Discovery of a potent, orally bioavailable pyrimidine VLA-4 antagonist effective in a sheep asthma model.
Semko CM, Chen L, Dressen DB, Dreyer ML, Dunn W, Farouz FS, Freedman SB, Holsztynska EJ, Jefferies M, Konradi AW, Liao A, Lugar J, Mutter L, Pleiss MA, Quinn KP, Thompson T, Thorsett ED, Vandevert C, Xu YZ, Yednock TA.
A series of N-(pyrimidin-4-yl)-phenylalanine VLA-4 antagonists is described. Optimization of substituents at the 2 and 5 positions of the pyrimidine ring gave 14, a very potent VLA-4 inhibitor which is orally active in a sheep asthma model.