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PURPOSE: Although most pharmaceutical companies and bio-ventures have not yet created a practical business model or a credible exit thus far, most are expecting potential new business to be derived from regenerative medicine. This article discusses and proposes some ideas regarding a patent strategy for regenerative medicine. METHODS: PubMed literature searches were conducted to identify recent reports relevant to regenerative medicine. Information regarding patents and patent applications were obtained from the database service of the Japan Platform for Patent Information on the website of the National Center for Industrial Property Information and Training at https://www.j-platpat.inpit.go.jp/web/all/top/BTmTopEnglishPage and the Japan Patent Office at https://www.jpo.go.jp/index.htm. FINDINGS: The infrastructure of regenerative medicine in Japan is still maturing. Patent protection is important in regenerative medicine considering its special characteristics. IMPLICATIONS: Based on the understanding of the special characteristics of regenerative medicine, this article discusses and proposes some ideas regarding a patent strategy for the field, which is different from that of a typical patent strategy as in the case of a small-molecule drug.

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Bioorthogonal labeling of antibodies enables the conjugation of compounds, such as small molecules or peptides, which expand targeting capacity or enhance cytotoxicity. Taking advantage of a cyclohexene sulfonamide compound that site-selectively labels Lys64 in human serum albumin (HSA), we demonstrate that domain I of HSA can be used as a fusion protein for the preparation of antibody conjugates. Trastuzumab fusions were expressed at the N-terminus of the light chain or the C-terminus of the heavy chain enabling conjugation to small molecules. Moreover, these conjugates retained HER2 binding and proved to be highly stable in human plasma. Antibody conjugation via HSA domain I fusion should therefore have broad utility for making serum-stable antibody conjugates, particularly for antibody-drug conjugates.

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Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play important roles in the innate immune system. In fact, recognition of endogenous immune complexes containing self-nucleic acids as pathogen- or damage-associated molecular patterns contributes to certain autoimmune diseases, and inhibition of these recognition signals is expected to have therapeutic value. We identified dihydropyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidines as novel selective TLR9 antagonists with high aqueous solubility. A structure-activity relationship study of a known TLR9 antagonist led to the promising compound 18, which showed potent TLR9 antagonistic activity, sufficient aqueous solubility for parenteral formulation, and druggable properties. Compound 18 suppressed the production of the proinflammatory cytokine IL-6 in CpG-induced mouse model. It is therefore believed that compound 18 has great potential in the treatment of TLR9-mediated systemic uncontrollable inflammatory response like sepsis.

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Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1 (IDO1) is considered as a promising target for the treatment of several diseases, including neurological disorders and cancer. We report here the crystal structures of two IDO1/IDO1 inhibitor complexes, one of which shows that Amg-1 is directly bound to the heme iron of IDO1 with a clear induced fit. We also describe the identification and preliminary optimization of imidazothiazole derivatives as novel IDO1 inhibitors. Using our crystal structure information and structure-activity relationships (SAR) at the pocket-B of IDO1, we found a series of urea derivatives as potent IDO1 inhibitors and revealed that generation of an induced fit and the resulting interaction with Phe226 and Arg231 are essential for potent IDO1 inhibitory activity. The results of this study are very valuable for understanding the mechanism of IDO1 activation, which is very important for structure-based drug design (SBDD) to discover potent IDO1 inhibitors.

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Conjugation to human serum albumin (HSA) has emerged as a powerful approach for extending the in vivo half-life of many small molecule and peptide/protein drugs. Current HSA conjugation strategies, however, can often yield heterogeneous mixtures with inadequate pharmacokinetics, low efficacies, and variable safety profiles. Here, we designed and synthesized analogues of TAK-242, a small molecule inhibitor of Toll-like receptor 4, that primarily reacted with a single lysine residue of HSA. These TAK-242-based cyclohexene compounds demonstrated robust reactivity, and Lys64 was identified as the primary conjugation site. A bivalent HSA conjugate was also prepared in a site-specific manner. Additionally, HSA-cyclohexene conjugates maintained higher levels of stability both in human plasma and in mice than the corresponding maleimide conjugates. This new conjugation strategy promises to broadly enhance the performance of HSA conjugates for numerous applications.

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Current routes for synthesizing antibody-drug conjugates commonly rely on maleimide linkers to react with cysteine thiols. However, thioether exchange with metabolites and serum proteins can compromise conjugate stability and diminish in vivo efficacy. We report the application of a phenyloxadiazole sulfone linker for the preparation of trastuzumab conjugates. This sulfone linker site-specifically labeled engineered cysteine residues in THIOMABs and improved antibody conjugate stability in human plasma at sites previously shown to be labile for maleimide conjugates. Similarly, sulfone conjugation with selenocysteine in an anti-ROR1 scFv-Fc improved human plasma stability relative to maleimide conjugation. Kinetically controlled labeling of a THIOMAB containing two cysteine substitutions was also achieved, offering a strategy for producing antibody conjugates with expanded valency.

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CCR5 antagonists are among the most advanced approaches in HIV therapy and may also be relevant to treatment of graft-versus-host disease and Staphylococcus aureus infection. To expand the potential of the only approved CCR5 antagonist, Maraviroc, we studied derivatives that would enable functional linkage of Maraviroc to long-lived carriers. Through targeted synthesis, we discovered an effective linkage site on Maraviroc and demonstrate the potential of these derivatives to prepare potent chemically programmed antibodies and PEGylated derivatives. The resulting compounds effectively neutralized a variety of HIV-1 isolates. Both chemically programmed antibody and PEGylation approaches extend the neutralization activity of serum circulating Maraviroc. Derivation of a successful conjugation strategy for Maraviroc should further enable its use in chemically programmed vaccines, novel bispecific antibodies, and topical microbicides.

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Based on the structure activity relationship of 2-(4-phenoxybenzoyl)-5-hydroxyindole (1), a novel structural class of Ca²âº/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) inhibitors were synthesized. We show in this study that the acidic proton at the N(1)-position of the indole moiety is not essential for CaMKII inhibitory activity. Among the synthesized compounds, we found the benzofuran and benzothiazole derivative as promising scaffolds for the developement of potent CaMKII inhibitors. In particular, compounds 8 and 14 inhibited CaMKII with IC50 values of 24 nM and 32 nM, respectively.

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Based on 2-(4-phenoxybenzoyl)-5-hydroxyindole (2), a novel structural class of CaMKII inhibitors were synthesized and further optimized. The strong acidity of the hydroxyl group and the lipophilic group at the 4 and 6-positions were found to be necessary for strong CaMKII inhibition. Compound 25 was identified as a promising compound with 50-fold more potent inhibitory activity for CaMKII than 2. Compound 25 also showed high selectivity for CaMKII over off-target kinases.

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A series of novel 2-substituted-5-hydroxyindoles were synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory activity against CaMKII. Structure and activity relationship results indicated that potent inhibitory activity could be achieved by modification at the para-position of the phenyl ring of the high throughput screening hit compound 2. Among the prepared compounds, we identified 14 as a novel CaMKII inhibitor with an activity stronger than that of KN-93, a known CaMKII inhibitor.

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A novel series of 5,6,7,8-tetrahydropyrido[4,3-d]pyrimidines containing substituted phenyl sulfonamide are synthesized and evaluated for their inhibitory activity against CaMKII. Substituents on the phenyl group had significant impact on CaMKII inhibition, in particular, the inhibitory activity of 8p was 25-fold higher than that of KN-93, a known CaMKII inhibitor. Michaelis-Menten analysis of a representative compound suggested that the synthesized pyrimidines are calmodulin non-competitive inhibitors. Finally, 8p exhibited more than 100-fold higher selectivity for CaMKII over five types of off-target kinases.

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We have previously reported compound 2 as a inhibitor of acyl-coenzyme A:cholesterol O-acyltransferase (ACAT) and up-regulator of the low density lipoprotein receptor (LDL-R) expression. In this study we focused on compound 2, a unique LDL-R up-regulator, and describe the discovery of a novel class of up-regulators of LDL-R. Replacement the methylene urea linker in compound 2 with an acylsulfonamide linker kept a potent LDL-R up-regulatory activity, and subsequent optimization work gave compound 39 as a highly potent LDL-R up-regulator (39; EC(25) = 0.047 microM). Compound 39 showed no ACAT inhibitory activity even at 1 microM. The sodium salts of compound 39 reduced plasma total and LDL cholesterol levels in a dose-dependent manner in an experimental animal model of hyperlipidemia. Moreover, we revealed in this study using RNA interference that autosomal recessive hypercholesterolemia (ARH), an adaptor protein of LDL-R, is essential for compound 39 up-regulation of LDL-R expression.

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Based on 1,4-diarylpiperidine-4-methylureas, a new class of ACAT inhibitors, we examined in the study the SAR of a series of compounds prepared by replacing the substituent at the three aromatic parts. Introduction of long alkoxy group onto the phenyl moiety at the B-part was effective in improving both the inhibitory activity for ACAT and the up-regulatory activity for LDL-R expression. Particularly, 3-hydroxypropoxy group (43) on the phenyl moiety of B-part led to improved solubility, while keeping both biological activities. Compound 43 inhibited ACAT activity with an IC(50) value of 18 nM, which is superior to that of a known ACAT inhibitor, CI-1011. In addition, compound 43 revealed an LDL-R up-regulatory activity comparable to that of SMP-797. We therefore expect this compound to be a novel ACAT inhibitor.

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A family of 1,4-diarylpiperidine-4-methylureas were designed and synthesized as novel dual effectors on ACAT and LDL receptor expression. We examined SAR of the synthesized compounds focusing on substitution at the three aromatic parts of the starting compound 1 and succeeded in identifying essential substituents for inhibition of ACAT and up-regulation of hepatic LDL receptor expression. Especially, we found that compound 12f, which can easily be prepared, has biological properties comparable to those of SMP-797, a promising ACAT inhibitor. In addition, the in vitro effects of 12f on lipid metabolism were substantially superior to those of a known ACAT inhibitor, Avasimibe.

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We identified new lead candidates which showed potent dual inhibition against phosphodiesterase-1 and 5 by a ligand-based virtual screening optimized for lead evolution. This virtual screening method, consisting of classification and regression tree analysis using 168 2-center pharmacophore descriptors and 12 macroscopic descriptors, demonstrated a high predictive ability for bioactivity of new chemical compounds. The obtained lead candidates were structurally diverse, although only the structure-activity relationship data of hydroxamic acid derivatives were used to configure the prediction model for the virtual screening.

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