Development of GS-441524 derivatives as potent SARS-CoV-2 Mac1 inhibitors via a direct-to-biology approach

Targeting viral macrodomains (Mac) has emerged as a promising strategy for antiviral drug development, especially after the outbreak of COVID-19 that claimed millions of lives worldwide. Several severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) Mac1 inhibitors have been reported in the past few years. In the present work, we converted GS-441524 (IC₅₀ of ∼10 μM for SARS-CoV-2 Mac1) to KP-S54 (18c), a potent inhibitor of both SARS-CoV-2 Mac1 (IC₅₀: 44 nM) and Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) Mac1 (IC₅₀: 91 nM) through an iterative direct-to-biology approach. This approach leverages efficient amide-coupling reaction and the mix-and-read fluorescence polarization (FP) assays where reaction mixtures could be screened directly without purification. Cocrystal structure of a selected derivative (12p) binding to SARS-CoV-2 Mac1 revealed the binding mode, which will guide future drug development against viral macrodomains.