Modulators of STING (stimulator of interferon genes)

1. A compound of formula (I):

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein

each

 in a ring independently represents two conjugated double bonds in a five-membered heteroaromatic ring and three conjugated double bonds in a six-membered aromatic or heteroaromatic ring;

W 1 is selected from CR 11 and N;

X 1 is selected from CR 1 , N, NR 1 , O and S;

X 2 is selected from CR 2 , N, NR 2 , O and S;

X 3 is selected from CR 3 , N, NR 3 , O and S;

where two or three of X 1 , X 2 and X 3 are independently selected from N, NR 1 , NR 2 , NR 3 , O and S; and

where at least one of X 1 , X 2 and X 3 is selected from N, NR 1 , NR 2 and NR 3 ;

Y 1 is selected from N, NR 4 , O, S, and CR 4 ;

Y 2 is selected from N, NR 5 , O, S, and CR 5 ;

Y 3 is selected from N, NR 6 , O, S, and CR 6 ;

Y 4 is selected from C and N;

Y 5 is selected from C and N;

where at least one and not more than two of Y 1 , Y 2 and Y 3 are independently selected from N, NR 4 , NR 5 and NR 6 ;

where when one of Y 4 or Y 5 is N, the other one of Y 4 or Y 5 is C;

Z 1 is selected from C and N;

Z 2 is selected from N, NR 8 and CR 8 ;

Z 3 is selected from N, NR 9 and CR 9 ;

Z 4 is selected from N, NR 10 and CR 10 ;

Z 5 is selected from N, NR 7 and CR 7 ;

where two or three of Z 1 , Z 2 , Z 3 , Z 4 and Z 5 are independently selected from N, NR 7 , NR 8 , NR 9 , and NR 10 ;

each R 1 is independently selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 8 alkyl, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-NRR and C 1 -C 8 alkylene-C(O) OR;

each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 8 alkyl, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-NRR, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-C(O) OR, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-OR and C 1 -C 8 alkylene-O—P(O)(OH) 2 ;

each R 3 is independently selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 8 alkyl, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-NRR, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-C(O) OR and C 1 -C 8 alkylene-O—P(O)(OH) 2 ;

each R 4 is independently selected from the group consisting of H, —OR, —NRR, C 1 -C 8 alkyl optionally substituted with one or two —OR, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-NRR, —C(O) OR, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-C(O) OR, 3-10 membered heterocycle, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-3-10 membered heterocycle optionally substituted with one 3-10 membered heterocycle, (C 3 -C 10 )-cycloalkyl, and C 1 -C 8 alkylene-(C 3 -C 10 )-cycloalkyl;

each R 5 is independently selected from the group consisting of H, —OR, C 1 -C 8 alkyl, —NRR, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-NRR, —C(O) OR, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-C(O) OR, 3-10 membered heterocycle, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-3-10 membered heterocycle optionally substituted with one 3-10 membered heterocycle, and C 1 -C 8 alkylene-OR;

each R 6 is H;

R 7 is selected from the group consisting of H, halo, hydroxy and NH 2 ;

R 8 is selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 8 alkyl optionally substituted with one or two —NRR or —OR, C 1 -C 8 alkylene-C(O) OR and C 1 -C 8 alkylene-SO 2 R;

R 9 is H;

R 10 is selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 8 alkyl optionally substituted with one or two —OR, and halo;

R 11 is selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 8 alkyl, —OR and halo;

R 12 is —C(O)N(R) 2 ;

R 13 is H;

each R is independently selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 8 alkyl, and C 1 -C 8 haloalkyl, or two R join to form, together with the N atom to which they are bound, a 3-10 membered heterocycle, where said 3-10 member heterocycle contains one N and optionally one or two additional heteroatoms each independently selected from N, O and S; and

where, when two R join to form, together with the atom or atoms to which they are bound, a 3-10 membered heterocycle, said 3-10 membered heterocycle is optionally substituted with one or more substituents each independently selected from C 1 -C 8 alkyl, hydroxy, C 1 -C 8 alkoxy, —(C 3 -C 10 ) cycloalkyl, 3-10 membered heterocycle, halo and cyano.

2. A compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein each R 1 is independently H.

3. A compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein each R 2 is independently selected from the group consisting of H, CH 3 , CH 2 NH 2 , CH(NH 2 )CH 3 and CH 2 NH(CH 3 ).

4. A compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein each R 3 is independently selected from the group consisting of H and CH 2 OPO(OH) 2 .

