Discovery of new non-covalent reversible BTK inhibitors: Synthesis, in silico studies, and in vitro evaluations

Abstract

Bruton's Tyrosine Kinase (BTK) played a key role in the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) signaling pathway, and was considered a hotspot in the treatment of B cell malignant tumors and B cell immune diseases. There were 5 covalent irreversible inhibitors launched currently on the market, but C481S mutation was detected in most patients after administration. The approval of Pirtobrutinib (Jaypirca) by FDA in 2023 aroused great interest in the development of non-covalent and reversible BTK inhibitors. In order to solve the resistance of covalent irreversible inhibitors caused by C481S mutation, 11 reversible BTK inhibitors were designed based on screening in this article. The design, synthesis, in silico studies, and in vitro evaluations were performed for further verification. Among them, compound WS-11 showed best activity with IC₅₀ of 3.9 nM for wild type, 2.2 nM for C481S mutation BTK, which was comparable to the positive control Pirtobrutinib. Furthermore, WS-11 would have a good druglikeness properties predicted by pkCSM and SwissADME, which provided a promising lead for further optimization and development.