1. Academic Validation
  2. Discovery of a Cyclic Boronic Acid β-Lactamase Inhibitor (RPX7009) with Utility vs Class A Serine Carbapenemases

Discovery of a Cyclic Boronic Acid β-Lactamase Inhibitor (RPX7009) with Utility vs Class A Serine Carbapenemases

  • J Med Chem. 2015 May 14;58(9):3682-92. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5b00127.
Scott J Hecker 1 K Raja Reddy 1 Maxim Totrov 2 Gavin C Hirst 1 Olga Lomovskaya 1 David C Griffith 1 Paula King 1 Ruslan Tsivkovski 1 Dongxu Sun 1 Mojgan Sabet 1 Ziad Tarazi 1 Matthew C Clifton 3 Kateri Atkins 3 Amy Raymond 3 Kristy T Potts 3 Jan Abendroth 3 Serge H Boyer 1 Jeffrey S Loutit 1 Elizabeth E Morgan 1 Stephanie Durso 1 Michael N Dudley 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 †Rempex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., A Subsidiary of The Medicines Company, 3033 Science Park Rd., Suite 200, San Diego, California 92121, United States.
  • 2 ‡Molsoft L.L.C., 11199 Sorrento Valley Road, San Diego, California 92121, United States.
  • 3 §Beryllium, 3 Preston Court, Bedford, Massachusetts 01730, United States.
Abstract

The increasing dissemination of carbapenemases in Gram-negative bacteria has threatened the clinical usefulness of the β-lactam class of antimicrobials. A program was initiated to discover a new series of serine β-lactamase inhibitors containing a boronic acid pharmacophore, with the goal of finding a potent inhibitor of serine carbapenemase enzymes that are currently compromising the utility of the carbapenem class of antibacterials. Potential lead structures were screened in silico by modeling into the active sites of key serine β-lactamases. Promising candidate molecules were synthesized and evaluated in biochemical and whole-cell assays. Inhibitors were identified with potent inhibition of serine carbapenemases, particularly the Klebsiella pneumoniae carbapenemase (KPC), with no inhibition of mammalian serine proteases. Studies in vitro and in vivo show that RPX7009 (9f) is a broad-spectrum inhibitor, notably restoring the activity of carbapenems against KPC-producing strains. Combined with a carbapenem, 9f is a promising product for the treatment of multidrug resistant Gram-negative bacteria.

Figures
Products