Discovery of ARD-2585 as an Exceptionally Potent and Orally Active PROTAC Degrader of Androgen Receptor for the Treatment of Advanced Prostate Cancer

Abstract

We report herein the discovery of exceptionally potent and orally bioavailable PROTAC AR degraders with ARD-2585 being the most promising compound. ARD-2585 achieves DC₅₀ values of ≤0.1 nM in the VCaP cell line with AR gene amplification and in the LNCaP cell line carrying an AR mutation. It potently inhibits cell growth with IC₅₀ values of 1.5 and 16.2 nM in the VCaP and LNCaP cell lines, respectively, and achieves excellent pharmacokinetics and 51% of oral bioavailability in mice. It is more efficacious than enzalutamide in inhibition of VCaP tumor growth and does not cause any sign of toxicity in mice. ARD-2585 is a promising AR degrader for extensive investigations for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer.