Abstract 1370: ADME and toxicology profiles of first-in-class DRD2/ClpP-targeted imipridone ONC201
Authors: Morrow Sara , Tarapore Rohinton , Guo Ailan , Nej Magdalena , Fang Yunlan , Theerman Gina , Lake Leah , Stogniew Martin , Prabhu Varun V. , Allen Joshua E. 
Published: July 2021

Imipridone ONC201 is a first-in-class DRD2 antagonist and ClpP agonist that is well tolerated and induces durable tumor regressions in H3 K27M-mutant glioma patients with once weekly dosing. We evaluated the toxicology, absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion of ONC201 in animals. Repeat-dose 28-day studies with weekly oral ONC201 in rats and dogs revealed NOAELs (75 and 60 mg/kg, respectively) that represent higher dose levels compared to the 625 mg clinical dose. Genotoxicity (AMES, in vitro and in vivo micronucleus assays) assays demonstrated that ONC201 is not mutagenic at exposures above the RP2D and 2µM average Cmax in patients. The 3T3 neural red uptake assay showed ONC201 is not a phototoxin (photo-irritant factor 1.1). In embryofetal development studies, ONC201 did not lead to maternal effects in rats or rabbits and caused fetal malformations in 3/61 rabbit fetuses with daily dosing (from gestation day 7-17 or 19) at 62.5 and 25 mg/kg, respectively. A quantitative whole-body autoradiography study conducted in rats with one dose of [14C]-ONC201 showed rapidly tissue distribution peaking at 1h in most tissues and exhibiting a plasma terminal half-life of 5.6h. The endocrine, metabolic/excretory, ocular and GI tract tissues contained the highest distribution of [14C]ONC201. [14C]-ONC201 was distributed evenly across CNS substructures, including the midline region. Consistent with the uniform distribution, ONC201 displayed high permeability (23-31×10-6 cm/s, 7-700 μM) and was not a substrate of efflux transporters in Caco-2 cells (efflux ratio 0.46-0.79). ONC201 exerted inhibitory potential on MDR1- and BCRP-mediated transport at 200μM. Clinical trials with ONC201 restrict use of concomitant medications that induce or inhibit CYP enzymes, but several supportive medications can affect these enzymes. In vitro studies revealed that ONC201 is not an inducer of 7 major human CYP enzymes but does inhibit and is a substrate of CYP 2B6, 2C8, 2C9, 2C19, 2D6 and 3A4 (IC50 20-90µM). Analysis of dexamethasone, a known inducer of CYP3A4, did not show a correlation between baseline dose level and ONC201 plasma concentrations in H3 K27M-mutant glioma patients (n=22). Metabolic profiling in human hepatocytes revealed only one metabolite, ONC207, that was &gt;10% in abundance. ONC207 did not achieve an IC50 in cancer cell viability and DRD2 antagonism assays. Assaying by LC-MS/MS of plasma samples obtained from ONC201-treated H3 K27M-mutant glioma patients (n=20) confirmed the presence of ONC207 as the major metabolite. A mass balance study conducted in rats with one dose of [14C]-ONC201 showed that the main route of excretion was biliary (61.18%) via the feces (69.78%), with urine (24.99%) also contributing to overall recovery. Together, these data inform the administration of ONC201 to advanced cancer patients who often require a range of comedications and comorbidities.

Citation Format: Sara Morrow, Rohinton Tarapore, Ailan Guo, Magdalena Nej, Yunlan Fang, Gina Theerman, Leah Lake, Martin Stogniew, Varun V. Prabhu, Joshua E. Allen. ADME and toxicology profiles of first-in-class DRD2/ClpP-targeted imipridone ONC201 [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2021; 2021 Apr 10-15 and May 17-21. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2021;81(13_Suppl):Abstract nr 1370.