Abstract ND07: BBO-8520, a first-in-class, direct inhibitor of KRASG12C (ON), locks GTP-bound KRASG12C in the state 1 conformation resulting in rapid and complete blockade of effector binding
Authors: Maciag Anna E. , Stice James , Wang Bin , Sharma Alok , Chan Albert , Lin Ken , Singh Devansh , Dyba Marcin , Yang Yue , Setoodeh Saman , Smith Brian P. , Rabara Dana , Zhang Zuhui , Larsen Erik K. , Esposito Dom , Denson John Paul , Ranieri Michela , Meynardie Mary , Mehdizadeh Sadaf , Alexander Patrick , Blanco Maria Abreu , Turner David , Xu Rui , Lightstone Felice C. , Wong Kwok Kin , Simanshu Dhirendra , Wang Keshi , Stephen Andrew G. , Sinkevicius Kerstin , Nissley Dwight V. , Wallace Eli , McCormick Frank , Beltran Pedro J. 
Published: April 2024

The glycine to cysteine mutation on codon 12 of KRAS (KRASG12C) is found in ~15% of non-small cell lung cancers and in a low percentage of colorectal and pancreatic adenocarcinomas. This activating mutation pushes the balance of cellular KRAS towards its active, GTP-bound (ON) state that signals downstream and drives cellular proliferation. Recently approved inhibitors of KRASG12C that bind and sequester the oncogenic protein in its inactive GDP-bound (OFF) state, have demonstrated clinical efficacy; however, median duration of response has been &lt; 9 months. Rapid tumor cell adaptation to KRASG12C (OFF)-only inhibitors like sotorasib and adagrasib has been attributed to reactivation of MAPK signaling through increased RTK flux and KRASG12C gene amplification that result in increased KRASG12C (ON) presence and activity. To block rapid KRASG12C (ON)-driven adaptation to KRASG12C (OFF) inhibitors, we have developed a first-in-class, direct, small molecule covalent inhibitor of both KRASG12C (ON) and (OFF) states. BBO-8520 binds in the switch II pocket and covalently modifies both the (ON) and (OFF) forms of KRASG12C independently of any other partner proteins. Mass spectrometry analysis of KRASG12C covalent engagement by BBO-8520 shows complete modification of both KRASG12C states within 15 minutes, while sotorasib and adagrasib, only modify the (OFF) state. 31P NMR studies demonstrate that BBO-8520 inhibits KRASG12C (ON) by locking the GTP-bound protein in state 1, a conformation where it is unable to bind effectors. The ability to directly bind KRASG12C (ON) leads to potent (~30 nM) inhibition in an effector (Raf1) binding assay where inactive (OFF) inhibitors demonstrate no measurable potency. BBO-8520 displays highly significant binding to KRASG12C in a global cysteine proteome analysis and is 100x more selective for KRASG12C than for WT KRAS and other mutant isoforms, with no measurable activity against N- or H-RAS. Cellular signaling and viability assays show that BBO-8520 has sub-nanomolar potency against KRASG12C mutant cell lines. In effector binding assays, BBO-8520 rapidly and completely blocks the RAS-RAF1 interaction, clearly differentiating it from inactive (OFF) inhibitors that require longer times to allow for cycling to the inactive (OFF) state. Additionally, long-term clonogenic assays that detect the emergence of resistance in the presence of inhibitors show that BBO-8520 is at least 30x more potent than sotorasib and adagrasib at preventing outgrowth. Importantly, the presence of growth factors (e.g., EGF) that push KRASG12C into its (ON) state, and significantly lower the potency of inactive (OFF) inhibitors (&gt;20x), have only minor effects on BBO-8520’s potency. Drug-like pharmacokinetic properties allow BBO-8520 to achieve strong dose- and time-dependent pharmacodynamic effects (&gt;80% inhibition of pERK) following a single, oral dose in KRASG12C mutant tumor bearing mice. In vivo target engagement and pERK inhibition in the MIAPaCa-2 and H358 KRASG12C mutant tumor models resulted in durable tumor regressions at 10 mg/kg. Similarly, daily dosing of 10 mg/kg of BBO-8520 in the KrasG12C-p53 driven GEMM model for 6 weeks resulted in better than 50% lung tumor volume regression. BBO-8520’s potent activity against KRASG12C (ON) presents, for the first time, the potential opportunity to directly target all mutant KRASG12C in cells, including the active form of KRASG12C, enabling efficacy following complete or near-complete target inhibition.

Citation Format: Anna E. Maciag, James Stice, Bin Wang, Alok Sharma, Albert Chan, Ken Lin, Devansh Singh, Marcin Dyba, Yue Yang, Saman Setoodeh, Brian P. Smith, Dana Rabara, Zuhui Zhang, Erik K. Larsen, Dom Esposito, John Paul Denson, Michela Ranieri, Mary Meynardie, Sadaf Mehdizadeh, Patrick Alexander, Maria Abreu Blanco, David Turner, Rui Xu, Felice C. Lightstone, Kwok Kin Wong, Dhirendra Simanshu, Keshi Wang, Andrew G. Stephen, Kerstin Sinkevicius, Dwight V. Nissley, Eli Wallace, Frank McCormick, Pedro J. Beltran. BBO-8520, a first-in-class, direct inhibitor of KRASG12C (ON), locks GTP-bound KRASG12C in the state 1 conformation resulting in rapid and complete blockade of effector binding [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 2 (Late-Breaking, Clinical Trial, and Invited Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(7_Suppl):Abstract nr ND07.