Abstract LB173: Discovery of ALTA-2618, the first allosteric, mutant-selective targeted therapy for AKT1 E17K driven cancers
Authors: Murphy Eric A. , Bartberger Michael D. , Ibanez Maureen , Smith Troy T. , Alvarez Nicole , Timple Noel , Zhu Xuefeng , Fan Kevin , Yu Kevin 
Published: April 2024

BACKGROUND:

AKT1 E17K is a clinically validated oncogenic driver mutated in ~1-2% of all cancers and is enriched in several solid tumors including breast (~5%), endometrial (~3%) and prostate (~1.5%) cancer. Over half of AKT1 E17K mutant breast and gynecologic cancers are homozygous for the mutant oncogene with loss of the wildtype (WT) AKT1 allele via copy-neutral loss-of-heterozygosity (CN-LOH), suggesting uniquely potent oncogene addiction in these tumor types. While inhibitors of WT PI3K or AKT have demonstrated clinical efficacy in HR+/HER2- metastatic breast cancers with PI3K/AKT pathway mutations, on-target adverse events - most commonly hyperglycemia, diarrhea, and rash - have hindered the tolerability and durability of these agents. We aimed to exploit the mutant lysine of the E17K variant to develop a covalent, highly mutant-selective inhibitor that would avoid the toxicities associated with WT AKT inhibition.

METHODS:

Structure-based design was guided by proprietary co-crystal structures, enabling a refined pharmacophore consensus model, which fueled novel small molecule covalent design iterations using an in-house computational chemistry cluster. Lead molecules were identified from cellular signaling assays assessing pAKT S473 suppression and selectivity over WT AKT1 and AKT2. Rapid PK assessments were performed in mice, rats, dogs, and cynomolgus monkeys. Molecules with low clearance and high oral bioavailability were advanced directly to breast and endometrial PDX models driven by AKT1 E17K mutations.

RESULTS:

We identified ALTA-2618, a potent (7nM EC50) inhibitor of AKT1 E17K with 22x selectivity over WT AKT1 and 140x selectivity over WT AKT2. ALTA-2618 and related analogues demonstrated covalent attachment to the AKT1 E17K protein via intact mass spectrometry, and electron density analysis of co-crystal structures of highly similar family members of ALTA-2618 reveals unambiguous covalent attachment to the K17 side chain. Based on favorable exposure-response relationships and ideal cross-species PK, ALTA-2618 was tested in once daily oral dosing and induced tumor regressions in AKT1 E17K mutant HR+/HER2low breast cancer, TNBC, and endometrial cancer PDXs at doses as low as 10 mg/kg/d. Complete responses were observed with 30 mg/kg/d in the HR+/HER2low breast PDX model that were sustained for 60 days of dosing without significant body weight loss or hyperglycemia.

CONCLUSIONS:

ALTA-2618 is a potent, highly mutant-selective AKT1 E17K inhibitor that demonstrates favorable PK and tolerability with oral once-daily dosing that enables prolonged tumor regressions in multiple AKT1 E17K-mutant PDX models. These data support a mid-2024 IND submission to investigate ALTA-2618 in patients with AKT1 E17K mutant cancers.

Citation Format: Eric A. Murphy, Michael D. Bartberger, Maureen Ibanez, Troy T. Smith, Nicole Alvarez, Noel Timple, Xuefeng Zhu, Kevin Fan, Kevin Yu. Discovery of ALTA-2618, the first allosteric, mutant-selective targeted therapy for AKT1 E17K driven cancers [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 LB173.