Discovery of Pyridinyl Acetamide Derivatives as Potent, Selective, and Orally Bioavailable Porcupine Inhibitors

Blockade of aberrant Wnt signaling is an attractive therapeutic approach in multiple cancers. We developed and performed a cellular high-throughput screen for inhibitors of Wnt secretion and pathway activation. A lead structure (GNF-1331) was identified from the screen. Further studies identified the molecular target of GNF-1331 as Porcupine, a membrane bound O-acyl transferase. Structure–activity relationship studies led to the discovery of a novel series of potent and selective Porcupine inhibitors. Compound 19, GNF-6231, demonstrated excellent pathway inhibition and induced robust antitumor efficacy in a mouse MMTV-WNT1 xenograft tumor model.