PROGNOSTIC BIOMARKERS FOR TTK INHIBITOR CHEMOTHERAPY

Abstract

A method for identifying a tumor that is susceptible to treatment with a TTK inhibitor, including: a) providing a sample of a tumor; b) determining the presence of a mutated CTNNB1 gene in the sample, wherein the mutation is located in exon 3 of CTNNB1 and the presence of a mutated CTNNB1 gene indicates the tumor is susceptible to treatment with a TTK inhibitor. Alternatively, step b) is replaced by the step of determining the presence of a mutated CTNNB1 protein in the sample, wherein the mutation is located in exon 3 of CTNNB1 and the presence of a mutated CTNNB1 protein indicates the tumor is susceptible to treatment with a TTK inhibitor. In a further alternative, step b) includes determining an altered expression of a CTNNB1 regulated gene, whereby an altered expression of a CTNNB1 regulated gene indicates the tumor is susceptible to treatment with a TTK inhibitor.

Claims

1. A method for treating a tumor in a human individual or an animal that is susceptible to treatment with a TTK inhibitor, the method comprising: determining that the tumor is susceptible to treatment with the TTK inhibitor when the presence of a mutated CTNNB1-encoded protein, the corresponding CTNNB1 gene having a mutation located in exon 3, has been detected in a tumor sample from the human individual or animal; and treating, with the TTK inhibitor, the human individual or animal whose tumor is determined to be susceptible to treatment with the TTK inhibitor, wherein the TTK inhibitor is a chemical compound belonging to the class of compounds according to Formula I: ##STR00060## wherein: R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of: ##STR00061## R.sup.11 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl, (2-3C)alkynyl or (1-2C)alkoxy, all alkyl and alkoxy groups optionally being substituted with one or more halogen; R.sup.12 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.13 is R.sup.131CH.sub.2, R.sup.132O, R.sup.133R.sup.134N, R.sup.135C(O), R.sup.136S, R.sup.136S(O), R.sup.136S(O)(NH), R.sup.137SO.sub.2, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, or (1-5C)heteroaryl each heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl optionally being substituted with (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, oxo, (1-2C)alkoxy, (1-6C)alkylcarbonyl, (1-6C)alkylsulfonyl, (1-5C)alkoxycarbonyl, (1-6C)alkylaminocarbonyl, (3-6C)cycloalkylcarbonyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkylcarbonyl or di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino, each alkylcarbonyl, alkylsulfonyl, alkoxycarbonyl, alkylaminocarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl or heterocycloalkylcarbonyl optionally being substituted with (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, cyano, oxo or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.131 is (1-6C)alkylcarbonylamino, (3-6C)cycloalkylcarbonylamino or (2-7C)heterocycloalkylcarbonylamino each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.132 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (6-10C)aryl or (1-5C)heteroraryl each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, halogen, hydroxyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino or (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl; R.sup.133 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl (1-6C)alkylcarbonyl, (1-5C)alkoxycarbonyl, (3-6C)cycloalkylcarbonyl or (2-7C)heterocycloalkylcarbonyl, each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, halogen, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino or (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl; R.sup.134 is hydrogen or (1-2C)alkyl; R.sup.135 is (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (1-6C)alkylamino, di[(1-6C)alkyl]amino, (2-7C)heterocycloalkylamino or (3-6C)cycloalkylamino each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, oxo, cyano or amino; R.sup.136 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.137 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (1-6C)alkylamino, di[(1-6C)alkyl]amino, (2-7C)heterocycloalkylamino or (3-6C)cycloalkylamino, each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.14 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; and R.sup.15 is H, halogen; in the above Formula I, R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of: ##STR00062## R.sup.21 is H, halogen, (1-3C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxy(1-2C)alkyl, (3-4C)cycloalkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl or cyano; R.sup.22 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.23 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, cyano or hydroxy; R.sup.24 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.25 is H, halogen, (1-3C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxy(1-2C)alkyl, (3-4C)cycloalkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl or cyano; R.sup.26 is H, (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-5C)heterocycloalkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy[(2-4C)alkoxy].sub.n(1-6C)alkyl, wherein n represents an integer of 1, 2, 3 or 4, all alkyl, heterocycloalkyl and (1-2C)alkoxy[(2-4C)alkoxy].sub.n(1-6C)alkyl groups optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxyl, oxo, amino, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino or (2-5C)heterocycloalkyl; and wherein in the above Formula I only one of R.sup.21 and R.sup.25 in R.sup.2 can be H.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said mutation results in a substitution of one or more serine or threonine residues in the corresponding CTNNB1-encoded protein, or wherein said mutation is a deletion of one or more serine or threonine residues in the corresponding CTNNB1-encoded protein.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said mutation results in a substitution of one or more serine or threonine residues in the corresponding CTNNB1-encoded protein at a position selected from S33, S37, S45 and T41, or wherein said mutation is a deletion of one or more serine or threonine residues in the corresponding CTNNB1-encoded protein at a position selected from S33, S37, S45 and T41.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mutation results in a substitution or a deletion of the serine residue corresponding to codon 33 of CTNNB1.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mutation results in a substitution or a deletion of the threonine residue corresponding to codon 41 of CTNNB1.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mutation results in a substitution or a deletion of the serine residue corresponding to codon 45 of CTNNB1.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the mutation results in a substitution or a deletion of the serine residue corresponding to codon 37 of CTNNB1.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the presence of the mutated CTNNB1-encoded protein has been detected by detecting a mutated CTNNB1 gene having a mutation located in exon 3 in tumor DNA in the tumor sample.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein the tumor DNA is taken from a tumor biopsy.

10. The method according to claim 8, wherein the tumor DNA is derived from circulating tumor DNA.

11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the presence of the mutated CTNNB1-encoded protein, having a mutation in exon 3, has been detected by sequencing tumor mRNA in the tumor sample.

12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the presence of the mutated CTNNB1-encoded protein has been detected by analyzing the amino acid sequence or phosphorylation of β-catenin in the tumor sample.

13. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tumor sample is taken from a tumor biopsy.

14. The method according to claim 1, wherein the tumor sample is taken from circulating tumor cells.

15. A method for treating a tumor in a human individual or an animal, the method comprising: detecting whether a mutated CTNNB1-encoded protein, the corresponding CTNNB1 gene having a mutation located in exon 3, is present in a tumor sample from the human individual or animal; diagnosing the human individual or animal as being susceptible to treatment with a TTK inhibitor when the presence of the mutated CTNNB1-encoded protein in the tumor sample is detected; and treating the diagnosed human individual or animal with the TTK inhibitor, wherein the TTK inhibitor is a chemical compound belonging to the class of compounds according to Formula I: ##STR00063## wherein: R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of: ##STR00064## R.sup.11 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl, (2-3C)alkynyl, or (1-2C)alkoxy, all alkyl and alkoxy groups optionally being substituted with one or more halogen; R.sup.12 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.13 is R.sup.131CH.sub.2, R.sup.132O, R.sup.133R.sup.134N, R.sup.135C(O), R.sup.136S, R.sup.136S(O), R.sup.136S(O)(NH), R.sup.137SO.sub.2, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, or (1-5C)heteroaryl each heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl optionally being substituted with (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, oxo, (1-2C)alkoxy, (1-6C)alkylcarbonyl, (1-6C)alkylsulfonyl, (1-5C)alkoxycarbonyl, (1-6C)alkylaminocarbonyl, (3-6C)cycloalkylcarbonyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkylcarbonyl or di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino, each alkylcarbonyl, alkylsulfonyl, alkoxycarbonyl, alkylaminocarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl or heterocycloalkylcarbonyl optionally being substituted with (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, cyano, oxo or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.131 is (1-6C)alkylcarbonylamino, (3-6C)cycloalkylcarbonylamino or (2-7C)heterocycloalkylcarbonylamino each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.132 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (6-10C)aryl or (1-5C)heteroraryl each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, halogen, hydroxyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino or (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl; R.sup.133 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl (1-6C)alkylcarbonyl, (1-5C)alkoxycarbonyl, (3-6C)cycloalkylcarbonyl or (2-7C)heterocycloalkylcarbonyl, each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, halogen, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino or (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl; R.sup.134 is hydrogen or (1-2C)alkyl; R.sup.135 is (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (1-6C)alkylamino, di[(1-6C)alkyl]amino, (2-7C)heterocycloalkylamino or (3-6C)cycloalkylamino each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, oxo, cyano or amino; R.sup.136 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.137 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (1-6C)alkylamino, di[(1-6C)alkyl]amino, (2-7C)heterocycloalkylamino or (3-6C)cycloalkylamino, each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.14 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; and R.sup.15 is H, halogen; in the above Formula I, R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of: ##STR00065## R.sup.21 is H, halogen, (1-3C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxy(1-2C)alkyl, (3-4C)cycloalkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl or cyano; R.sup.22 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.23 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, cyano or hydroxy; R.sup.24 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.25 is H, halogen, (1-3C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxy(1-2C)alkyl, (3-4C)cycloalkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl or cyano; R.sup.26 is H, (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-5C)heterocycloalkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy[(2-4C)alkoxy].sub.n(1-6C)alkyl, wherein n represents an integer of 1, 2, 3 or 4, all alkyl, heterocycloalkyl and (1-2C)alkoxy[(2-4C)alkoxy].sub.n(1-6C)alkyl groups optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxyl, oxo, amino, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino or (2-5C)heterocycloalkyl; and wherein in the above Formula I only one of R.sup.21 and R.sup.25 in R.sup.2 can be H.

16. The method according to claim 1, wherein in Formula I: R.sup.1 is ##STR00066## R.sup.11 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl, (2-3C)alkynyl, or (1-2C)alkoxy, all alkyl and alkoxy groups optionally being substituted with one or more halogen; R.sup.12 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.13 is R.sup.132O, R.sup.135C(O), (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, or (1-5C)heteroaryl each heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl optionally being substituted with (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, oxo, (1-2C)alkoxy, (1-6C)alkylcarbonyl, (1-6C)alkylsulfonyl, (1-5C)alkoxycarbonyl, (1-6C)alkylaminocarbonyl, (3-6C)cycloalkylcarbonyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkylcarbonyl or di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino, each alkylcarbonyl, alkylsulfonyl, alkoxycarbonyl, alkylaminocarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl or heterocycloalkylcarbonyl optionally being substituted with (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, cyano, oxo or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.132 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (6-10C)aryl or (1-5C)heteroraryl each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, halogen, hydroxyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino or (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl; R.sup.135 is (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (1-6C)alkylamino, di[(1-6C)alkyl]amino, (2-7C)heterocycloalkylamino or (3-6C)cycloalkylamino each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, oxo, cyano or amino; R.sup.14 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; and R.sup.15 is H, halogen; R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of: ##STR00067## R.sup.21 is H, halogen, (1-3C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxy(1-2C)alkyl, (3-4C)cycloalkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl or cyano; R.sup.22 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.23 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, cyano or hydroxy; R.sup.24 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.25 is H, halogen, (1-3C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxy(1-2C)alkyl, (3-4C)cycloalkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl or cyano; R.sup.26 is H, (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-5C)heterocycloalkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy[(2-4C)alkoxy].sub.n(1-6C)alkyl, wherein n represents an integer of 1, 2, 3 or 4, all alkyl, heterocycloalkyl and (1-2C)alkoxy[(2-4C)alkoxy].sub.n(1-6C)alkyl groups optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxyl, oxo, amino, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino or (2-5C)heterocycloalkyl; and wherein in the above Formula I only one of R.sup.21 and R.sup.25 in R.sup.2 can be H.

17. The method according to claim 1, wherein in Formula I: R.sup.1 is ##STR00068## R.sup.11 is (1-2C)alkoxy, the alkoxy optionally being substituted with one or more halogen; R.sup.12 is H; R.sup.13 is R.sup.132O, R.sup.135C(O), (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, or (1-5C)heteroaryl each heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl optionally being substituted with (1-2C)alkyl, (1-6C)alkylcarbonyl, or (2-7C)heterocycloalkylcarbonyl, each alkylcarbonyl or heterocycloalkylcarbonyl optionally being substituted with (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; R.sup.132 is (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl; R.sup.135 is (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl or (2-7C)heterocycloalkylamino, each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl; R.sup.14 is H; R.sup.15 is H; R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of: ##STR00069## R.sup.21 is (1-3C)alkyl; R.sup.22 is H; R.sup.23 is H; R.sup.24 is H; R.sup.26 is H, (1-6C)alkyl, or (1-2C)alkoxy[(2-4C)alkoxy].sub.n(1-6C)alkyl, wherein n represents an integer of 1, 2, 3 or 4.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein said mutation results in a substitution of one or more serine or threonine residues in the corresponding CTNNB1-encoded protein, or wherein said mutation is a deletion of one or more serine or threonine residues in the corresponding CTNNB1-encoded protein.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein said mutation results in a substitution of one or more serine or threonine residues in the corresponding CTNNB1-encoded protein at a position selected from S33, S37, S45 and T41, or wherein said mutation is a deletion of one or more serine or threonine residues in the corresponding CTNNB1-encoded protein at a position selected from S33, S37, S45 and T41.

20. The method according to claim 17, wherein the mutation results in a substitution or a deletion of the serine residue corresponding to codon 33 of CTNNB1.

21. The method according to claim 17, wherein the mutation results in a substitution or a deletion of the threonine residue corresponding to codon 41 of CTNNB1.

