Background:

Kinases represent one of the most popular and promising target class in drug discovery. Success in finding new therapeutics will depend on the validation of the kinase chosen with respect to the disease of interest, and on the ability of chemists to design and synthesize inhibitors. AS602801 is a potent and selective JNK inhibitor with therapeutic potential inMS and fibrosis.

In vitro: AS602801 blocked T-lymphocyte proliferation and induced apoptosis. In RRMS CD4t and CD8t cells, AS602801 induced apoptosis genes and expression of surface markers, while in RRMS CD11bt cells it induced expression of innate immunity receptors and co-stimulatory molecules [1].

In vivo: AS602801, the best JNK inhibitors identified so far, were currently evaluated in preclinical studies, based on preliminary promising results in animal model of auto-immune diseases and neuronal apoptosis [1].

Clinical trial: Recently, a phase IIa proof of concept study of the pan-JNK inhibitor bentamapimod (PGL5001, AS602801) for the treatment of inflammatory endometriosis had been terminated.

Reference:
[1] Ferrandi C, Richard F, Tavano P, Hauben E, Barbié V, Gotteland JP, Greco B, Fortunato M, Mariani MF, Furlan R, Comi G, Martino G, Zaratin PF.  Characterization of immune cell subsets during the active phase of multiple sclerosis reveals disease and c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathway biomarkers. Mult Scler. 2011;17(1):43-56.