RGD Reference Report - Discovery of Tropifexor (LJN452), a Highly Potent Non-bile Acid FXR Agonist for the Treatment of Cholestatic Liver Diseases and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH). - Rat Genome Database
Discovery of Tropifexor (LJN452), a Highly Potent Non-bile Acid FXR Agonist for the Treatment of Cholestatic Liver Diseases and Nonalcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH).
Authors:
Tully, David C Rucker, Paul V Chianelli, Donatella Williams, Jennifer Vidal, Agnès Alper, Phil B Mutnick, Daniel Bursulaya, Badry Schmeits, James Wu, Xiangdong Bao, Dingjiu Zoll, Jocelyn Kim, Young Groessl, Todd McNamara, Peter Seidel, H Martin Molteni, Valentina Liu, Bo Phimister, Andrew Joseph, Sean B Laffitte, Bryan
Citation:
Tully DC, etal., J Med Chem. 2017 Dec 28;60(24):9960-9973. doi: 10.1021/acs.jmedchem.7b00907. Epub 2017 Dec 8.
The farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a nuclear receptor that acts as a master regulator of bile acid metabolism and signaling. Activation of FXR inhibits bile acid synthesis and increases bile acid conjugation, transport, and excretion, thereby protecting the liver from the harmful effects of bile accumulation, leading to considerable interest in FXR as a therapeutic target for the treatment of cholestasis and nonalcoholic steatohepatitis. We identified a novel series of highly potent non-bile acid FXR agonists that introduce a bicyclic nortropine-substituted benzothiazole carboxylic acid moiety onto a trisubstituted isoxazole scaffold. Herein, we report the discovery of 1 (tropifexor, LJN452), a novel and highly potent agonist of FXR. Potent in vivo activity was demonstrated in rodent PD models by measuring the induction of FXR target genes in various tissues. Tropifexor has advanced into phase 2 human clinical trials in patients with NASH and PBC.