22. The method according to claim 17, wherein the mutation results in a substitution or a deletion of the serine residue corresponding to codon 45 of CTNNB1.

23. The method according to claim 17, wherein the mutation results in a substitution or a deletion of the serine residue corresponding to codon 37 of CTNNB1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0033] The invention will be described with reference to the appended figures in which:

[0034] FIG. 1 is the protein sequence and amino acid numbering of CTNNB1 ((3-catenin) (UniProt code P35222) (SEQ ID NO: 1). Mutation or deletion of the underlined serine (S) or threonine (T) residues at positions 33, 37, 41 and 45 alter the phosphorylation and degradation of β-catenin (Rubinfeld, B., et al.; Morin, P. J., et al.).

[0035] FIGS. 2A-2G represent the volcano plots of cellular profiling in 66 cancer cell lines for Examples 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 17 and 20.

[0036] For completeness, a volcano plot is a graphical representation of an analysis of variance (Anova) of the association of cancer gene mutations present in cell lines and the response of these cell lines in proliferation assays with compounds. The volcano plot shows the average IC.sub.50 shift between mutant and non-mutant cell lines (x-axis) and the significance from the Anova test (y-axis). Significance was corrected for multiple-testing and all associations above the threshold level (dotted line) are filled in black. Areas of circles are proportional with the number of cell lines carrying mutations. The cancer cell lines used in the drug sensitivity analysis are listed in Table 1 herein below.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0037] Methods of obtaining a sample of a tumor for analysis are well known in the art and require no specific elucidation here. The mutant status of the CTNNB1 gene of a tumor from an individual with cancer can be determined by analyzing the DNA sequence of a sample of the tumor, and comparing the tumor DNA sequence with that in healthy tissue, or with the ‘wild-type’ CTNNB1 sequence, referred to in the UniProt data base as P35222, and displayed in FIG. 1. A DNA sample may be taken directly from a tumor biopsy, or may be derived from circulating tumor DNA (Diaz, L. A., et al., Nature 486: 537; 2012). The mutant status of the CTNNB1 gene may also be determined by sequencing of the mRNA of the tumor sample, or may be determined indirectly by analysis of the amino acid sequence of β-catenin, or by determination of the phosphorylation status of β-catenin using specific antibodies.

[0038] As the mutations affect the degradation of β-catenin, they affect the total cellular levels of β-catenin and the amount β-catenin in the nucleus. Therefore, the mutant status of the CTNNB1 gene may also be determined indirectly by determining total or nuclear β-catenin levels in tumor cells.

[0039] Alternatively, the mutant status of CTNNB1 may be determined by analyzing the expression of genes that are regulated by β-catenin. The detection of β-catenin-regulated genes may be determined by extracting RNA from a sample of a tumor and measuring gene expression using reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) or using microarray analysis. Many genes regulated by β-catenin have been described, and include Axin2 (Yan, D. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 98: 14973; 2001), c-myc (He, T. C. et al., Science 281: 1509; 1998) and LGR5 (Barker, N. et al., Nature 499: 1003; 2007). A comprehensive list of β-catenin-regulated genes can be found at the Wnt home page (http://web.stanford.edu/group/nusselab/cgi-bin/wnt/target_genes) and in scientific articles (Willert, J. et al., BMC Dev. Biol. 2:8; van de Wetering, Metal., Cell 111: 241; 2002).

[0040] The expression of β-catenin-regulated genes may also be determined at the protein level, using specific antibodies or mass-spectroscopy-based methods. Since several β-catenin-regulated genes are oncogenes, the mutant status of CTNNB1 can also be determined by measuring oncogenic signaling.

[0041] Examples of inhibitors of TTK are chemical compounds belonging to the class of (5,6-dihydro)pyrimido[4,5-e]indolizines according to Formula I or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof.

##STR00001##

[0042] wherein, [0043] R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of:

##STR00002## [0044] R.sup.11 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl, (2-3C)alkynyl, (1-2C)alkoxy or OC.sub.2H.sub.3, all alkyl and alkoxy groups optionally being substituted with one or more halogen; [0045] R.sup.12 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; [0046] R.sup.13 is R.sup.131CH.sub.2, R.sup.132O, R.sup.133R.sup.134N, R.sup.135C(O), R.sup.136S, R.sup.136S(O), R.sup.136S(O)(NH), R.sup.137SO.sub.2, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, or (1-5C)heteroaryl each heterocycloalkyl or heteroaryl optionally being substituted with (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, oxo, (1-2C)alkoxy, (1-6C)alkylcarbonyl, (1-6C)alkylsulfonyl, (1-5C)alkoxycarbonyl, (1-6C)alkylaminocarbonyl, (3-6C)cycloalkylcarbonyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkylcarbonyl or di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino, each alkylcarbonyl, alkylsulfonyl, alkoxycarbonyl, alkylaminocarbonyl, cycloalkylcarbonyl or heterocycloalkylcarbonyl optionally being substituted with (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, cyano, oxo or (1-2C)alkoxy; [0047] R.sup.131 is (1-6C)alkylcarbonylamino, (3-6C)cycloalkylcarbonylamino or (2-7C)heterocycloalkylcarbonylamino each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; [0048] R.sup.132 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (6-10C)aryl or (1-5C)heteroraryl each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, halogen, hydroxyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino or (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl; [0049] R.sup.133 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl (1-6C)alkylcarbonyl, (1-5C)alkoxycarbonyl, (3-6C)cycloalkylcarbonyl or (2-7C)heterocycloalkylcarbonyl, each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, halogen, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino or (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl; [0050] R.sup.134 is hydrogen or (1-2C)alkyl; [0051] R.sup.135 is (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (1-6C)alkylamino, di[(1-6C)alkyl]amino, (2-7C)heterocycloalkylamino or (3-6C)cycloalkylamino each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, oxo, cyano or amino; [0052] R.sup.136 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; [0053] R.sup.137 is (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (1-6C)alkylamino, di[(1-6C)alkyl]amino, (2-7C)heterocycloalkylamino or (3-6C)cycloalkylamino, each optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, fluoro, hydroxyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; [0054] R.sup.14 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; and [0055] R.sup.15 is H, halogen.

[0056] In the above Formula I, R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of:

##STR00003## [0057] R.sup.21 is H, halogen, (1-3C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxy(1-2C)alkyl, (3-4C)cycloalkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl or cyano; [0058] R.sup.22 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; [0059] R.sup.23 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, cyano or hydroxy; [0060] R.sup.24 is H, halogen, (1-2C)alkyl or (1-2C)alkoxy; [0061] R.sup.25 is H, halogen, (1-3C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxy(1-2C)alkyl, (3-4C)cycloalkyl, (2-3C)alkenyl or cyano; [0062] R.sup.26 is H, (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (2-5C)heterocycloalkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy[(2-4C)alkoxy].sub.n(1-6C)alkyl, wherein n represents an integer of 1, 2, 3 or 4, all alkyl, heterocycloalkyl and (1-2C)alkoxy[(2-4C)alkoxy].sub.n(1-6C)alkyl groups optionally substituted with one or more groups selected from (1-2C)alkyl, (1-2C)alkoxy, hydroxyl, oxo, amino, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino or (2-5C)heterocycloalkyl.

[0063] In the above Formula I only one of R.sup.21 and R.sup.25 in R.sup.2 can be H.

[0064] Other examples of known TTK inhibitors are chemical compounds belonging to the class of pyrazolo-quinazolines according to Formula II or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof as described in WO2009/156315 A1.

##STR00004##

[0065] wherein, [0066] R.sup.1 and R.sup.3 are independently selected from the group consisting of (6-10C)aryl and (1-5C)heteroaryl, wherein both groups optionally can be substituted; [0067] R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of (1-6C)alkyl and (2-6C)alkenyl, wherein both groups optionally can be substituted; [0068] R.sup.4 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and (1-6C)alkyl, wherein both groups optionally can be substituted; [0069] R.sup.5 and R.sup.6 are independently hydrogen or methyl.

[0070] Other, known TTK inhibitors are chemical compounds belonging to the class of imidazo-pyrazines according to Formula III or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof as described in WO2011/013729 A1, WO2011/113862 A1, WO2011/151259 A1, WO2012/080228 A1, WO2012/080229 A1, WO2012/080230 A1, WO2012/080232 A1, WO2012/080234 A1 and WO 2012/080236 A1.

##STR00005##

[0071] wherein, [0072] R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of (1-6C)alkyl, halo(1-6C)alkyl, HO-(1-6C)alkyl, H.sub.2N-(1-6C)alkyl, cyano(1-6C)alkyl, (1-6C)alkoxy(1-6C)alkyl, (2-6C)alkenyl, (2-6C)alkynyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (3-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (6-10C)aryl and (1-5C)heteroaryl, wherein said groups optionally can be substituted; [0073] R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of (6-10C)aryl and (1-9C)heteroaryl, wherein both groups optionally can be substituted; [0074] R.sup.3 is selected from the group consisting of: (1-6C)alkyl, —(CH.sub.2).sub.n-(3-7C) heterocycloalkyl), —(CH.sub.2)-(4-8C)heterocycloalkenyl), (3-7C)heterocycloalkyl, (6-10C)aryl, (1-9C)heteroaryl, —(CH.sub.2)-(6-10C)aryl, —O-(6-10C)aryl, —C(═O)N and cyano, wherein said groups can be substituted and further wherein n is an integer of 0, 1 or 2.

[0075] Another example of known TTK inhibitors are chemical compounds belonging to the class of purines according to Formula IV or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof as described in WO2010/111406 A1.

##STR00006##

[0076] wherein, [0077] R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of (3-6C)cycloalkyl and (3-7C)heterocycloalkyl, wherein said groups optionally can be substituted; and, [0078] R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of: [0079] a) (6-10C)aryl, and, [0080] b) (1-5C)heteroaryl, [0081] wherein both groups optionally can be substituted.

[0082] Yet, other known TTK inhibitors are chemical compounds belonging to the class of imidazo-pyridazines according to Formula V or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof as described in WO2011/013729 A1, WO2012/032031 A1, WO2013/135612 A1 and WO2014/131739 A1.

##STR00007##

[0083] wherein, [0084] R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, (1-6C)alkyl, halo(1-6C)alkyl, HO(1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl, (3-7C)heterocycloalkyl and (1-5C)heteroaryl, wherein said groups optionally can be substituted; [0085] R.sup.2 is (6-10C)aryl or (1-9C)heteroaryl, each of which may be optionally substituted; [0086] R.sup.3 is selected from the group consisting of X-(6-10C)aryl or X-(1-9C)heteroaryl, wherein both groups optionally can be substituted, wherein X represents S(═O).sub.p, O, NR.sup.4, CR.sup.4aR.sup.4b, C═CR.sup.4aR.sup.4b and further wherein p is an integer of 0, 1, 2; [0087] R.sup.4, R.sup.4a, R.sup.4b represent independently from each other a hydrogen atom or (1-6C)alkyl.

[0088] Other, known TTK inhibitors are chemical compounds belonging to the class of triazolopyridines according to Formula VI or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof as described in WO2011/063907 A1, WO2011/063908 A1, WO2011/064328 A1, WO2011/157688 A1, WO2012/143329 A1, WO2014/009219 A1, WO2014/195274 A1, WO2014/195276 and WO2014/198647 A1.

##STR00008##

[0089] wherein, [0090] R.sup.1 represents a phenyl group, a pyridyl group or an indolyl group wherein said groups can optionally be substituted; [0091] R.sup.2 represents a phenyl group, a pyridyl group or a pyrimidyl group wherein said groups can optionally substituted; [0092] R.sup.3 represents a group selected from: hydrogen or —C(═O)—O—(CR.sup.7R.sup.8)—O—C(═O)—R.sup.4, wherein R.sup.4 represents a group selected from: (1-6C)alkyl, substituted one or more times, identically or differentially, with a group selected from: —NH.sub.2, —N(H)R.sup.5, —N(R.sup.5)R.sup.6, (4-7C)heterocycloalkyl, optionally substituted, one or more times, identically or differentially, with a group selected from —NH.sub.2, —N(H)R.sup.5, —N(R.sup.5)R.sup.6. [0093] R.sup.5 and R.sup.6, independently from each other, represent a group selected from a hydrogen atom and (1-3C)alkyl. [0094] R.sup.7 represents a group selected from a hydrogen atom and (1-3C)alkyl. [0095] R.sup.8 represents a hydrogen atom

[0096] Another example of known TTK inhibitors are chemical compounds belonging to the class of pyrrolopyridines according to Formula VII or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof as described in WO2009/032694 A1, WO2009/032703 A1 and Nature Chemical Biology 6 (2010), 359.

##STR00009##

[0097] wherein, [0098] R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of (6-10C)aryl, wherein said group optionally can be substituted; [0099] R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of (6-10C)aryl, wherein said group optionally can be substituted.

[0100] Yet, another example of known TTK inhibitors are chemical compounds belonging to the class of aminopyridines and aminopyrimidines according to Formula VIII or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof as described in WO2011/016472 A1, ACS Med. Chem. Letters 3 (2012), 560 and Bioorg. Med. Chem. Letters 23 (2015), 2247.

##STR00010##

[0101] wherein, [0102] R.sup.1 is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen atom or amino; [0103] R.sup.2 is selected from the group consisting of (6-10C)aryl, (1-5C)heteroaryl, (1-6C)alkyl, (3-6C)cycloalkyl and (3-7C)heterocycloalkyl, wherein said groups optionally can be substituted; [0104] R.sup.3 is selected from the group consisting of (6-10C)aryl, wherein said groups optionally can be substituted; [0105] X is C or N.

