually-exclusive, paralogous subunits, BRG1 and BRM. BRG1 is frequently mutated in cancer and its inactivation results in a cellular dependence on BRM. Despite the attractiveness of BRM as a synthetic lethal therapeutic target, the selective inhibition of BRM represents a considerable challenge due to the high degree of homology between BRM and BRG1. Furthermore, published data indicate that achieving such selectivity is likely essential to afford an acceptable therapeutic index. We sought to mimic the synthetic lethality observed in BRG1-mutant cancers by identifying proteolysis-targeting chimera (PROTAC®) molecules capable of selectively degrading BRM via trimeric complex formation with the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) E3 ligase. In this disclosure, we report our initial discovery of potent and selective chimeric BRM-degrader molecules which exhibit BRM DC50 values 25. Importantly, selective BRM degradation can be achieved in the absence of selective PROTAC® binding (BRG1/BRM Kd ratios Citation Format: Michael Berlin, Jennifer Cantley, Jing Wang, Mark Bookbinder, Gregory Cadelina, Emily Chan, Huifen Chen, Xin Chen, Kim Davenport, Tharu Fernando, Debbie Gordon, Brian Hamman, Roy Haskell, Alexey Ishchenko, Donald S. Kirkpatrick, Jonathan Maher, Mark Merchant, John Moffat, Alicia Morgan, An Nguyen, Jennifer Pizzano, Connor Quinn, Christopher M. Rose, Emma Rousseau, Vijay Sethuraman, Leanna Staben, Catherine Wilson, Xiaofen Ye, Fabio Broccatelli, Robert Yauch, Peter S. Dragovich. Selective, chemically-induced degradation of BRM (SMARCA2) enables in vivo efficacy in BRG1 (SMARCA4)-deficient xenograft tumor models [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research 2020; 2020 Apr 27-28 and Jun 22-24. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(16 Suppl):Abstract nr 5687.

ARV-471, an estrogen receptor (ER) alpha PROTAC, is a hetero-bifunctional molecule that facilitates the interactions between estrogen receptor alpha and an intracellular E3 ligase complex, leading to the ubiquitylation and subsequent degradation of estrogen receptors via the proteasome. ARV-471 robustly degrades ER in ER-positive breast cancer cell lines with a half-maximal degradation concentration (DC50) of ˜ 2 nM. PROTAC-mediated ER degradation decreases the expression of classically-regulated ER-target genes (PR, GREB1, TFF) and inhibits cell proliferation of ER-dependent cell lines (MCF7, T47D). Additionally, ARV-471 degrades clinically-relevant ESR1 variants (Y537S and D538G) and inhibits growth of cell lines expressing those variants. In an immature rat uterotrophic model, ARV-471 degrades rat uterine ER and demonstrates no agonist activity. Daily, oral-administration of single agent ARV-471 (3, 10, and 30 mpk) leads to significant tumor volume regressions of estradiol-dependent MCF7 xenografts and concomitant tumor ER protein reductions of >90% at study termination. Moreover, when a CDK4/6 inhibitor is combined with ARV-471 in the MCF7 model, even more pronounced tumor growth inhibition is observed (˜130% TGI), accompanied by significant reductions in ER protein levels. In an ESR1 Y537S, hormone-independent patient-derived xenograft model, ARV-471 at 10 mpk completely inhibited growth and also reduced mutant ER protein levels. Taken together, the preclinical data of ARV-471 supports its continued development as a best-in-class oral ER PROTAC-degrader. Citation Format: Flanagan JJ, Qian Y, Gough SM, Andreoli M, Bookbinder M, Cadelina G, Bradley J, Rousseau E, Willard R, Pizzano J, Crews CM, Crew AP, Taylor I, Houston J. ARV-471, an oral estrogen receptor PROTAC degrader for breast cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2018 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2018 Dec 4-8; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2019;79(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P5-04-18.

The Androgen Receptor (AR) remains the principal driver of castration-resistant prostate cancer during the transition from a localized to metastatic disease. Most patients initially respond to inhibitors of the AR pathway, but the response is often short-lived. The majority of patients progressing on enzalutamide or abiraterone exhibit genetic alterations in the AR locus, either in the form of amplifications or point mutations in the AR gene. Given these mechanisms of resistance, our goal is to eliminate the AR protein using the PROteolysis TArgeting Chimera (PROTAC) technology. Here we report an orally bioavailable small molecule ARV-110 that leads to ubiquitination and degradation of AR. ARV-110 completely degrades AR in all cell lines tested, with an observed 50% degradation concentration (DC50) < 1 nM. PROTAC-mediated AR degradation suppresses the expression of the AR-target genes PSA and FKBP5, inhibits AR-dependent cell proliferation, and induces potent apoptosis in VCaP cells. ARV-110 degrades clinically relevant mutant AR proteins and retains activity in a high androgen environment. In mouse xenograft studies, greater than 90% AR degradation is observed at a 1 mg/kg PO QD dose. Significant inhibition of tumor growth and AR signaling can be achieved in both an intact and castrate setting. Further, ARV-110 demonstrates in vivo efficacy and reduction of oncogenic Erg protein in a long term, castrate, enzalutamide-resistant VCaP tumor model. DMPK and exploratory toxicology studies show robust oral, dose proportional drug exposure in rodent and non-rodent species. In summary, we report preclinical data on ARV-110, an orally bioavailable androgen receptor PROTAC degrader that demonstrates efficacy in enzalutamide-resistant prostate cancer. Citation Format: Taavi Neklesa, Lawrence B. Snyder, Ryan R. Willard, Nicholas Vitale, Kanak Raina, Jennifer Pizzano, Deborah Gordon, Mark Bookbinder, Jennifer Macaluso, Hanqing Dong, Zheng Liu, Caterina Ferraro, Gan Wang, Jing Wang, Craig M. Crews, John Houston, Andrew P. Crew, Ian Taylor. ARV-110: An androgen receptor PROTAC degrader for prostate cancer [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2018; 2018 Apr 14-18; Chicago, IL. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2018;78(13 Suppl):Abstract nr 5236.