BAY-2402234 is a selective dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) inhibitor for the treatment of myeloid malignancies.

BAY-2402234 is a selective low-nanomolar inhibitor of human DHODH enzymatic activity. In vitro, it potently inhibits proliferation of AML cell lines in the sub-nanomolar to low-nanomolar range. BAY-2402234 induces differentiation of AML cell lines also in a sub-nanomolar to low-nanomolar range, demonstrating the anticipated mode of action in cellular mechanistic assays[1].

BAY-2402234 exhibits strong in vivo anti-tumor efficacy in monotherapy in several subcutaneous and disseminated AML xenografts as well as AML patient-derived xenograft (PDX) models. Target engagement of the novel DHODH inhibitor BAY-2402234 can be observed by increase of tumoral and plasma dihydroorotate levels after treatment with the inhibitor. Consistent with the in vitro data BAY-2402234 induces AML differentiation in vivo as detected by upregulation of differentiation cell surface markers in xenograft and PDX models after treatment with the inhibitor. Furthermore, differentiation-associated transcriptomic changes are evident following a single administration of BAY-2402234 in vivo[1].

[1]. Andreas Janzer, et al. Abstract DDT02-04: BAY 2402234: A novel, selective dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) inhibitor for the treatment of myeloid malignancies. AACR Annual Meeting 2018; April 14-18, 2018; Chicago, IL.