Discovery of novel, highly potent and selective β-hairpin mimetic CXCR4 inhibitors with excellent anti-HIV activity and pharmacokinetic profiles

Novel highly potent CXCR4 inhibitors with good pharmacokinetic properties were designed and optimized starting from the naturally occurring beta-hairpin peptide polyphemusin II. The design involved incorporating important residues from polyphemusin II into a macrocyclic template-bound beta-hairpin mimetic. Using a parallel synthesis approach, the potency and ADME properties of the mimetics were optimized in iterative cycles, resulting in the CXCR4 inhibitors POL2438 and POL3026. The inhibitory potencies of these compounds were confirmed in a series of HIV-1 invasion assays in vitro. POL3026 showed excellent plasma stability, high selectivity for CXCR4, favorable pharmacokinetic properties in the dog, and thus has the potential to become a therapeutic compound for application in the treatment of HIV infections (as an entry inhibitor), cancer (for angiogenesis suppression and inhibition of metastasis), inflammation, and in stem cell transplant therapy.