Discovery of Phthalazinone Derivatives as Novel Hepatitis B Virus Capsid Inhibitors

J Med Chem. 2020 Aug 13;63(15):8134-8145. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.0c00346. Epub 2020 Jul 21.

Abstract

HBV capsid assembly has been viewed as an attractive target for new antiviral therapies against HBV. On the basis of a lead compound 4r, we further investigated this target to identify novel active compounds with appropriate anti-HBV potencies and improved pharmacokinetic (PK) properties. Structure-activity relationship studies based on metabolic pathways of 4r led to the identification of a phthalazinone derivative 19f with appropriate anti-HBV potencies (IC50 = 0.014 ± 0.004 μM in vitro), which demonstrated high oral bioavailability and liver exposure. In the AAV-HBV/mouse model, administration of 19f resulted in a 2.67 log reduction of the HBV DNA viral load during a 4-week treatment with 150 mg/kg dosing twice daily.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antiviral Agents / chemistry*
  • Antiviral Agents / pharmacology
  • Capsid / drug effects*
  • Capsid / physiology
  • Dogs
  • Drug Discovery / methods*
  • Haplorhini
  • Hep G2 Cells
  • Hepatitis B virus / drug effects*
  • Hepatitis B virus / physiology
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C
  • Mice, Inbred ICR
  • Microsomes, Liver / drug effects
  • Microsomes, Liver / metabolism
  • Phthalazines / chemistry*
  • Phthalazines / pharmacology
  • Rats

Substances

  • Antiviral Agents
  • Phthalazines