[0106] The terms as used herein refer to the following:

[0107] Halogen means fluorine, chlorine, bromine or iodine. [0108] (1-2C)Alkyl means an alkyl group having 1 to 2 carbon atoms, being methyl or ethyl. A methyl group may be indicated as Me or CH.sub.3. [0109] (1-3C)Alkyl means a branched or unbranched alkyl group having 1-3 carbon atoms, being methyl, ethyl, propyl or isopropyl. [0110] (1-4C)Alkyl means a branched or unbranched alkyl group having 1-4 carbon atoms, being methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl or tert-butyl, (1-3C)alkyl groups being preferred. [0111] (1-5C)Alkyl means a branched or unbranched alkyl group having 1-5 carbon atoms, for example methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, isobutyl, sec-butyl, tert-butyl, pentyl and isopentyl, (1-4C)alkyl groups being preferred. [0112] (1-6C)Alkyl means a branched or unbranched alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms, for example methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, butyl, tert-butyl, n-pentyl and n-hexyl. (1-5C)alkyl groups are preferred, (1-4C)alkyl being more preferred. [0113] (1-2C)Alkoxy means an alkoxy group having 1-2 carbon atoms, the alkyl moiety having the same meaning as previously defined. [0114] (2-4C)Alkoxy means an alkoxy group having 2-4 carbon atoms, for example ethoxy, propyloxy, butyloxy, isopropyloxy, isobutyloxy, and tertbutyloxy. Ethyloxy and propyloxy being preferred. Ethyloxy groups being more preferred. [0115] (1-3C)Alkoxy means an alkoxy group having 1-3 carbon atoms, the alkyl moiety having the same meaning as previously defined. (1-2C)Alkoxy groups are preferred. [0116] (1-4C)Alkoxy means an alkoxy group having 1-4 carbon atoms, the alkyl moiety having the same meaning as previously defined. (1-3C)alkoxy groups are preferred, (1-2C)alkoxy groups being most preferred. [0117] (1-5C)Alkoxy means an alkoxy group having 1-5 carbon atoms, the alkyl moiety having the same meaning as previously defined. (1-4C)Alkoxy groups are preferred, (1-3C)alkoxy groups being more preferred. [0118] (2-3C)Alkenyl means a branched or unbranched alkenyl group having 2-3 carbon atoms, such as ethenyl or 2-propenyl. [0119] (2-3C)Alkynyl means ethynyl or 2-propynyl. [0120] (3-4C)Cycloalkyl means a cycloalkyl group having 3-4 carbon atoms, being cyclopropyl or cyclobutyl. [0121] (3-6C)cycloalkyl means a cycloalkyl group having 3-6 atoms. Examples of “cycloalkyl” include, but are not limited to, cyclopropyl, cyclobutyl, cyclopentyl or cyclohexyl. [0122] (2-5C)Heterocycloalkyl means a heterocycloalkyl group having 2-5 carbon atoms, preferably 3-5 carbon atoms; and one or two heteroatoms selected from N, O and/or S, which may be attached via a heteroatom if feasible, or a carbon atom. Preferred heteroatoms are N or O. Preferred are oxetanyl, azetidinyl, piperidinyl, morpholinyl, pyrrolidinyl and piperazinyl. Most preferred (2-5C)heterocycloalkyl are oxetanyl and azetidinyl. [0123] (2-7C)Heterocycloalkyl means a heterocycloalkyl group having 2-7 carbon atoms, preferably 2-5 carbon atoms, and one or two heteroatoms selected from N, O and/or S. Preferred heteroatoms are N or O. Preferred (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl groups are azetidinyl, pyrrolidinyl, piperidinyl, piperazinyl, homopiperidinyl, morpholinyl or thiomorpholinyl. The heterocycloalkyl group may be attached via a heteroatom if feasible. [0124] (6-10C)Aryl means an aromatic hydrocarbon group having 6-10 carbon atoms. Examples of “(6-10C)aryl” include, but are not limited to, phenyl, naphthyl, tetrahydronaphthyl or indenyl. [0125] (1-5C)Heteroaryl means a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group having 1-5 carbon atoms and 1-4 heteroatoms selected from N, O and/or S. The (1-5C)heteroaryl may optionally be substituted. Examples of “(1-5C)heteroaryl” include, but are not limited to, tetrazolyl, imidazolyl, pyridyl, pyrimidyl, triazinyl, thienyl furyl, pyrolyl or pyrazolyl. [0126] (3-6C)Cycloalkylamino means an amino group, monosubstituted with an cycloalkyl group containing 3-6 carbon atoms having the same meaning as previously defined. [0127] (1-6C)Alkylamino means an amino group, monosubstituted with an alkyl group containing 1-6 carbon atoms having the same meaning as previously defined. Preferred (1-6C)alkylamino group is methylamino. [0128] Di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino means an amino group, disubstituted with alkyl group(s), each independently containing 1-2 carbon atoms and having the same meaning as previously defined. Preferred di[(1-2C)alkyl]amino group is dimethylamino. [0129] Di[(1-6C)alkyl]amino means an amino group, disubstituted with alkyl group(s), each independently containing 1-6 carbon atoms and having the same meaning as previously defined. Preferred di[(1-6C)alkyl]amino group is N-methylpropan-1-amino. [0130] (2-7C)Heterocycloalkylamino means an amino group, monosubstituted with a (2-7)heterocycloalkyl group containing 2-7 carbon atoms having the same meaning as previously defined. [0131] (1-6C)Alkylaminocarbonyl means a carbonyl group substituted with an amino group. Said amino group being monosubstituted with an alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms and having the same meaning as previously defined. [0132] (2-7C)Heterocycloalkylcarbonyl means a carbonyl group substituted with an (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl group having 2-7 carbon atoms and having the same meaning as previously defined. [0133] (1-5C)Alkoxycarbonyl means a carbonyl group substituted with an alkoxy group the alkyl moiety of which having 1-6 carbon atoms as previously defined. [0134] (1-6C)Alkylsulfonyl means a sulfonyl group substituted with an (1-6C)alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms and having the same meaning as previously defined. [0135] (1-6C)Alkylcarbonyl means a carbonyl group substituted with an (1-6C)alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms and having the same meaning as previously defined. [0136] (3-6C)Cycloalkylcarbonyl means a carbonyl group substituted with an (3-6C)cycloalkyl group having 3-6 carbon atoms and having the same meaning as previously defined. [0137] (1-6C)Alkylaminocarbonyl means a carbonyl group substituted with an amino group. Said amino group being monosubstituted with an alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms and having the same meaning as previously defined. [0138] (1-6C)Alkylcarbonylamino means an amino group substituted with a carbonyl group. Said carbonyl group being monosubstituted with an alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms and having the same meaning as previously defined. [0139] (3-6C)Cycloalkylcarbonylamino means an amino group substituted with a carbonyl group. Said carbonyl group being monosubstituted with a cycloalkyl group having 3-6 carbon atoms and having the same meaning as previously defined. [0140] (2-7C)Heterocycloalkylcarbonylamino means an amino group substituted with a carbonyl group. Said carbonyl group being monosubstituted with a (2-7C)heterocycloalkyl group having 2-7 carbon atoms and having the same meaning as previously defined. [0141] Hydroxy(1-2C)alkyl means a (1-2C)alkyl group having 1-2 carbon atoms with the same meaning as previously defined, substituted with a hydroxyl group. [0142] (1-2C)Alkoxy[(2-4C)alkoxy](1-6C)alkyl means a (1-6C)alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms with the same meaning as previously defined, substituted with one or more (2-4C)alkyloxy groups, wherein n represents an integer of 1, 2, 3 or 4, the alkoxy groups being linearly connected one to another. The last (2-4C)alkyloxy group being substituted with an (1-2C)alkyloxy group. In the (1-2C)alkoxy[(2-4C)alkoxy].sub.n(1-6C)alkyl group, the preferred (1-2C)alkoxy group is methoxy, the preferred (2-4C)alkoxy is ethoxy, and the preferred (1-6C)alkyl is ethyl, preferably n is 1, 2, 3, 4, n is 1 or 2 being most preferred. [0143] (1-9C)heteroaryl means a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic group having 1-9 carbon atoms and 1-4 heteroatoms selected from N, O and/or S. The (1-9C)heteroaryl may optionally be substituted. Examples of “(1-9C)heteroaryl” include, but are not limited to, quinolone, isoquinoline, indazole benzisoxazole and indole. [0144] (2-6C)alkenyl means a branched or unbranched alkenyl group having 2-6 carbon atoms. Examples of “(2-6C)alkenyl” include, but are not limited to, ethenyl, 2-butenyl and n-pentenyl. [0145] (2-6C)alkynyl means a branched or unbranched alkynyl group having 2-6 carbon atoms, Examples of “(2-6C)alkynyl” include, but are not limited to, ethynyl, propynyl, n-butynyl, n-pentynyl, isopentynyl, isohexynyl or n-hexynyl. [0146] (3-7C)heterocycloalkyl means a heterocycloalkyl group having 3-7 carbon atoms, preferably 3-5 carbon atoms, and one or two heteroatoms selected from N, O and/or S. Examples of “heterocycloalkyl” include, but are not limited to, azetidinyl, pyrrolidinyl, piperidinyl, homopiperidinyl or morpholinyl. [0147] (4-8C)heterocycloalkenyl) means a heterocycloalkenyl group having 4-8 carbon atoms, preferably 3-5 carbon atoms having a double bond therein; and 1 heteroatom selected from N, O and/or S. Examples of “heteroalkenyl” include, but are not limited to, oxycyclohexenyl and azacyclohexenyl. [0148] Halo(1-6C)alkyl means a branched or unbranched alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms, in which from one up to all hydrogen atoms are replaced by a halogen as defined herein. Examples of such branched or straight chain haloalkyl groups useful in the present invention include, but are not limited to, methyl, ethyl, propyl, isopropyl, isobutyl and n-butyl substituted independently with one or more halogen atoms, e.g., fluoro, chloro, bromo and iodo. Specific examples of “haloalkyl include, but are not limited to, fluoromethyl, difluoromethyl, trifluoromethyl, 1-fluoroethyl, 2-fluoroethyl, 2,2-difluoroethyl, 2,2,2-trifluoroethyl, and perfluoro-n-propyl. [0149] HO(1-6C)alkyl means a branched or unbranched alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms, in which one, two or three hydrogen atoms are replaced by a hydroxyl group. Examples of “HO(1-6C)alkyl” include, but are not limited to, hydroxymethyl, 1-hydroxyethyl, 2-hydroxyethyl, and 1,2-dihydroxyethyl. [0150] H.sub.2N(1-6C)alkyl means a branched or unbranched alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms, in which one, two or three hydrogen atoms are replaced by an amino group. Examples of “H.sub.2N(1-6C)alkyl” include, but are not limited to, aminomethyl, 1-aminoethyl, 2-aminoethyl, and 1,2-di-aminoethyl. [0151] Cyano(1-6C)alkyl means a branched or unbranched alkyl group having 1-6 carbon atoms, in which one, two or three hydrogen atoms are replaced by a cyano group. Examples of “cyano(1-6C)alkyl” include, but are not limited to, cyanomethyl, 1-cyanoethyl, 2-cyanoethyl, and 1,2-dicyanoethyl.

[0152] In the above definitions with multifunctional groups, the attachment point is at the last group.

[0153] When, in the definition of a substituent, is indicated that “all of the alkyl groups” of said substituent are optionally substituted, this also includes the alkyl moiety of an alkoxy group.

[0154] The term “substituted” means that one or more hydrogens on the designated atom/atoms is/are replaced with a selection from the indicated group, provided that the designated atom's normal valency under the existing circumstances is not exceeded, and that the substitution results in a stable compound. Combinations of substituents and/or variables are permissible only if such combinations result in stable compounds.

[0155] “Stable compound” or “stable structure” is defined as a compound or structure that is sufficiently robust to survive isolation to a useful degree of purity from a reaction mixture, and formulation into an efficacious therapeutic agent.

[0156] The term “optionally substituted” means optional substitution with the specified groups, radicals or moieties.

[0157] The present invention will now be described in the following examples. These examples are intended to be illustrative of the invention, and are not intended to be limiting of the invention.

EXAMPLES

Methods

Cancer Cell Lines

[0158] To determine whether sensitivity of cancer-derived cells to TTK inhibitors correlates with the presence of a specific genomic marker, various TTK inhibitors were profiled in parallel on a panel of sixty-six cancer cell lines derived from different tumor origins and that have been characterized with respect to the expression and mutant status of various oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes (Uitdehaag, J. C. M., et al., PLoS ONE 9(3), e92146; 2014). The cancer cell lines used are listed in Table 1. All cell lines were purchased from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) (Manassas, Va., U.S.A.).

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Cancer cell lines used in drug sensitivity analysis. 769-P AN3 CA Daoy KU812 OVCAR-3 SUP-T1 786-0 AsPC-1 DLD-1 LNCaP PA-1 SW48 FGC A-172 AU-565 DoTc2 LoVo RKO SW480 4510 A-204 BT-20 DU145 LS 174T RPMI-7951 SW620 A375 BT-549 FaDu MCF7 RT4 SW948 A388 BxPC-3 HCT116 MeWo SHP-77 T24 A-427 C-33A HCT-15 MG-63 SJRH30 T986 A-498 CAL27 HS 578T MIA PaCa- SK-N-AS TT 2 A-549 CCRF- J82 MOLT-4 SK-N-FI U-2 OS CEM A-707 COLO205 Jurkat E6-1 NCI-H460 SNU-C2B U-87 MG ACHN COLO829 K-562 NCI-H82 SR WA-ES-BJ

[0159] The genetic status of the thirty-one most frequently changed cancer genes in the cell line panel has been established as either ‘mutant’ or ‘wild-type’ from public sequencing data (Garnett, M. J., et al., Nature 483: 570; 2012). In Table 2 the cell lines are listed that have CTNNB1 gene mutations. A427, LS 174T, HCT116 and SW48 have mutations in the serine or threonine residues that regulates the stability of β-catenin via phosphorylation at specific serine and threonine residues (Polakis, P., Curr. Opin. Gen. Dev. 9: 15; 1999). The other cell lines listed in the table and the cell lines from the sixty-six cancer cell line panel that are not mentioned, either have CTNNB1 mutations that are not implicated in regulation of protein stability, or do not have any CTNNB1 gene mutation.

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 CTNNB1 gene mutations in cancer cell lines included in the drug sensitivity analysis. Muta- tions Amino in reg- acid Literature ulatory Cell line Codon change change Zygosity reference domain A427 121A > G T41A homozygous 1,2 Yes LS 174T 134C > T S45F 2,3 Yes HCT 116 131-133delCTT S45del heterozygous 1,2,4,5 Yes SW48 98C > A S33Y heterozygous 1,2,4,5 Yes Other C33A 1216G > A P406I heterozygous 1 no DU145 914C > G A305G homozygous 1,4 no LNCap 1154T > A I385H heterozygous 1 no T98G 526C > T B176Y heterozygous 1 no U2OS 1584-1G > A heterozygous 1 no (intronic substitution) COLO205 E562 splice diploid 4 no

REFERENCES

[0160] 1. Cosmic Cell Lines project, status Feb. 2, 2015 [0161] 2. Garnett, M. J., et al. [0162] 3. Wang, Z., et al., Cancer Res. 63: 5234; 2003 [0163] 4. Cancer Cell Line Encyclopedia, status Feb. 2, 2015 [0164] 5. Morin, et al., 1997; Ryas, M., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94: 10330; 1997

Cell Proliferation Assays

[0165] All cell lines were cultured in the media as recommended by ATCC. The culture media were purchased from Life Technologies (Bleiswijk, The Netherlands). Proliferation assays were carried out as described (Uitdehaag J. C. M., et al.) in 384-well plates with incubation with compound for 120 hours. Effects of TTK inhibitors were measured in a 9-point dilution series in duplicate. The final DMSO concentration during incubation was 0.4% (v/v) in all wells. As readout, intracellular ATP content was used as an indirect measure of cell number, using ATPlite™ 1 Step solution (Perkin Elmer, Groningen, The Netherlands). The effect of the compounds on cell growth was calculated relative to control wells containing only 0.4% (v/v) DMSO. Half maximum inhibitory potencies (IC.sub.50s) were fitted by non-linear regression using XLfit™ 5 (ID Business Solutions, Ltd., Surrey, U.K.).

Analysis of Cell Panel Response Data

[0166] Analysis of variance (Anova) was used to determine whether there was a statistical correlation between a particular genetic change in the panel of cell lines and drug sensitivity. The mutations and the .sup.10 log IC.sub.50 from the cell proliferation assays were analyzed with a type II Anova analysis using the statistical program R (R Foundation for statistical computing, Vienna, Austria) and displayed in volcano plots such as shown in FIGS. 2A-2G. The p-value (y-axis in the volcano plot) indicates the confidence level for genetic association of mutations in a particular gene with a IC.sub.50 shift. The average factor with which the IC.sub.50 shifts is indicated on the x-axis. The areas of the circles are proportional to the number of mutants in the cell panel (each mutation is present at least twice). To compute significance, p-values were subjected to a Benjamini-Hochberg multiple testing correction (Benjamini, Y., and Hochberg, Y., J. Royal. Statistic. Soc. B 57:289; 1995). Genetic associations with a <20% false discovery rate were considered significant.

Statistical Analysis of Difference in Sensitivity

[0167] To quantify differences in sensitivity between CTNNB1-mutant and CTNNB1 proficient, the inhibitory potency of the TTK inhibitors was expressed as pIC.sub.50 (−.sup.10 log IC.sub.50). A two-tailed Student's t-test was performed to determine whether differences in sensitivity (ΔpIC.sub.50) between CTNNB1 mutant and CTNNB1 proficient cells were statistically significant (i.e., p<0.05).

Comparison of Sensitivity in Isogenic Cell Lines

[0168] To determine whether mutated CTNNB1 was sufficient to confer increased sensitivity to TTK inhibitors, proliferation assay were performed with a pair of isogenic cell lines. Parental HCT116 cells harbor a deletion of three base pairs in one copy of the CTNNB1 gene, resulting in deletion of the regulatory serine residue at position 45 (S45del) of β-catenin (Table 2). Parental HCT116 cells are furthermore heterozygous regarding mutation in the CTNNB1 gene, i.e., the genotype of parental HCT116 regarding CTNNB1 is S45del/+. An isogenic cell line derived from HCT116 lacking the mutated CTNNB1 gene copy (+/−) was purchased from Horizon Discovery (Cambridge, U.K.) (Chan, T. A., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 99: 8265; 2002). HCT116 parental and isogenic derivatives were cultured in identical media, as recommended by the supplier.

[0169] Proliferation assays were carried out as described for cancer cell lines (Uitdehaag J. C. M., et al.). Dose response curves were plotted, IC.sub.50, pIC.sub.50 and maximum percentage effect (efficacy) were calculated using XLfit™ 5. Difference in sensitivity of the parental and the isogenic derivative were expressed as difference in pIC.sub.50 (ΔpIC.sub.50) and difference in efficacy (Δefficacy).

TTK Inhibitors (Examples 1 to 31)

[0170] The following examples are illustrative embodiments of the invention, not limiting the scope of the invention in any way. Reagents are either commercially available or are prepared according to procedures in the literature.

Method LCMS (A)

[0171]

TABLE-US-00003 Method name NTRC_C18_Short.M Column Waters XTerra C18-MS, 50 × 4.6 mm ID, 2.5 □m Flow 0.5 ml/min. Temperature 40° C. Detector DAD 210, 254, 280 nm Detector MSD API-ES MSD signal 1 2 Mode Scan Scan Polarity Positive Negative Mass Range 100-1000 m/z 100-1000 m/z Fragmentor 70 70 Cycle Time 50% 50% Sample N/A preparation Concentration 1 mg/ml MeOH or CAN Injection 1,0 □l volume Eluent A B Time % 0.1% Formic % 0.05% Formic [min] Acid Acid in Acetonitrile 0 90 10 0.3 90 10 7.0 10 90 7.1 90 10 10.0 90 10 Post time 0.2 min Stop time 10 min

Method LCMS (B)

[0172]

TABLE-US-00004 Method name NTRC_C18.M Column Waters XTerra C18-MS, 50 × 4.6 mm ID, 2.5 □m Flow 0.5 ml/min. Temperature 40° C. Detector DAD 210, 254, 280 nm Detector MSD API-ES MSD signal 1 2 Mode Scan Scan Polarity Positive Negative Mass Range 100-1000 m/z 100-1000 m/z Fragmentor 70 70 Cycle Time 50% 50% Sample N/A preparation Concentration 1 mg/ml in MeOH or CAN Injection 1,0 □l volume Eluent A B Time % 0.1% % 0.05% Formic [min] Formic Acid Acid in Acetonitrile 0 90 10 1 90 10 22.0 10 90 22.1 90 10 30.0 90 10 Post time 0.2 min Stop time 30 min

Method LCMS (C)

[0173]

TABLE-US-00005 LC System HP1200SL Column Agilent Eclipse plus C18 150 mm × 2.1 mm ID 3.5 μm Column temperature 40° C. Sample(s) ca 1 mg/mL Autosampler 20° C. temperature Injection volume 5 μL Flow 0.5 ml/min Type of Pump Binary Eluent A = MilliQ + 0.1% Formic Acid B = Acetonitrile Gradient time (min) % A % B 0 90 10 1 90 10 22 10 90 22.1 90 10 30 90 10 Next Injection delay 0 min UV detection UV 210, 240, 280 nm Flowcell DAD 10 mm MS system Agilent 6130 single Quad MS Source ESI Mode Positive (+) Mass range 100-1000 Da Flow The total flow was split to a suitable flow infused directly in the APCI/ESI multimode source of the Agilent 6130

Method Preparative HPLC

[0174]

TABLE-US-00006 LC System Waters Prep System Column Phenomenex Luna, C18(2) 100 A, 150 mm × 21.2 mm, 5 μm Column Temp 20° C. Sample(s) 10-50 mg Autosamp. 20° C. Temp Injection 500-950 μL volume Flow 15 ml/min Eluent A = MilliQ + MeCN (9/1) B = Acetonitrile Gradient time (min) % A % B % C 0 97 0 3 20 37 60 3 25 37 60 3 25.1 97 0 3 30 97 0 3 UV detection Photo Diode Array

[0175] The following abbreviations are used throughout the application with respect to chemical terminology: [0176] TFA Trifluoracetic acid [0177] HATU O-(7-Azabenzotriazol-1-yl)-1,1,3,3-tetramethyluroniumhexafluorophosphate [0178] DMF N,N-Dimethylformamide [0179] THF Tetrahydrofuran [0180] MeOH Methanol [0181] EtOAc Ethyl acetate [0182] DCM Dichloromethane [0183] Na.sub.2S O.sub.4 Sodium sulfate [0184] TMS-Cl Chlorotrimethylsilane [0185] DiPEA N,N-Diisopropylethylamine [0186] EtOH Ethanol [0187] 10% Pd/C 10% Palladium on charcoal [0188] HPLC High Performance Liquid Chromatography [0189] LCMS Liquid Chromatography with Mass Spectrometry detection [0190] NaOH Sodium hydroxide [0191] KOH Potassium hydroxide [0192] HCl Hydrogen chloride [0193] NaHCO.sub.3 Sodium bicarbonate [0194] 4-DMAP 4-Dimethylamino pyridine [0195] Boc tert-Butyloxycarbonyl [0196] Cbz Benzyloxycarbonyl [0197] HNO.sub.3 Nitric acid [0198] LiHMDS Lithium bis(trimethylsilyl)amide [0199] DDQ 2,3-Dichloro-5,6-dicyano-p-benzoquinone [0200] DEAD Diethyl azodicarboxylate [0201] o/n overnight

[0202] The names of the final products in the examples are generated using Accelrys Draw (version 4.1).

Example 1 (WITJ0018D)

[0203] ##STR00011##

N6-cyclohexyl-N2-(2-methyl-4-morpholino-phenyl)-9H-purine-2,6-diamine

[0204] This compound was prepared as described in WO2010/111406 A2 and Bioorg. Med. Chem. Letters 22 (2012) 4377. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (338 mg). Data: LCMS (C) R.sub.t: 10.995 min; m/z 408.3 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 2 (JGS0282C)

[0205] ##STR00012##

N-cyclopropyl-4-[8-(isobutylamino)imidazo[1,2-a]pyrazin-3-yl]benzamide

[0206] This compound was prepared as described in WO2012/080229 A1 and Cell Death and Differentiation 20 (2013), 1532. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (47 mg). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 8.088 min; m/z 350.2 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 3 (BTHO238B)

[0207] ##STR00013##

N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-1-methyl-8-[4-[(1-methyl-4-piperidyl)carbamoyl]-2-(trifluoromethoxy)anilino]-4,5-dihydropyrazolo[4,3-h]quinazoline-3-carboxamide

[0208] This compound was prepared as described in WO2009/156315 A1 and Cancer Res. 70 (2010), 10255. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (191 mg). Data: LCMS (A) R.sub.t: 5.810 min; m/z 677.6 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 4 (WITJ113B)

[0209] ##STR00014##

N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-8-(2-methoxy-4-piperazin-1-yl-anilino)-1-methyl-4,5-dihydropyrazolo[4,3-h]quinazoline-3-carboxamide

[0210] This compound was prepared as described in WO2009/156315 A1. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (7.3 mg). Data: LCMS (C) R.sub.t: 12.954 min; m/z 567.3 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 5 (JGS0716D)

[0211] ##STR00015##

N-cyclopropyl-4-[6-(2,3-difluoro-4-methoxy-phenoxy)-8-(tetrahydropyran-4-ylmethylamino)imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazin-3-yl]-2-methyl-benzamide

[0212] This compound was prepared as described in WO 2014/131739 A1. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (90 mg). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 13.496 min; m/z 564.5 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 6 (JGS0728A)

[0213] ##STR00016##

N-cyclopropyl-4-[6-(3-fluoro-4-methoxy-phenoxy)-8-(oxetan-3-ylmethylamino)imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazin-3-yl]-2-methyl-benzamide

[0214] This compound was prepared as described in WO 2014/131739 A1. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (45 mg). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 11.640 min; m/z 518.4 (M+H).sup.+.

Intermediate 1

[0215] ##STR00017##

Ethyl 2-chloro-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate

(a) 5-Bromo-2-chloro-pyrimidin-4-amine (WITJ0221)

[0216] To a solution of 5-bromo-2,4-dichloro-pyrimidine (150 g; 658 mmol) in THF (445 mL) was added ammonium hydroxide (25% in water, 250 mL) and the resulting reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 90 min. The mixture was subsequently concentrated in vacuo to a small volume and partitioned between ethyl acetate and water. The organic phase was separated and washed with water and brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated to give 137.3 g (quant. yield) of 5-bromo-2-chloro-pyrimidin-4-amine.

(b) 5-Bromo-2-methoxy-pyrimidin-4-amine (WITJ0223)

[0217] To a suspension of 5-bromo-2-chloro-pyrimidin-4-amine (137.3 g, 658 mmol) in methanol (1 L) was added portion-wise sodium methoxide (83.5 g; 1.54 mol). The reaction mixture was stirred for 2 h. at reflux. The reaction mixture was concentrated to a small volume (˜400 mL) and poured into a saturated solution of ammonium chloride in water (1.2 L). This mixture was allowed to stir for 15 min, after which the water layer was extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined ethyl acetate layers were washed with brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated to yield 5-bromo-2-methoxypyrimidin-4-amine (133.7 g, 99.4%).

[0218] Palladium(II) acetate (1.21 g, 5.5 mmol) and triphenylphosphine (3.40 g, 13.0 mmol) were dissolved in anhydrous and oxygen-free DMF (53 mL) and stirred for 5 min at 30° C. to give an orange suspension. To this suspension was added a solution of 5-bromo-2-methoxypyrimidin-4-amine (44.1 g, 216 mmol) in DMF (270 mL), triethylamine (60.2 mL, 432 mmol) and a solution of ethyl acrylate (23.5 mL, 216 mmol) in DMF (50 mL). The reaction mixture was stirred at 100° C. o/n under a nitrogen atmosphere. The reaction mixture was evaporated to a small volume. Water (300 mL) and brine (300 mL) were added to the mixture, followed by an extraction with ethyl acetate (300 mL, twice). The combined organic layers were washed with water, brine, dried over sodium sulfate and concentrated in vacuo. The crude product was purified by silica column chromatography (ethyl acetate:heptane=2:1 v/v %) to yield the title compound (38.2 g, 77%).

(d) 2-Methoxy-6,8-dihydro-5H-pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidin-7-one (WITJ0262)

[0219] To a stirred solution of ethyl (E)-3-(4-amino-2-methoxy-pyrimidin-5-yl)prop-2-enoate (12.52 g, 56.1 mmol) in methanol (250 mL) was added a suspension of 10% Pd on charcoal (1.19 g) in methanol/ethanol=3/1 v/v % (30 mL). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 min under nitrogen atmosphere. Then, ammonium formate (35.3 g, 561 mmol) was added and the resulting reaction mixture was refluxed o/n. After cooling of the reaction mixture, a fresh portion of ammonium formate (20 g, 317 mmol) was added and stirring was continued an additional night at reflux. The reaction mixture was filtered over Decalite® and the Pd—C/Decalite® residue was washed with dichloromethane/methanol=8/2 v/v % and the filtrate was concentrated in vacuo. The residue was dissolved in dichloromethane and washed with water, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo to obtain 9.4 g (94%) of 2-methoxy-6,8-dihydro-5H-pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidin-7-one.

(e) Ethyl 2-methoxy-5,6,8,9-tetrahydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (JGS0241)

[0220] 2-Methoxy-6,8-dihydro-5H-pyrido[2,3-d]pyrimidin-7-one (4.79 g, 26.8 mmol) was suspended in THF (200 mL) in a three-necked flask (500 mL), equipped with a mechanical stirrer, a thermometer and a reflux condenser. The mixture was cooled to 0° C. and sodium hydride (60% dispersion in oil, 1.18 g, 29.4 mmol) was added in two batches. The mixture was stirred at 0° C. for 30 min. (1-ethoxycarbonylcyclopropyl)triphenylphosphonium tetrafluoroborate (13.6 g, 29.4 mmol) was added and the resulting suspension was heated to reflux and kept at reflux temperature for 3 days. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and poured in a 1/1/1 mixture of brine/water/EtOAc (450 mL). The water layer was extracted with ethyl acetate (2×). The combined organic layers were washed with water and brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo to give 18.05 g of an orange oil. The crude product was used directly in the next step without purification.

(f) Ethyl 2-methoxy-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (JGS244)

[0221] To a stirred solution of ethyl 2-methoxy-5,6,8,9-tetrahydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (18.05 g, 26.2 mmol) in dichloromethane (100 mL) was added acetic acid (3.15 g, 3 mL) and lead(IV)acetate (13.9 g, 31.4 mmol). The reaction mixture was stirred for 2 h at room temperature then filtered over a PE filter to remove Pb-salts and the Pb-residue was washed with 2×30 mL DCM. The filtrate was concentrated in vacuo and the resulting residue was dissolved in ethyl acetate (300 mL). A solution of sodium bicarbonate (5%) was added until pH˜8.5. Both the organic and the water layers were filtered over Decalite® to remove any remaining salts. The water layer was subsequently extracted with EtOAc (2×50 mL). The combined organic layers were washed with 5% sodium bicarbonate-solution (100 mL), water (100 mL), brine (50 mL), dried (Na.sub.2SO.sub.4), filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude product was purified by column chromatography on silica (heptane: ethyl acetate=1/0 to 1/1 v/v %) to yield the title compound (4.74 g, 66% over two steps).

(g) Ethyl 2-hydroxy-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (JGS0245)

[0222] Sodium iodide (7.83 g, 52.2 mmol) was added to a stirred solution of ethyl 2-methoxy-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (4.74 g, 17.3 mmol) in acetonitrile (150 mL). Trimethylsilyl chloride (5.64 g, 6.59 mL) dissolved in acetonitrile (30 mL) was added drop-wise to the reaction mixture and the mixture was stirred at room temperature o/n. NaI (1 eq) was added and additional TMS-Cl (0.94 g, 1.1 mmol) in acetonitrile (6 mL) was added drop-wise and the reaction was stirred for 3 days at room temperature. The mixture was concentrated and the residue was suspended in 200 mL DCM/MeOH (4/1) and extracted with a mixture of saturated solution of sodium thiosulfate (200 mL) and water (200 mL). The water layer was extracted with 3×150 mL DCM/MeOH (4/1). The combined organic layers were dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and the solvent was removed under reduced pressure to give a yellow solid. The residue was dried at 40° C. under vacuum for 18 h to give 3.89 g ethyl 2-hydroxy-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (86%).

(h) Ethyl 2-chloro-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (Intermediate 1) (JGS0249)

[0223] N,N-dimethylaniline (182 mg, 191 uL, 1.50 mmol) was added to a solution of ethyl 2-hydroxy-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (3.89 g, 15.0 mmol) in acetonitrile (100 mL). A solution of phosphorus(V) oxychloride (11.5 g, 7.00 mL, 75.0 mmol) in acetonitrile (15 mL) was added drop-wise to the reaction mixture. The yellow suspension was heated for 4 hours to 65° C. during which the suspension turned into a clear solution. After cooling, the mixture was slowly poured in a stirred mixture of 25% aq. ammonia (200 mL, 86.7 eq.) and ice-water (250 mL) keeping the temperature below 10° C. in 15-20 minutes. After stirring for another 15 minutes the solids were filtered. The solids were dissolved in 200 mL EtOAc and washed with brine (20 mL). The organic layer was dried over sodium sulfate, and concentrated in vacuo to give an off-white solid. The crude product was purified by column chromatography on silica (heptane/ethyl acetate=1/0 to 1/1 v/v %) to yield the title compound (3.05 g, 73%).

Intermediate A

[0224] ##STR00018##

Benzyl 4-(4-amino-3-methyl-phenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate

(a) Benzyl 4-(3-methyl-4-nitro-phenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (WITI404)

[0225] Benzyl piperazine-1-carboxylate (1.05 mL, 5.25 mmol) and potassium carbonate (1.38 g, 10 mmol) were added to a solution of 4-fluoro-2-methyl-1-nitro-benzene (776 mg, 5 mmol) in DMF (10 mL) and the resulting mixture was stirred at 100° C. for 18 h. Water was added to the reaction mixture and extraction performed with ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were washed with brine, dried over sodium sulfate and concentrated in vacuo. The crude product was purified by silica column chromatography (heptane/ethyl acetate=1/0 to 6/4 v/v %) to yield the title compound (1.75 g, 98%).

(b) Benzyl 4-(4-amino-3-methyl-phenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (Intermediate A) (WITI406)

[0226] Benzyl 4-(3-methyl-4-nitro-phenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (355 mg, 1 mmol) was dissolved in THF (5 mL) and acetic acid (1.1 mL) was added. The mixture was cooled to 0° C. and zinc (1.31 g, 20 mmol) was added in small portions to keep the temperature below 20° C. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature o/n. After TLC analysis indicated a complete conversion of the starting material, the mixture was filtered over Decalite® and the Zn-Decalite® residue was washed with EtOAc (20 mL). The combined filtrates were washed with a 1N NaOH-solution (25 mL), followed by water (25 mL) and brine (25 mL). The organic layer was dried (Na.sub.2SO.sub.4), filtered and concentrated in vacuo to give benzyl 4-(4-amino-3-methyl-phenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (327 mg, quantitative).

Intermediate 2

[0227] ##STR00019##

Benzyl 4-[4-[(7-chlorocarbonyl-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizin-2-yl)amino]-3-methyl-phenyl]piperazine-1-carboxylate

(a) Ethyl 2-[4-(4-benzyloxycarbonylpiperazin-1-yl)-2-methyl-anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (WITJ407)

[0228] To a suspension of ethyl 2-chloro-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (Intermediate 1, 292 mg, 1.05 mmol) in n-butanol (8 mL) was added benzyl 4-(4-amino-3-methyl-phenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (Intermediate A, 327 mg, 1.0 mmol) and trifluoroacetic acid (153 μL 2.0 mmol). The reaction mixture was heated for 12 hours at 120° C. under microwave radiation. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was dissolved in ethyl acetate. The organic layer was washed with a saturated solution of sodium bicarbonate, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude product was purified by silica column chromatography (heptane/ethyl acetate=4/6 to 0/1 v/v %). Fractions containing product were collected and evaporated to afford ethyl 2-[4-(4-benzyloxycarbonylpiperazin-1-yl)-2-methyl-anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (423 mg, 75% yield).

(b) Benzyl 4-[4-[(7-chlorocarbonyl-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizin-2-yl)amino]-3-methyl-phenyl]piperazine-1-carboxylate (Intermediate 2) (WITJ408/WITJ414)

[0229] To a solution of ethyl 2-[4-(4-benzyloxycarbonylpiperazin-1-yl)-2-methyl-anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (423 mg, 0.75 mmol) in 15 mL absolute ethanol was added a 2M NaOH-solution (935 μL (2.5 eq). 1.87 mmol).

[0230] The reaction mixture was heated at 65° C. o/n. Reaction mixture was evaporated to dryness and dried under high vacuum. The resulting residue was dissolved in water, stirred o/n at room temperature and lyophilised to yield the crude sodium 2-[4-(4-benzyloxycarbonylpiperazin-1-yl)-2-methyl-anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate.

[0231] Thionyl chloride (561 μL, 7. mmol) was added to a cold (0° C.) suspension of the crude sodium 2-[4-(4-benzyloxycarbonylpiperazin-1-yl)-2-methyl-anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (217 mg, 0.39 mmol theor.) in dichloromethane (8 mL). The resulting slurry was stirred at room temperature o/n. The reaction mixture was concentrated in vacuo and the residue was co-evaporated with toluene (2×10 mL) to give of benzyl 4-[4-[(7-chlorocarbonyl-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizin-2-yl)amino]-3-methyl-phenyl]piperazine-1-carboxylate as a yellow/brown powder (261 mg, quant. crude yield).

Example 7 (WITJ0416/WITJ429A)

[0232] ##STR00020##

N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2-(2-methyl-4-piperazin-1-yl-anilino)-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0233] To a suspension of benzyl 4-[4-[(7-chlorocarbonyl-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizin-2-yl)amino]-3-methyl-phenyl]piperazine-1-carboxylate (Intermediate 2, 45 mg, 0.081 mmol theor.) in acetonitrile (3 mL) was added 2,6-dimethylaniline (15 μL, 0.12 mmol) and a catalytic amount of 4-DMAP. The reaction mixture was stirred at 50° C. for 1 h. After evaporation of the solvent, the Cbz-group was de-protected using TFA/thioanisole and the crude product was purified by preparative HPLC. Fractions containing product were collected and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was partitioned between dichloromethane and 5% NaHCO.sub.3-solution. The organic phase was separated over a PE-filter and evaporated to afford the title compound (20 mg, 64%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 9.706 min; m/z 508.3 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 8 (JGS439C)

[0234] ##STR00021##

N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2-[2-methoxy-4-(tetrahydropyran-4-ylcarbamoyl)anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

(a) 2-(4-Bromo-2-methoxy-anilino)-N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide (JGS453)

[0235] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid chloride, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2, using commercially available 4-bromo-2-methoxyaniline as starting material. The acid chloride was subsequently reacted with 2,6-dimethylaniline according to procedures described in Example 7 to afford the title compound (1.35 g, 84%).

