Discovery of Atirmociclib (PF-07220060): A Potent and Selective CDK4 Inhibitor.
Gallego, G.M., Palmer, C., Orr, S., Bernier, L., Chen, P., Cho-Schultz, S., Deal, J.G., Dress, K., Edwards, M., Jalaie, M., Johnson, E., Kania, R., Kath, J.C., Lafontaine, J., Ninkovic, S., Sach, N., Shen, H., Anders, L., Boras, B., Cao, F., Cianfrogna, J.A., Cox, L., Marroquin, L., Pascual, B., Petroski, M., Quinlan, C., Sacaan, A., Wei, N., Nair, S.K.(2025) J Med Chem 
- PubMed: 41347260 
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jmedchem.5c02137
- Primary Citation of Related Structures:  
9PE7, 9PE8, 9PE9 - PubMed Abstract: 
Inhibitors of cyclin-dependent kinases 4 and 6 have been shown to be clinically effective for the treatment of hormone receptor-positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-) advanced, or metastatic breast cancer. These agents, however, often show neutropenia, likely due to the role of CDK6 in hematopoiesis. Herein described is the discovery of a series of aminopyrimidine-based selective CDK4 inhibitors. Central to our strategy were efficiency-based optimization (LipE and LipMetE), structure-based drug design, and molecular dynamics simulation. The culmination of these efforts resulted in the discovery of PF-07220060 (atirmociclib), which possessed high potency and levels of selectivity for CDK4 over CDK6 that translated to minimal impact on neutrophils while driving efficacy in a mouse ZR75-1 xenograft model.
- Oncology Medicinal Chemistry, Pfizer Worldwide Research and Development, La Jolla, San Diego, California 92121, United States.
Organizational Affiliation: 
















