Abstract 1738: JNJ-42756493 is an inhibitor of FGFR-1, 2, 3 and 4 with nanomolar affinity for targeted therapy
Authors: Perera Timothy , Jovcheva Eleanora , Vialard Jorge , Verhulst Tinne , Esser Norbert , Wroblowski Berthold , Gilissen Ron , Freyne Eddy , King Peter , Platero Suso , Querolle Olivier , Mevellec Laurence , Murray Christopher , Fazal Lynsey , Saxty Gordon , Ward George , Squires Matthew , Thompson Neil , Newell David , Angibaud Patrick 
Published: May 2015

The fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling axis is increasingly implicated in tumorigenesis and chemoresistance. Alterations in FGFR family members including focal amplification of FGF receptor 1 (FGFR1), mutations in FGFR 2, 3 and 4, translocations involving FGFR 2 and FGFR3, as well as amplification or transcriptional upregulation of various ligand family members have been associated with tumor growth and survival, suggesting that FGFR inhibitors may be a viable therapeutic option in subsets of various disease settings. A number of agents targeting the FGF signaling axis including small-molecule FGFR targeted agents, with diverse kinase inhibitory and pharmacological profiles, are currently in clinical development.

JNJ-42756493 (first disclosure of the structure) has a pharmacological profile that is differentiated from other agents in this class currently under investigation. JNJ-42756493 displays single digit nanomolar FGFR (1, 2, 3 4) tyrosine kinase inhibitory activity. JNJ-42756493 inhibited recombinant FGFR kinase activity in vitro and suppressed FGFR signaling and growth in engineered cell lines and tumor cell lines dependent upon deregulated FGFR expression. JNJ-42756493 demonstrated highly specific tumor inhibitory effects in FGFR1-4 dependent cell lines, in vitro cell lines based xenografts and direct patient derived xenografts, with no discernible activity in models that were not dependent on FGFR signaling. JNJ-42756493 showed favorable drug like properties and displayed a high distribution to lung, liver and kidney tissue. JNJ-42756493 was well tolerated at efficacious doses and resulted in potent dose-dependent antitumor activity accompanied by pharmacodynamic modulation of tumor FGFR and downstream pathway components.

Data presented here highlights JNJ-42756493 as a novel, highly potent and selective small-molecule inhibitor of all four known active FGFR kinase family members with potent antitumor activity against FGFR-dependent tumor models. These data, together with emerging observations from our ongoing Phase 1 clinical trial, position JNJ-42756493 as a differentiated FGFR 1, 2, 3 and 4 kinase inhibitor and support its continued clinical development in lung cancer and other malignancies associated with aberrant FGFR signaling.

Citation Format: Timothy Perera, Eleanora Jovcheva, Jorge Vialard, Tinne Verhulst, Norbert Esser, Berthold Wroblowski, Ron Gilissen, Eddy Freyne, Peter King, Suso Platero, Olivier Querolle, Laurence Mevellec, Christopher Murray, Lynsey Fazal, Gordon Saxty, George Ward, Matthew Squires, Neil Thompson, David Newell, Patrick Angibaud. JNJ-42756493 is an inhibitor of FGFR-1, 2, 3 and 4 with nanomolar affinity for targeted therapy. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 105th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2014 Apr 5-9; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2014;74(19 Suppl):Abstract nr 1738. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2014-1738