(b) 2-(4-Cyano-2-methoxy-anilino)-N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide (JGS455)

[0236] To a solution of 2-(4-bromo-2-methoxy-anilino)-N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide (1.35 g, 2.6 mmol) and zinc cyanide (321 mg, 2.73 mmol) in DMF (4 mL) was added tetrakis(triphenylphosphine)palladium(0) (300 mg, 0.26 mmol). The reaction mixture was heated for 30 minutes at 170° C. under microwave radiation. After cooling to ambient temperature, the mixture was concentrated and the residue was diluted with ethyl acetate, washed with water and brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo to afford the crude title compound (1.05 g, 87%).

(c) 4-[[7-[(2,6-Dimethylphenyl)carbamoyl]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizin-2-yl]amino]-3-methoxy-benzoic Acid (JGS0457)

[0237] To a stirred suspension of 2-(4-cyano-2-methoxy-anilino)-N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide (750 mg, 1.61 mmol) in MeOH (25 mL) was added a solution of potassium hydroxide (453 mg, 8.07 mmol) in water (12.5 mL). The reaction mixture was heated for 2 hours at 120° C. under microwave radiation. After evaporation of the methanol fraction, the resulting water layer was acidified by addition of 2N HCl-solution until pH-2. After extraction with dichloromethane, the combined organic layers were filtered over a PE-filter to give 330 mg of the title compound (yield: 42%).

(d) N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2-[2-methoxy-4-(tetrahydropyran-4-ylcarbamoyl)anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide (JGS439C)

[0238] 4-[[7-[(2,6-Dimethylphenyl)carbamoyl]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizin-2-yl]amino]-3-methoxy-benzoic acid (30 mg, 0.062 mmol) was dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide (3 ml). HATU (25.9 mg, 0.068 mmol) and N,N-diisopropylethylamine (43.1 μL, 0.25 mmol) were subsequently added and the mixture was stirred for 10 min at room temperature. 4-Aminotetrahydropyran hydrochloride (12.8 mg, 0.093 mmol) was added and the mixture was stirred at room temperature o/n. The mixture was poured into a mixture ethyl acetate/water/brine (1/1/1) and stirred for 15 min. The organic layer was separated, washed with brine, dried over sodium sulphate filtered and concentrated in vacuo. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (5 mg, 18%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 14.407 min; m/z 567.3 (M+H).sup.+.

Intermediate B (NV0068/NV0076)

[0239] ##STR00022##

2-Methoxy-4-(1,3,5-trimethylpyrazol-4-yl)aniline

(a) tert-Butyl N-[2-methoxy-4-(1,3,5-trimethylpyrazol-4-yl)phenyl]carbamate (NV0068)

[0240] A mixture of tert-butyl N-(4-bromo-2-methoxy-phenyl)carbamate (150 mg, 0.5 mmol), 1,3,5-trimethyl-4-(4,4,5,5-tetramethyl-1,3,2-dioxaborolan-2-yl)pyrazole (118 mg, 0.5 mmol), tetrakis(tri-phenylphosphine)palladium(0) (58 mg, 0.05 mmol) and potassium carbonate (207 mg, 1.5 mmol) in dioxane (4 mL) was heated at 100° C. under microwave irradiation for 20 minutes in a sealed tube. After cooling to ambient temperature, the mixture was concentrated and the residue was diluted with ethyl acetate, washed with water and brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by column chromatography (heptane/ethyl acetate=100/0 to 25/75 v/v %) to afford tert-butyl N-[2-methoxy-4-(1,3,5-trimethylpyrazol-4-yl)phenyl]carbamate (126.8 mg, 77%).

(b) 2-Methoxy-4-(1,3,5-trimethylpyrazol-4-yl)aniline (Intermediate B) (NV0076)

[0241] tert-Butyl N-[2-methoxy-4-(1,3,5-trimethylpyrazol-4-yl)phenyl]carbamate (127 mg, 0.38 mmol) was dissolved in DCM (2 mL). TFA (3 mL) was added and the reaction mixture was stirred for 1 hour at room temperature. The mixture was concentrated in vacuo to give a brown oil (313 mg) that was used without further purification.

Intermediate C (JDM0438/JDM0435)

[0242] ##STR00023##

1-[2-[2-(2-Methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-4-amine

(a) 1-[2-[2-(2-Methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-pyrazole

[0243] To a cold (0° C.) solution of 3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazole (250 mg, 1.77 mmol), triethylene glycol monomethylether (482 μL, 3.01 mmol) and triphenylphosphine (789 mg, 3.01 mmol) in THF (10 mL) was added dropwise a solution of 40% DEAD in toluene (1.31 mL, 3.01 mmol) The reaction mixture was allowed to warm to room temperature and was stirred for 3 h. Ethyl acetate was added and washed with a 10% NaCl-solution. The organic layer was dried (Na.sub.2SO.sub.4), filtered and concentrated. The residue was purified by column chromatography (DCM/MeOH=99/1 to 95/5 v/v %) to afford 1-[2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-pyrazole (1.7 g, crude) which was used without purification in the next step.

(b) 1-[2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-4-amine (Intermediate C)

[0244] 1-[2-[2-(2-Methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-pyrazole (1.5 g, 1.77 mmol theor.) was dissolved in THF (15 mL) and acetic acid (1.6 mL) was added.

[0245] The mixture was cooled to 0° C. and zinc (2.3 g, 35.4 mmol) was added in small portions keeping the temperature below 20° C. The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature o/n. After TLC analysis indicated a complete conversion of the starting material, the mixture was filtered over Decalite® and the Zn-Decalite® residue was washed with ethyl acetate. The combined filtrates were washed with a 1N NaOH-solution, followed by water and brine. The organic layer was dried (Na.sub.2SO.sub.4), filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was dissolved in methanol and then filtered over a SCX-2 column. After rinsing the column with methanol, the desired product was eluted with an 0.7 N ammonia/methanol solution to give the title compound (340.1 mg, 74.7%).

Example 9 (JDM0641A)

[0246] ##STR00024##

N-[1-[2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-4-yl]-2-[2-methoxy-4-(1,3,5-trimethylpyrazol-4-yl)anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0247] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2b, using Intermediate B as starting material. The carboxylic acid was subsequently reacted with Intermediate C in an analogous manner as described for Example 8d. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (19.5 mg, 42.6%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 10.946 min; m/z 684.7 (M+H).sup.+.

Intermediate D (JGS88/92)

[0248] ##STR00025##

2-Methoxy-4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)aniline

[0249] This compound was prepared in an analogous manner as described for Intermediate A, starting from N-methylpiperazine and 2-methoxy-4-fluoronitrobenzene to afford the title compound (1.38 g, 94%).

Example 10 (JDM0443A)

[0250] ##STR00026##

N-[1-[2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-4-yl]-2-[2-methoxy-4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0251] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid chloride, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2, using Intermediate D as starting material. The acid chloride was subsequently reacted with Intermediate C according to procedures described in Example 8d. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (11.6 mg, 28.6%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 6.985 min; m/z 674.3 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 11 (JGS76C)

[0252] ##STR00027##

N-(2,6-diethylphenyl)-2-[2-methoxy-4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0253] This compound was prepared from its corresponding ester, using the same sequence of reactions as described for Intermediate 2a using Intermediate D as starting material.

[0254] LiHDMS (1M in THF/ethylbenzene, 412 μL, 0.412 mmol) was added to a cold (0° C.) solution of 2,6-diethylaniline (50.8 μL, 0.31 mmol) in THF (1 mL). After 15 minutes of stirring at 0° C., ethyl 2-[2-methoxy-4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (48 mg, 0.103 mmol) in THF (2 mL) was added drop-wise to the reaction mixture and stirring was continued for 90 min at 0° C. Additional LiHMDS (100 μL) was added drop-wise at room temperature and stirring was continued for 2 hours at room temperature. The reaction mixture was quenched with 20 mL saturated solution of ammonium chloride and extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were washed with water, brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (13.5 mg, 23.2%). Data: LCMS (C) R.sub.t: 12.686 min; m/z 566.4 (M+H).sup.+.

Intermediate E (/WITJ437WITJ438/WITJ440)

[0255] ##STR00028##

2-(Difluoromethoxy)-4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)aniline

[0256] To a solution of 5-fluoro-2-nitro-phenol (500 mg, 3.18 mmol) in DMF (6 ml) was added sodium 2-chloro-2,2-difluoro-acetate (970 mg, 6.36 mmol) and disodium carbonate (405 mg, 3.82 mmol). The reaction mixture was stirred at 100° C. for 3.5 hours and subsequently at room temperature for 3 days. A 4M HCl-solution was added until a clear solution was obtained and the mixture was stirred for 2 h at room temperature. The reaction mixture was diluted with water and extracted with EtOAc. The combined organic layers were washed with 1M NaOH-solution, brine, dried over sodium sulphate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was purified by column chromatography (heptane/ethyl acetate=10/0 to 8/2 v/v %) to afford 2-(difluoromethoxy)-4-fluoro-1-nitro-benzene (493 mg, 75%).

[0257] The title compound was prepared in an analogous manner as described for Intermediate A, starting from N-methylpiperazine and 2-(difluoromethoxy)-4-fluoro-1-nitro-benzene to afford 180 mg (80%).

Intermediate F (JDM300/WITJ410/WITJ411/WITJ413)

[0258] ##STR00029##

3,5-Diethyl-1H-pyrazol-4-amine

(a) 3,5-Diethyl-1H-pyrazole

[0259] To a solution of 3,5-heptanedione (2 g, 15.6 mmol) and hydrazine hydrate (0.77 g, 15.8 mmol) in water (10 mL) was added acetic acid (1 drop) and the reaction mixture was heated to reflux for 1 h. The reaction mixture was then cooled, and concentrated under reduced pressure to provide 1.8 g of the title compound. This compound was used directly in the next step without purification.

(b) 3,5-Diethyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazole

[0260] To a cold (0° C.) mixture of 3,5-diethyl-1H-pyrazole (1.8 g, 14.5 mmol) and concentrated sulphuric acid (1.5 ml) was added slowly, under vigorous stirring, fuming HNO.sub.3 (4.35 ml). The reaction mixture was stirred overnight at 60° C. The mixture was subsequently cooled to room temperature, then carefully added to an ice-cold saturated solution of sodium bicarbonate and stirred for 15 min. The mixture was then extracted three times with EtOAc and combined organic layers were washed with brine, dried over sodium sulphate, filtered and evaporated in vacuo to give: 2.52 g 3,5-diethyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazole.

[0261] The title compound was prepared in an analogous manner as described for Intermediate C, starting from 3,5-diethyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazole to give 3,5-diethyl-1H-pyrazol-4-amine (174 mg, 71%).

Example 12 (WITJ453B)

[0262] ##STR00030##

N-(3,5-diethyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-2-[2-(difluoromethoxy)-4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0263] This compound was prepared from its corresponding carboxylic acid, using the same sequence of reactions as described for Intermediate 2b, using Intermediate E as starting material. The carboxylic acid was subsequently reacted with Intermediate F in an analogous manner as described for Example 8d. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (9.6 mg, 23%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 8.864 min; m/z 592.3 (M+H).sup.+.

Intermediate G (JDM617/JDM622/JDM630)

[0264] ##STR00031##

3,5-Diethyl-1-[2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]pyrazol-4-amine

[0265] The title compound was prepared in an analogous manner as described for Intermediate C, starting from 3,5-diethyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazole (Intermediate Fb) and triethylene glycol monomethyl ether to give 660 mg of 3,5-diethyl-1-[2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]pyrazol-4-amine (41.7%).

Intermediate M (WITJ461/WITJ458)

[0266] ##STR00032##

Benzyl 4-(4-amino-3-methoxy-phenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate

[0267] This compound was prepared in an analogous manner as described for Intermediate A, starting from benzyl piperazine-1-carboxylate and 2-methoxy-4-fluoronitrobenzene to afford the title compound (1.2 g, 95%).

Example 13 (JDM0684A)

[0268] ##STR00033##

N-[3,5-diethyl-1-[2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-[2-methoxy-4-[4-(2-methoxyacetyl)piperazin-1-yl]anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0269] This compound was prepared from its corresponding amine (prepared as described for Example 7 starting from Intermediate 1 and Intermediate M) and methoxyacetic acid, using standard HATU-coupling procedures as described in Example 8d. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (17.8 mg, 57.1%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 9.908 min; m/z 760.8 (M+H).sup.+.

Intermediate H (JDM221/JDM0222/JDM393)

[0270] ##STR00034##

1-(2-Methoxyethyl)-3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-4-amine

(a) 1-(2-Methoxyethyl)-3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-pyrazole

[0271] To a solution of 3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazole (2.5 g, 17.7 mmol) and caesium carbonate (6.06 g, 18.6 mmol) in DMF (50 mL) was added 2-bromoethyl methyl ether (2.59 g, 1.75 mL, 18.6 mmol). The mixture was heated at 100° C. for 3.5 h. After cooling to room temperature, the mixture was poured into water and extracted with ethyl acetate (3×50 mL). The combined organic layers were washed with brine (50 mL), dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was purified by column chromatography (EtOAc/heptanes=1/4 v/v %) to afford 1-(2-methoxyethyl)-3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-pyrazole (2.66 g, 75.4%) as a white crystalline solid.

(b) 1-(2-Methoxyethyl)-3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-4-amine

[0272] 1-(2-Methoxyethyl)-3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-pyrazole (245 mg, 1.22 mmol) was dissolved in methanol (25 mL). The resulting solution was hydrogenated using a H-Cube continuous-flow hydrogenation reactor, 10% Pd/C, at 30° C., 8-10 bar, 1 mL/min, full H.sub.2 modus. The resulting solution was concentrated in vacuo to yield 208 mg (quant. yield) of the title compound as a light-brown oil.

