TAE684 (NVP-TAE684)

TAE684 does not exhibit significant cross-reactivity against other kinases. TAE684 potently inhibits the proliferation of Ba/F3 NPM-ALK cells with IC50 of 3 nM, without affecting the survival of Ba/F3 cells even at 1 μM. TAE684 also inhibits proliferation of NPM-ALK-expressing human ALCL cell lines including Karpas-299 and SU-DHL-1 with IC50 of 2–5 nM. Molecular modeling reveals that L258 may be one of the major kinase-selectivity determinants for TAE684. TAE684 treatment results in a rapid and sustained inhibition of phosphorylation of NPM-ALK. TAE684 induces apoptosis and G1 phase arrest in NPM-ALK-expressing Ba/F3 cells and ALCL patient cell lines. ^[1] TAE684 markedly overcomes Crizotinib-resistance in H3122 CR cells, harboring the fusion oncogene EML4-ALK, decreasing cell growth, suppressing ALK phosphorylation and inducing apoptosis.^[2] Neurite outgrowth induced by expression of the mALK R1279Q mutant could be completely inhibited by TAE684 at 30 nM. ^[3]

Cells are seeded in 384-well plates (2.5×10⁴ cells per well) and incubated with serial dilutions of TAE684 or DMSO for 2–3 days. Luciferase expression is used as a measure of cell proliferation/survival and is evaluated with the Bright-Glo Luciferase Assay System. IC50 values are generated by using XLFit software.

After 4 weeks of treatment with TAE684 at 3 and 10 mg/kg, there is a significant delay in lymphoma development and 100- to 1,000-fold reduction in luminescence signal, without any signs of compound- or disease-related toxicity in Karpas-299 lymphoma model. TAE684 treatment also induces disease regression in established Karpas-299 lymphomas and down-regulates CD30 expression. ^[1] TAE684 also shows impressive antitumor activity against H3122 CR xenograft tumors. ^[2] Furthermore, treatment with TAE684 improves the rough eye phenotype of both ALK mutants, especially that seen with ALKR1275Q, whereas Crizotinib has little effect on either phenotype. ^[3]