5. A compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein each R 4 is independently selected from the group consisting of CH 3 , CH 2 CH 3 , (CH 2 ) 3 OH, CH 2 CH(CH 2 OH) 2 , (CH 2 ) 2 N(CH 3 )CH 2 CF 3 , (CH 2 ) 2 —(N-morpholinyl), (CH 2 ) 3 —(N-morpholinyl), CH(CH 3 )CH 2 —(N-morpholinyl), (CH 2 ) 2 —(N-2,6-dimethyl morpholinyl), (CH 2 ) 2 —(N-2, 5-dimethyl-morpholinyl), (CH 2 ) 2 —(N-8-oxa-3-azabicyclo[3.2.1]octan-3-yl), (CH 2 ) 2 —(N-4-cyano piperidinyl), (CH 2 ) 2 —(N-4,4-difluoro-piperidinyl), (CH 2 ) 2 —(N-2-fluoro azetidinyl), CH 2 -(2-azetidinyl-N-tetrahydropyranyl) and CH 2 C(O)OH.

6. A compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein each R 5 is independently selected from the group consisting of H, CH 3 , CH 2 CH 3 , (CH 2 ) 2 N(CH 3 ) (CH 2 CF 3 ), (CH 2 ) 2 —(N-morpholinyl), (CH 2 ) 3 —(N-morpholinyl), (CH 2 ) 2 —(N-2,6-dimethyl morpholinyl) and CH 2 -(2-azetidinyl-N-tetrahydropyranyl).

7. A compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein R 7 is selected from the group consisting of H, fluoro, chloro, OH and NH 2 .

8. A compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein R 8 is selected from the group consisting of CH 3 , CH 2 CH 3 , (CH 2 ) 3 NH 2 , (CH 2 ) 2 OH, (CH 2 ) 3 OH and (CH 2 ) 2 COOH.

9. A compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein R 10 is selected from the group consisting of CH 3 and CH 2 OH.

10. A compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein R 11 is selected from the group consisting of H and fluoro.

11. A compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein R 12 is —CONH 2 .

12. A compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein each R is independently selected from the group consisting of H, CH 3 , and CH 2 CF 3 .

13. A compound, according to claim 1 , of formula (II)

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

14. A compound, according to claim 1 , of formula (VII)

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

15. A compound, according to claim 1 , of formula (VIID)

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

16. A compound selected from:

or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

17. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier.

18. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein said compound is a component of an antibody-drug conjugate.

19. A pharmaceutical composition comprising a compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein said compound is a component of a particle-based delivery system.

20. A method of treating cancer in a mammal, the method comprising administering to the mammal a therapeutically effective amount of a compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein the cancer is lung cancer, bone cancer, pancreatic cancer, skin cancer, cancer of the head or neck, cutaneous or intraocular melanoma, ovarian cancer, rectal cancer, cancer of the anal region, stomach cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer, carcinoma of the endometrium, carcinoma of the cervix, Hodgkin's Disease, cancer of the esophagus, cancer of the small intestine, sarcoma of soft tissue, prostate cancer, chronic or acute leukemia, lymphocytic lymphomas, cancer of the bladder, renal cell carcinoma, carcinoma of the renal pelvis, neoplasms of the central nervous system (CNS), spinal axis tumors, or brain stem glioma.

21. The method of claim 20 , wherein the cancer is bladder cancer.

22. The method of claim 20 , wherein the mammal is a human.

23. The method of claim 20 which comprises administering an additional therapeutic agent.

24. The method of claim 23 , wherein the additional therapeutic agent is selected from the group consisting of an interferon, a CTLA-4 pathway antagonist, an anti-4-1BB antibody, an anti-PD-1 antibody, and an anti-PD-L1 antibody.

25. The method of claim 20 , further comprising the step of increasing interferon-beta levels in a mammal, by comprising the step of administering to said mammal an effective amount of a compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 .

26. A compound, according to claim 14 , wherein

X 1 is N; X 2 is N or NR 2 ; X 3 is CR 3 or N;

R 2 is C 1 -C 8 alkyl or C 1 -C 8 alkylene-NRR;

R 3 is H or C 1 -C 8 alkyl;

R 4 is C 1 -C 8 alkyl;

R 7 is H or F;

R 8 is C 1 -C 8 alkyl optionally substituted with one —NRR or —OR;

R 10 is C 1 -C 8 alkyl;

R 12 is —C(O) NH 2 ;

R 13 is H; and

each R is independently selected from the group consisting of H, C 1 -C 8 alkyl, and C 1 -C 8 haloalkyl.

27. A method of treating cancer in a mammal, the method comprising administering to the mammal a therapeutically effective amount of a compound, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, according to claim 1 , wherein the cancer is urothelial carcinoma.

28. The method of claim 27 , wherein the mammal is a human.