Intermediate I (JDM464/JDM450)

[0273] ##STR00035##

3,5-Diethyl-1-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl]pyrazol-4-amine

[0274] The title compound was prepared in an analogous manner as described for Intermediate H, starting from 3,5-diethyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazole (Intermediate Fb) and 1-bromo-2-(2-methoxyethoxy)-ethane to give 290 mg of 3,5-diethyl-1-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl]pyrazol-4-amine (72.2%.).

Example 14 (JDM0466A)

[0275] ##STR00036##

N-[3,5-diethyl-1-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-[2-methoxy-4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0276] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid chloride, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2, using Intermediate D as starting material. The acid chloride was subsequently reacted with Intermediate I according to procedures described in Example 7. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (22 mg, 54.4%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 7.845 min; m/z 658.3 (M+H).sup.+.

Intermediate J (WITJ277/WITJ84)

[0277] ##STR00037##

tert-Butyl 4-(4-amino-3-methoxy-phenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate

[0278] This compound was prepared in an analogous manner as described in Intermediate A, starting from tert-butyl piperazine-1-carboxylate and 2-methoxy-4-fluoronitrobenzene to afford the title compound (245 mg, 91%).

Example 15 (WITJ349B)

[0279] ##STR00038##

N-[1-(2-methoxyethyl)-3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-4-yl]-2-(2-methoxy-4-piperazin-1-yl-anilino)-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0280] Ethyl 2-chloro-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (Intermediate 1, 296 mg, 1.07 mmol), tert-Butyl 4-(4-amino-3-methoxy-phenyl)piperazine-1-carboxylate (Intermediate J, 328 mg, 1.07 mmol) and cesium carbonate (1.39 g, 4.27 mmol) were suspended in dioxane (25 mL). Nitrogen was bubbled through the mixture at 30° C. for 5 minutes followed by the addition of 9,9-bis-dimethyl-4,5-bis(diphenylphosphino)xanthene (62 mg, 0.11 mmol) and tris(dibenzylideneacetone)dipalladium(0) (49 mg, 53 μmol). The reaction mixture was stirred at 80° C. for 20 hours under a flow of nitrogen gas.

[0281] Ethyl acetate/water/brine (1/1/1 v/v %, 50 mL) were added to the reaction mixture and stirring was continued for 15 min. After filtration over Decalite® the water layer was separated and extracted with ethyl acetate (2×20 mL). The combined organic layers were subsequently washed with water (40 mL), brine (20 mL), dried over sodium sulphate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude product was purified by column chromatography on silica (Heptane/Ethyl acetate=1/0 to 0/1 v/v %) to ethyl 2-[4-(4-tert-butoxycarbonylpiperazin-1-yl)-2-methoxy-anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (115 mg, 20%).

[0282] The thus obtained ethyl ester was subsequently hydrolysed using conditions described for Intermediate 2b. The sodium salt of the corresponding carboxylic acid was subsequently reacted with Intermediate H in an analogous manner as described for Example 8d. After de-protection of the Boc-group, purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (5.2 mg, 28%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 8.140 min; m/z 572.3 (M+H).sup.+.

Intermediate K (JDM251/JDM302)

[0283] ##STR00039##

2-Methoxy-4-[(1-methyl-4-piperidyl)oxy]aniline

(a) 4-(3-Methoxy-4-nitro-phenoxy)-1-methyl-piperidine

[0284] To a solution of 4-fluoro-2-methoxy-1-nitro-benzene (750 mg, 4.38 mmol) in toluene (10 mL) were added 10 mL of a 25% KOH-solution, 4-hydroxy-N-methylpiperidine (1009 mg, 8.76 mmol) and tetra-n-butyl ammonium bromide (282 mg, 0.876 mmol). The mixture was heated at 60° C. o/n. The reaction mixture was then diluted with ethyl acetate and the water layer was extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were washed with brine, dried over sodium sulfate and evaporated. The residue was purified by flash chromatography on silica gel (dichloromethane/methanol=99/1 to 9/1 v/v %) to obtain the title compound. (650 mg, 55.7%)

(b) 2-Methoxy-4-[(1-methyl-4-piperidyl)oxy]aniline (Intermediate K)

[0285] 10% Pd/C (20 mg) was added as a suspension in ethanol to a solution of 4-(3-methoxy-4-nitro-phenoxy)-1-methyl-piperidine (200 mg, 0.75 mmol) in ethanol (5 mL). The resulting mixture was stirred for 15 min at room temperature. Ammonium formate (473 mg, 7.5 mmol) was added and the reaction mixture was stirred for 1 hour at reflux under nitrogen atmosphere. The reaction mixture was cooled to room temperature and filtered over Decalite®. The filtrate was concentrated in vacuo, after which dichloromethane was added and the organic phase was washed with 5% solution of NaHCO.sub.3. The organic phase was dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated in vacuo to yield 2-methoxy-4-[(1-methyl-4-piperidyl)oxy]aniline (169.5 mg, 95.6%).

Intermediate L (JDM221/JDM0222)

[0286] ##STR00040##

3,5-Dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-4-amine

[0287] The title compound was prepared in an analogous manner as described for Intermediate Hb, starting from 3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazole to give 110 mg 3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-4-amine (quant.).

Example 16 (JDM323A)

[0288] ##STR00041##

N-(3,5-dimethyl-1H-pyrazol-4-yl)-2-[2-methoxy-4-[(1-methyl-4-piperidyl)oxy]anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0289] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid chloride, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2, using Intermediate K as starting material. The acid chloride was subsequently reacted with Intermediate L according to procedures described in Example 7. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (14.1 mg, 37%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 7.902 min; m/z 543.2 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 17 (WITJ0529B)

[0290] ##STR00042##

N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2-[2-methoxy-4-[4-(2-methoxyacetyl)piperazin-1-yl]anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0291] This compound was prepared from its corresponding amine (prepared as described for Example 7 starting from Intermediate 1 and Intermediate M) and methoxyacetic acid, using standard HATU-coupling procedures as described in Example 8d. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (10 mg, 49%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 12.973 min; m/z 596.3 (M+H).sup.+.

Intermediate 3

[0292] ##STR00043##

Ethyl 2-chloropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate

(a) Ethyl 2-methoxypyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate

[0293] DDQ (1.53 g, 6.76 mmol) was added to a stirred solution of ethyl 2-methoxy-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (1.54 g, 5.63 mmol) in DCM (50 mL). The reaction mixture stirred for 3 days at room temperature. An additional amount of 200 mg DDQ was added and the reaction mixture was stirred for another 7 days at room temperature. The mixture was filtered and concentrated in vacuo to a small volume. The crude product was purified by column chromatography on silica (heptane/ethyl acetate=1/0 to 1/1 v/v %) to yield the title compound (750 mg, 50%).

(b) Ethyl 2-hydroxypyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (JGS377)

[0294] Sodium iodide (1.24 g, 8.29 mmol) was added to a stirred solution of ethyl 2-methoxy-pyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (750 mg, 2.76 mmol) in acetonitrile (19 mL). A solution of trimethylsilyl chloride (896 mg, 1.05 mL) in acetonitrile (3 mL) was added drop-wise to the reaction mixture. The mixture was stirred at room temperature o/n. Additional sodium iodide (3.33 g) TMS-Cl (2.4 g, 2.8 mL) in acetonitrile (6 mL) were added drop-wise and the reaction was stirred for 3 days at room temperature. The mixture was concentrated under reduced pressure. The residue was suspended in 200 mL DCM/MeOH (4/1) and extracted with a mixture of a saturated solution of sodium thiosulfate (50 mL) and water (100 mL). The water layer was extracted with DCM/MeOH (4/1, 2×150 mL). The combined organic layers were dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and the solvent was removed under reduced pressure to give a solid. The solid was triturated in boiling ethyl acetate (50 mL). After cooling the solid was stirred 1 h at room temperature and filtered. The residue was dried at 40° C. under vacuum to give 1.0 g crude ethyl 2-hydroxy-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (quant. yield).

[0295] N,N-Dimethylaniline (47 mg, 50 μL, 1.50 mmol) was added to a solution of ethyl 2-hydroxypyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxylate (1.0 g, 3.89 mmol) in acetonitrile (30 mL). A solution of phosphorous(V) oxychloride (2.99 g, 1.81 mL, 19.5 mmol) in acetonitrile (4 mL) was added drop-wise to the reaction mixture. The brown/red suspension was heated to 65° C. for 4 hours. After cooling, the mixture was slowly poured in a stirred mixture of 25% aq. ammonia (50 mL) and ice-water (100 mL) keeping the temperature below 10° C. After stirring for another 15 minutes the mixture was extracted with ethyl acetate. The combined organic layers were subsequently washed with water (50 mL), 0.2 N HCl (50 mL), brine (25 mL), dried (Na.sub.2SO.sub.4), filtered and concentrated in vacuo. The crude product was purified by column chromatography on silica (heptane/ethyl acetate=1/0 to 1/1 v/v %) to yield 200 mg of the title compound.

Example 18 (WITJ490B)

[0296] ##STR00044##

N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2-[2-methoxy-4-[(1-methyl-4-piperidyl)oxy]anilino]pyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0297] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid chloride, using the same sequence of reactions as described for Intermediate 2, starting from Intermediate 3 and Intermediate K as starting material. The acid chloride was subsequently reacted with 2,6-dimethylaniline according to procedures described in Example 7. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (30 mg, 45%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 12.491 min; m/z 551.3 (M+H).sup.+.

Intermediate N (JDM618/JDM626/JDM634)

[0298] ##STR00045##

1-[2-(2-Ethoxyethoxy)ethyl]-3,5-diethyl-pyrazol-4-amine

(a) 2-(2-Ethoxyethoxy)ethyl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate

[0299] To a solution of di(ethylene glycol)ethyl ether (4.92 ml, 36.2 mmol) in 15 mL of THF, cooled at 0° C., was added NaOH (2.46 g, 61.5 mmol) dissolved in 15 mL of water with vigorous stirring. To this mixture was added dropwise a solution of tosyl chloride (8.28 g, 43.4 mmol) in 15 mL of THF over 10 min at 0° C. The reaction mixture was then raised to rt and stirred for 1 h under nitrogen. The mixture was then extracted twice with 50 mL of diethyl ether, and the organic layer was washed with 1 M aq NaOH and water and dried over sodium sulfate. Solvent was removed under reduced pressure to yield 2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate as a colorless liquid (10 g, 95.8%).

(b) 1-[2-(2-Ethoxyethoxy)ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-pyrazole

[0300] To a solution of 3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazol (1 g, 7.08 mmol) and cesium carbonate (2.31 g, 7.08 mmol) in DMF (10 mL) was added 2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl 4-methylbenzenesulfonate (2.04 g, 7.08 mmol). The mixture was heated at 100° C. for 1 h. After cooling to room temperature, the mixture was poured into water/brine and extracted with ethyl acetate (100 mL). The combined organic layer was washed with brine, dried over sodium sulfate, filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure to yield 1.69 g of the title compound (92.8%).

[0301] To a stirred solution of 1-[2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-4-nitro-pyrazole (1.69 g, 6.57 mmol) in methanol (25 mL) was added a suspension of 10% Pd on charcoal (200 mg) in ethanol (1 mL). The reaction mixture was stirred at room temperature for 15 min under a nitrogen atmosphere. Then, ammonium formate (4.14 g, 65.7 mmol) was added and the reaction mixture was heated to reflux temperature for 15 min. The reaction mixture was cooled, filtered over Decalite® and concentrated in vacuo. The residue was dissolved in methanol and then filtered over an SCX-2 column. After rinsing the column with methanol, the desired product was eluted with an 0.7N ammonia/methanol solution. The resulting eluate was concentrated in vacuo to give the title compound (520 mg, 34.8%).

Example 19 (JDM640A)

[0302] ##STR00046##

N-[1-[2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-4-yl]-2-[2-methoxy-4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0303] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2b, using Intermediate D as starting material. The carboxylic acid was subsequently reacted with Intermediate N in an analogous manner as described for Example 8d. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (32.3 mg, 53.9%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 7.432 min; m/z 644.6 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 20 (JDM677A)

[0304] ##STR00047##

N-[1-[2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]-3,5-dimethyl-pyrazol-4-yl]-2-[2-methoxy-4-[4-(2-methoxyacetyl)piperazin-1-yl]anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0305] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2b, using Intermediate M as starting material. The carboxylic acid was subsequently reacted with Intermediate C in an analogous manner as described for Example 8d. The corresponding amine was obtained after deprotection of the Cbz-group and methoxyacetic acid was introduced, using standard HATU-coupling procedures as described in Example 8d. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (19.0 mg, 63.4%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 8.815 min; m/z 732.7 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 21 (JDM711A)

[0306] ##STR00048##

N-[3,5-diethyl-1-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-[2-methoxy-4-[4-(3-methylazetidine-3-carbonyl)piperazin-1-yl]anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0307] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2b, using Intermediate M as starting material. The carboxylic acid was subsequently reacted with Intermediate I in an analogous manner as described for Example 8d. The corresponding amine was obtained after deprotection of the Cbz-group and 1-(tert-butoxycarbonyl)-3-methylazetidine-3-carboxylic acid was introduced, using standard HATU-coupling procedures as described in Example 8d. Purification was performed, after deprotection of the Boc-group, using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (16.3 mg, 55%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 8.107 min; m/z 741.8 (M+H).sup.+.

