KIF18A
KIF18A Inhibitor: Treating chromosomally unstable cancers with TP53 mutations
Assays Completed
Wholly-owned and Available for Licensing
In vivo efficacy studies
In vivo PK-PD
In vivo PK studies
In vitro ADMET studies
In vitro cell-based
Toxicology studies
Enzymatic
Target Rationale

Chromosome instability (CIN) is a hallmark of tumor cells caused by changes in the dynamics and control of microtubules that compromise the mitotic spindle. In sensitive CIN+ cells, KIF18A depletion results in profound chromosome alignment defects, multipolar spindles, chromosome fragmentation, leading to extended spindle checkpoint activation and increased cell death.


Insilico Medicine KIF18A Inhibitor Summary – IND-Enabling

Novel structure generated by AI

Novel macrocyclic structure generated by Insilico Medicine's AI small molecule generation platform Chemistry 42

Effective therapy for treating solid tumors

Potent in vitro and in vivo anti-cancer activities in CIN cancer models

Promising drug-ability as an oral agent

Excellent in vitro ADMET profiles & favorable oralexposureacross preclinical species

Significantly higher safety margin

Overall good tolerability up to high doses in rodent and non-rodent models


Indication
CIN cancers: high-grade serous ovarian cancer (HGSOC), non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), colorectal cancer (CRC), etc.
  • These types of cancers often exhibit a high frequency of chromosome instability (CIN) and TP53 mutations, making cancer cells susceptible to mitotic defects. The loss of KIF18A function results in persistent spindle assembly checkpoint (SAC) activation and prolonged mitosis due to the dysregulation of microtubule dynamics in CIN cancer cells, while having minimal impact on the normal division of euploid cells. Inhibitors targeting KIF18A aim to hinder the proliferation and survival of tumor cells. As a result, these cancers may derive therapeutic benefits from KIF18A inhibitors
  • ISM9682 is a potent KIF18A inhibitor with a novel scaffold developed from Chemistry42. It demonstrates potent anti-proliferation activity in multiple CIN-cancer cell lines and excellent efficacy in CDX models, which has the potential to serve as a therapeutic approach for CIN cancers

Project Highlight

ISM developed an AI-designed KIF18A inhibitor with a novel macrocyclic scaffold. This inhibitor exhibited potent anti-proliferation activities in cancer cell lines and CDX models with CIN features, along with excellent ADMET profiles. It demonstrated favorable in vivo PK across preclinical species and exceptional safety margin in animal toxicology studies.