A new PCT patent application claiming new viral protein E7 degraders has been published as WO2022219157A1. The invention was made by contributions from Dr. Christian Kühne from Valdospan and Dr. Lutz Weber from MolGenie GmbH.
The human papilloma virus E7 protein has been connected with the tumorogenic potential of HPV infections, eventually leading to cancers such as cervical or head and nack cancer. Due to targeted protein degradation, the claimed small molecule compounds according to this patent application have been shown to reduce significantly the amount of intracellular E7 protein. The compounds were designed using ultralarge scale database screening of multi-component reaction (MCR) products and 3D docking experiments using an elaborated 3D model of the E7 protein. The Austrian company Valdospan GmbH will lead the further development of such E7 degraders.