Intermediate O (JDM618/JDM625/JDM633)

[0308] ##STR00049##

1-[2-(2-Ethoxyethoxy)ethyl]-3,5-diethyl-pyrazol-4-amine

[0309] The title compound was prepared in an analogous manner as described for Intermediate N, starting from 3,5-diethyl-4-nitro-1H-pyrazole (Intermediate Fb) and di(ethylene glycol)ethyl ether to give 550 mg of 1-[2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl]-3,5-diethyl-pyrazol-4-amine (79.8%.).

Example 22 (JDM713A)

[0310] ##STR00050##

N-[3,5-diethyl-1-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-[2-methoxy-4-[4-(3-methylazetidine-3-carbonyl)piperazin-1-yl]anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0311] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2b, using Intermediate M as starting material. The carboxylic acid was subsequently reacted with Intermediate O in an analogous manner as described for Example 8d. The corresponding amine was obtained after deprotection of the Cbz-group and Boc-N-ethyl-glycine was introduced, using standard HATU-coupling procedures as described in Example 8d. Purification was performed, after deprotection of the Boc-group, using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (15 mg, 53.1%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 8.619 min; m/z 743.8 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 23 (JDM697A)

[0312] ##STR00051##

N-[1-[2-(2-ethoxyethoxy)ethyl]-3,5-diethyl-pyrazol-4-yl]-2-[2-methoxy-4-[4-(2-methoxyacetyl)piperazin-1-yl]anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0313] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2b, using Intermediate M as starting material. The carboxylic acid was subsequently reacted with Intermediate 0 in an analogous manner as described for Example 8d. The corresponding amine was obtained after deprotection of the Cbz-group and methoxyacetic acid was introduced, using standard HATU-coupling procedures as described in Example 8d. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (17.0 mg, 61.4%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t:10.554 min; m/z 730.7 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 24 (JDM636A)

[0314] ##STR00052##

N-[3,5-diethyl-1-[2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-[2-methoxy-4-(4-methylpiperazin-1-yl)anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0315] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2b, using Intermediate D as starting material. The carboxylic acid was subsequently reacted with Intermediate G in an analogous manner as described for Example 8d. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (22.5 mg, 34.5%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 7.879 min; m/z 702.7 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 25 (JDM703A)

[0316] ##STR00053##

N-[3,5-diethyl-1-[2-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethoxy]ethyl]pyrazol-4-yl]-2-[4-[4-[2-(ethylamino)acetyl]piperazin-1-yl]-2-methoxy-anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0317] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2b, using Intermediate M as starting material. The carboxylic acid was subsequently reacted with Intermediate G in an analogous manner as described for Example 8d. The corresponding amine was obtained after deprotection of the Cbz-group and Boc-N-ethyl-glycine was introduced, using standard HATU-coupling procedures as described in Example 8d. Purification was performed, after deprotection of the Boc-group, using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (18.4 mg, 59.4%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 8.194 min; m/z 773.8 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 26 (JDM709A)

[0318] ##STR00054##

2-[4-[4-[(2R)-azetidine-2-carbonyl]piperazin-1-yl]-2-methoxy-anilino]-N-[3,5-diethyl-1-[2-(2-methoxyethoxy)ethyl]pyrazol-4-yl]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0319] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2b, using Intermediate M as starting material. The carboxylic acid was subsequently reacted with Intermediate I in an analogous manner as described for Example 8d. The corresponding amine was obtained after deprotection of the Cbz-group and (R)—N-Boc-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid was introduced, using standard HATU-coupling procedures as described in Example 8d. Purification was performed, after deprotection of the Boc-group, using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (16.8 mg, 57.7%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 8.017 min; m/z 727.9 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 27 (JDM666A)

[0320] ##STR00055##

N-(2,6-dimethylphenyl)-2-[4-[4-[2-(ethylamino)acetyl]piperazin-1-yl]-2-methoxy-anilino]-5,6-dihydropyrimido[4,5-e]indolizine-7-carboxamide

[0321] This compound was prepared from its corresponding acid chloride, using the same sequence of reactions, as described for Intermediate 2, using Intermediate M as starting material. The acid chloride was subsequently reacted with 2,6-dimethylaniline in an analogous manner as described for Example 7. The corresponding amine was obtained after deprotection of the Cbz-group and Boc-N-ethyl-glycine was introduced, using standard HATU-coupling procedures as described in Example 8d. Purification was performed, after deprotection of the Boc-group, using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (1 mg, 13.2%). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 9.388 min; m/z 609.6 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 28 (JGS0715B)

[0322] ##STR00056##

N-cyclopropyl-4-[6-(2,3-difluoro-4-methoxy-phenoxy)-8-(3,3,3-trifluoropropylamino)imidazo[1,2-b]pyridazin-3-yl]-2-methyl-benzamide

[0323] This compound was prepared as described in WO 2014/131739 A1. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (30 mg). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 14.958 min; m/z 562.5 (M+H).sup.+.

Example 29 (JDM943D)

[0324] ##STR00057##

(2R)-2-(4-fluorophenyl)-N-[4-[2-(2-methoxy-4-methylsulfonyl-anilino)-[1,2,4]triazolo[1,5-a]pyridin-6-yl]phenyl]propanamide

[0325] This compound was prepared as described in WO 2014/009219 A1. Purification was performed using preparative HPLC to afford the title compound (107.1 mg). Data: LCMS (B) R.sub.t: 13.703 min; m/z 558.0 (M−H).sup.−.

Example 30 (JDM969A)

[0326] ##STR00058##

1-[4-[[4-(2-Isopropylsulfonylanilino)-1H-pyrrolo[2,3-b]pyridin-6-yl]amino]-3-methoxy-phenyl]piperidin-4-ol (Mps1-IN-1)

[0327] This compound was purchased from Tocris.

Example 31 (JDM969B)

[0328] ##STR00059##

4-[[4-Amino-6-(tert-butylamino)-5-cyano-2-pyridyl]amino]benzamide (TC Mps1 12)

[0329] This compound was purchased from Tocris.

TTK Enzyme Assay

[0330] The inhibitory activity of compounds on biochemically purified full-length TTK (Life Technologies, Madison, Wis., U.S.A.) was determined in the IMAP® assay (Molecular Devices, Sunnyvale, Calif., U.S.A.). Compounds were dissolved in 100% dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO). At the day of the experiment, the compound stock was diluted in 3.16 fold steps in 100% DMSO, to obtain a 10-point dilution series, followed by further dilution in IMAP reaction buffer, which consists of 10 mM Tris-HCl, pH 7.5, 10 mM MgCl.sub.2, 0.01% Tween-20, 0.1% NaN.sub.3 and 1 mM freshly prepared dithiothreitol. Compound solution was mixed with an equal volume of full-length TTK enzyme in IMAP reaction buffer. After pre-incubation of 1 hour in the dark at room temperature, fluorescein-labeled MBP-derived substrate peptide (Molecular Devices) was added and ATP to start the reaction. Final enzyme concentration was 3.9 nM, final substrate concentration 50 nM, and final ATP concentration was 5 μM. The reaction was allowed to proceed for 2 hours at room temperature in the dark. The reaction was stopped by quenching with IMAP progressive binding solution according to the protocol of the manufacturer (Molecular Devices). Fluorescein polarization was measured on an Envision multimode reader (Perkin Elmer, Waltham, Mass., USA). Dose-response curves were fitted to a four-parameter logarithmic equation in XLfit™ 5 (ID Business Solutions, Ltd., Guildford, U.K.).

[0331] Table 3 show the half-maximum inhibitory potency of a number of TTK inhibitors from different chemical classes in an enzyme assay for TTK.

TABLE-US-00007 TABLE 3 Activity of small molecule TTK inhibitors in TTK enzyme assay. Example nr. IC.sub.50 (nM) Example 1 2.6 Example 2 4.1 Example 3 0.63 Example 4 0.49 Example 5 0.65 Example 6 0.6 Example 7 0.7 Example 8 0.6 Example 9 0.73 Example 10 0.93 Example 11 0.6 Example 12 0.97 Example 13 0.43 Example 14 0.98 Example 15 1.1 Example 16 1.0 Example 17 1.0 Example 18 1.4 Example 19 1.14 Example 20 0.62 Example 21 0.96 Example 22 0.71 Example 23 0.41 Example 24 0.91 Example 25 0.43 Example 26 0.66 Example 27 0.41 Example 28 0.79 Example 29 2.55 Example 30 37.5 Example 31 7.0

[0332] In order to identify genomic biomarkers that correlate with the sensitivity of cancer cells to the TTK inhibitors, the compounds were tested in proliferation assays with sixty-six different, genetically well-characterized cancer cell lines.

[0333] Statistical analysis of the anti-proliferative activity of the inhibitors with the presence of specific cancer gene mutations in the cell lines revealed that TTK inhibitors preferentially kill cells that harbor mutation in the CTNNB1 gene known to be involved in regulation of the stability of the CTNNB1-encoded protein β-catenin.

[0334] FIGS. 2A-2G show the volcano plot of the Anova analysis of Examples 5, 8, 9, 12, 13 and 17. To verify if a TTK inhibitor was significantly more potent in cell lines expressing mutant CTNNB1 in comparison to cell lines not harboring mutation in CTNNB1, a one-sided Student's t-test was carried out. Table 4 shows the difference in sensitivity (ΔpIC.sub.50) of a number of representative TTK inhibitors from different chemical classes. A negative ΔpIC.sub.50 value indicates that CTNNB1 mutant cell lines are more sensitive to the inhibitor than cell lines not harboring mutations in the regulatory domain of the CTNNB1 gene (Table 2). A p value <0.05 indicates that the difference is significant.

TABLE-US-00008 TABLE 4 Difference in sensitivity of CTNNB1-mutant and non-mutant cell lines for TTK inhibitors pIC50 average.sup.1 significance Example nr. Wild type.sup.3 Mutant.sup.3 Δ pIC50 p-value.sup.2 Example 1 6.15 6.78 −0.63 5.0E−03 Example 2 5.73 5.98 −0.25 3.6E−02 Example 3 5.68 6.01 −0.33 2.4E−02 Example 4 7.21 7.64 −0.43 3.3E−02 Example 5 7.06 7.60 −0.54 1.2E−02 Example 6 6.93 7.64 −0.71 8.8E−03 Example 7 7.47 7.92 −0.45 2.6E−02 Example 8 7.38 7.96 −0.57 1.3E−02 Example 9 7.50 8.18 −0.68 1.9E−02 Example 10 6.86 7.41 −0.55 1.4E−02 Example 11 6.99 7.48 −0.49 2.7E−02 Example 12 6.96 7.65 −0.69 6.5E−03 Example 13 7.82 8.60 −0.79 7.1E−03 Example 14 7.47 8.01 −0.54 1.8E−02 Example 15 6.60 7.28 −0.69 3.9E−03 Example 16 6.46 7.22 −0.76 4.6E−03 Example 17 7.72 8.33 −0.61 1.7E−02 Example 18 7.53 8.13 −0.60 2.9E−02 Example 19 7.20 7.72 −0.53 9.3E−03 Example 20 7.28 7.90 −0.2 8.7E−03 Example 21 7.19 7.98 −0.79 1.2E−02 Example 22 7.70 8.34 −0.65 9.1E−03 Example 23 7.97 8.55 −0.59 2.0E−02 Example 24 7.59 8.09 −0.50 2.5E−02 Example 25 7.62 8.37 −0.75 3.2E−03 Example 26 7.28 7.96 −0.68 9.9E−03 Example 27 7.60 8.17 −0.57 1.9E−02 Example 28 7.00 7.47 −0.47 1.1E−02 Example 29 6.40 6.72 −0.31 1.8E−02 Example 30 5.17 5.39 −0.23 1.0E−01 Example 31 6.02 6.36 −0.34 2.8E−02 .sup.1defined as - .sup.10log IC.sub.50 (in M) .sup.2one-side student T-test, heteroscedastic .sup.3referring to CTNNB1 gene

[0335] In order to verify that the presence of a mutated CTNNB1 gene copy is sufficient to confer increased sensitivity to TTK inhibitors, proliferation assays were carried out with parental HCT116 cells (S45del/+) and an isogenic derivative lacking mutated CTNNB1 (−/+). Table 5 summarizes the difference in sensitivity of a number of representative TTK inhibitors from different chemical classes in the isogenic cell line in comparison to parental HCT116 cells. A negative ΔpIC.sub.50 or a negative Δefficacy indicates that HCT116 parental cells, expressing mutant CTNNB1 (S45del/+) are more sensitive to the inhibitor than the isogenic derivative, in which the mutated CTNNB1 gene has been removed (−/+). Thus, inhibitors with a negative ΔpIC50 or a negative Δefficacy better inhibit the cell line where mutant CTNNB1 signaling is present.

TABLE-US-00009 TABLE 5 Difference in sensitivity for TTK inhibitors in HCT116 cells expressing either a mutated copy of the CTNNB1 gene or not. Δ pIC.sub.50 Δ efficacy Example 5 −0.17 −26 Example 8 −0.29 −11 Example 12 −0.14 −18 Example 13 −0.01 −27 Example 17 −0.12 −16 Example 20 −0.20 −34

PROGNOSTIC BIOMARKERS FOR TTK INHIBITOR CHEMOTHERAPY

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Abstract

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