The novel pyrimidine compounds have been shown to control the progress of cells through the cancer cell cycle. One group of the compounds works by inhibiting Cyclin Dependent Kinases (CDK), drug targets that control cancer cell division. Further groups of compounds within the series work by inhibiting alternative CDK target profiles and other cell cycle kinases.
Cell cycle inhibitors are an area of growing interest to the pharmaceutical industry because of the importance of CDK and cyclin drug targets in cancer biology.
Lead compounds from the new pyrimidine series have demonstrated highly potent inhibition of CDK activity, with many at the subnanomolar level. Several pyrimidine drugs have passed the proof of concept stage, as they have been shown to be active in in vivo models when taken by mouth and are progressing into preclinical development.