AZD1208

IC50: 0.4 nM for Pim-1, 5.0 nM for Pim-2, and 1.9 nM for Pim-3

Upregulation of Pim kinases has been observed in several types of leukemias and lymphomas. Pim-1, -2, and -3 promote cell proliferation and survival downstream of cytokine and growth factor signaling pathways. AZD1208 is a potent, highly selective, and orally available Pim kinase inhibitor.

In vitro: AZD1208 inhibited the growth of 5 of 14 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines tested. In MOLM-16 cells, AZD1208 also causes cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, accompanied by a dose-dependent reduction in phosphorylation of Bcl-2 antagonist of cell death [1].

In vivo: AZD1208 inhibits the growth of KG-1a and MOLM-16 xenograft tumors in vivo with a clear PK/PD relationship. Treatment with 10 mg/kg or 30 mg/kg of AZD1208 led to an 89% tumor growth inhibition or slight regression, respectively [1].

Clinical trials: AZD1208 is in Phase I trials evaluating the safety and tolerability profile and to determine the maximum tolerated dose (MTD). There are two ongoing trials where AZD1208 has been orally administered in AML and solid tumor (of all types) patients

Reference:
[1] Keeton EK, McEachern K, Dillman KS, Palakurthi S, Cao Y, Grondine MR, Kaur S, Wang S, Chen Y, Wu A, Shen M, Gibbons FD, Lamb ML, Zheng X, Stone RM, Deangelo DJ, Platanias LC, Dakin LA, Chen H, Lyne PD, Huszar D.   AZD1208, a potent and selective pan-Pim kinase inhibitor, demonstrates efficacy in preclinical models of acute myeloid leukemia. Blood. 2014;123(6):905-13.

Loss of PIM2 enhances the anti-proliferative effect of the pan-PIM kinase inhibitor AZD1208 in non-Hodgkin lymphomas.[Pubmed:26643319]

Mol Cancer. 2015 Dec 8;14:205.

BACKGROUND: A promising therapeutic approach for aggressive B-cell Non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL), including diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL), and Burkitt lymphoma (BL) is to target kinases involved in signal transduction and gene regulation. PIM1/2 serine/threonine kinases are highly expressed in activated B-cell-like DLBCL (ABC-DLBCL) with poor prognosis. In addition, both PIM kinases have a reported synergistic effect with c-MYC in mediating tumour development in several cancers, c-MYC gene being translocated to one of the immunoglobulin loci in nearly all BLs. METHODS: For these reasons, we tested the efficiency of several PIM kinase inhibitors (AZD1208, SMI4a, PIM1/2 inhibitor VI and Quercetagetin) in preventing proliferation of aggressive NHL-derived cell lines and compared their efficiency with PIM1 and/or PIM2 knockdown. RESULTS: We observed that most of the anti-proliferative potential of these inhibitors in NHL was due to an off-target effect. Interestingly, we present evidence of a kinase-independent function of PIM2 in regulating cell cycle. Moreover, combining AZD1208 treatment and PIM2 knockdown additively repressed cell proliferation. CONCLUSION: Taken together, this study suggests that at least a part of PIM1/2 oncogenic potential could be independent of their kinase activity, justifying the limited anti-tumorigenic outcome of PIM-kinase inhibitors in NHL.

Protein profiling identifies mTOR pathway modulation and cytostatic effects of Pim kinase inhibitor, AZD1208, in acute myeloid leukemia.[Pubmed:27054578]

Leuk Lymphoma. 2016 Dec;57(12):2863-2873.

Pim kinases phosphorylate and regulate a number of key acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell survival proteins, and Pim inhibitors have recently entered clinical trial for hematological malignancies. AZD1208 is a small molecule pan-Pim kinase inhibitor and AZD1208 treatment resulted in growth inhibition and cell size reduction in AML cell lines including FLT3-WT (OCI-AML-3, KG-1a, and MOLM-16) and FLT3-ITD mutated (MOLM-13 and MV-4-11). There was limited apoptosis induction (<10% increase) in the AML cell lines evaluated with up to 3 muM AZD1208 for 24 h, suggesting that growth inhibition is not through apoptosis induction. Using reverse phase protein array (RPPA) and immunoblot analysis, we identified that AZD1208 resulted in suppression of mTOR signaling, including inhibition of protein phosphorylation of mTOR (Ser2448), p70S6K (Thr389), S6 (Ser235/236), and 4E-BP1 (Ser65). Consistent with mTOR inhibition, there was also a reduction in protein synthesis that correlated with cell size reduction and growth inhibition with AZD1208; our study provides insights into the mechanism of AZD1208.

The novel combination of dual mTOR inhibitor AZD2014 and pan-PIM inhibitor AZD1208 inhibits growth in acute myeloid leukemia via HSF pathway suppression.[Pubmed:26473447]

Oncotarget. 2015 Nov 10;6(35):37930-47.

Mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling is a critical pathway in the biology of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Proviral integration site for moloney murine leukemia virus (PIM) serine/threonine kinase signaling takes part in various pathways exerting tumorigenic properties. We hypothesized that the combination of a PIM kinase inhibitor with an mTOR inhibitor might have complementary growth-inhibitory effects against AML. The simultaneous inhibition of the PIM kinase by pan-PIM inhibitor AZD1208 and of mTOR by selective mTORC1/2 dual inhibitor AZD2014 exerted anticancer properties in AML cell lines and in cells derived from primary AML samples with or without supportive stromal cell co-culture, leading to suppressed proliferation and increased apoptosis. The combination of AZD1208 and AZD2014 rapidly activated AMPKalpha, a negative regulator of translation machinery through mTORC1/2 signaling in AML cells; profoundly inhibited AKT and 4EBP1 activation; and suppressed polysome formation. Inhibition of both mTOR and PIM counteracted induction of heat-shock family proteins, uncovering the master negative regulation of heat shock factor 1 (HSF1), the dominant transcription factor controlling cellular stress responses. The novel combination of the dual mTOR inhibitor and pan-PIM inhibitor synergistically inhibited AML growth by effectively reducing protein synthesis through heat shock factor pathway suppression.