Abstract Activation of RAS and PI3Kα are the most frequent oncogenic events in cancer, playing a key role in many aspects of tumor cell physiology, including growth, survival, differentiation, and migration. While treatment options have recently emerged for a subset of KRAS mutant patients and inhibitors of PI3Kα catalytic activity have been approved, both approaches have been limited by drug resistance and in the case of PI3Kα, hampered by poor tolerability (e.g., hyperglycemia). An alternative therapeutic strategy that addresses drug resistance with improved tolerability is needed. Application of the FrontierTM platform, which integrates chemoproteomics, AI, and covalent fragment-based drug discovery, enabled the discovery of FMC-242, a potent, selective, and orally bioavailable covalent inhibitor of the PI3Kα -RAS family interactions disrupting oncogenic RAS and RTK signaling without impacting the insulin homeostasis. FMC-242 rapidly and selectively forms a covalent bond with cysteine 242 in the RAS Binding Domain (RBD) of PI3Kα resulting in allosteric inhibition of PI3Kα -RAS complex formation. This leads to inhibition of AKT activation in tumors with mutations in KRAS or PI3Kα, and where receptor tyrosine kinases, e.g., HER2, are activated. FMC-242 treatment of CDX and PDX models carrying HER2 amplification and/or KRAS mutation results in potent anti-tumor activity including regressions. FMC-242 is well tolerated in vivo, and inhibition of PI3Kα -RAS interaction does not impact insulin signaling or blood glucose level. Combination of FMC-242 with targeted therapies including EGFR inhibitors, KRASG12C inhibitors such as FMC-376, divarasib, olomorasib, or pan-RAS/KRAS agents results in enhanced efficacy and tumor regressions in vivo. Together, these data demonstrate the potential of FMC-242, a selective covalent inhibitor of PI3Kα -RAS interaction, to deliver improved outcomes for patients as monotherapy and in combination with targeted therapies in the clinic. Citation Format: Kevin R. Webster, Ryan McFadden, Abdul Awol, Koli Basu, Barun Bhhatarai, Yu-Hsin Chao, John Conway, Jay Duffner, Dan Erlanson, Robert Everley, Susan Fong, Sarah Gilfillan, Johannes Hermann, Alessandra Ianari, Lata Jayaraman, Svetlana Kholodar, Nathan Lavey, Tiep Le, Laura Marholz, Bethany Parker, Snahel Patel, Emily Sabbey, Shefali Sabhlok, Shayna Simonstein, Luke Utley, John Vassiliadis, Weiru Wang, Yan Wang. FMC-242, a highly potent and selective covalent inhibitor of the PI3Kα -RAS interaction, demonstrates robust anti-tumor activity as monotherapy and in combination with targeted therapies abstract. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2026; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2026 Apr 17-22; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2026;86(7 Suppl):Abstract nr 5762.
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Kevin R. Webster
Ryan McFadden
Abdul Awol
Cancer Research
Frontier Aerospace Corporation (United States)
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Webster et al. (Fri,) studied this question.
www.synapsesocial.com/papers/69d1fe68a79560c99a0a4b3e — DOI: https://doi.org/10.1158/1538-7445.am2026-5762