High-Throughput Screening, Discovery, and Optimization To Develop a Benzofuran Class of Hepatitis C Virus Inhibitors

Using a high-throughput, cell-based HCV luciferase reporter assay to screen a diverse small-molecule compound collection (∼ 300,000 compounds), we identified a benzofuran compound class of HCV inhibitors. The optimization of the benzofuran scaffold led to the identification of several exemplars with potent inhibition (EC50 < 100 nM) of HCV, low cytotoxicity (CC50 > 25 microM), and excellent selectivity (selective index = CC50/EC50, > 371-fold). The structure-activity studies culminated in the design and synthesis of a 45-compound library to comprehensively explore the anti-HCV activity. The identification, design, synthesis, and biological characterization for this benzofuran series is discussed.