Enhancing the Pharmacokinetics and Antitumor Activity of an α-Amanitin-Based Small-Molecule Drug Conjugate via Conjugation with an Fc Domain.

Francesca Gallo, Barbara Korsak, Christoph Müller, Torsten Hechler, Desislava Yanakieva, Olga Avrutina, Harald Kolmar, Andreas Pahl

Journal of medicinal chemistry 2021 Apr 08

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Herein we describe the design and biological evaluation of a novel antitumor therapeutic platform that combines the most favorable properties of small-molecule drug conjugates (SMDCs) and antibody drug conjugates (ADCs). Although the small size of SMDCs, compared to ADCs, is an appealing feature for their application in the treatment of solid tumors, SMDCs usually suffer from poor pharmacokinetics, which severely limits their therapeutic efficacy. To overcome this limitation, in this proof-of-concept study we grafted an α-amanitin-based SMDC that targets prostate cancer cells onto an immunoglobulin Fc domain via a two-step "program and arm" chemoenzymatic strategy. We demonstrated the superior pharmacokinetic properties and therapeutic efficacy of the resulting Fc-SMDC over the SMDC in a prostate cancer xenograft mouse model. This approach may provide a general strategy toward effective antitumor therapeutics combining small size with pharmacokinetic properties close to those of an ADC.

Citation

Francesca Gallo, Barbara Korsak, Christoph Müller, Torsten Hechler, Desislava Yanakieva, Olga Avrutina, Harald Kolmar, Andreas Pahl. Enhancing the Pharmacokinetics and Antitumor Activity of an α-Amanitin-Based Small-Molecule Drug Conjugate via Conjugation with an Fc Domain. Journal of medicinal chemistry. 2021 Apr 08;64(7):4117-4129