MK-2206 is a drug candidate being investigated to help treat cancer. Its chemical formula is C<sub>25</sub>H<sub>21</sub>N<sub>5</sub>O. It acts as an allosteric AKT inhibitor.
It is a highly selective inhibitor of pan-Akt, namely, of all three Akt isoforms Akt1, Akt2, and Akt3.
It is intended to be used with other cancer therapies that advanced tumours may become resistant to.
2011: A phase 1 clinical trial of MK-2206 alone has reported it was well tolerated. <br>2014: A phase 1 clinical trial of MK-2206 with a variety of other agents in 72 patients with advanced cancer reported acceptable side-effects. <br>2016: MK-2206 is one of the treatments in the I-SPY2 Adaptive clinical trial for breast cancer that had been selected for later stage trials. <br> 31 phase II clinical trials are registered, many completed. e.g. in colorectal cancer, breast cancer, and many others.
Data shown in a study preprint suggest that SARS-CoV-2 infection decreases cellular autophagy and that MK-2206, which induces autophagy, reduced virus replication by up to 88% in vitro. The study's authors propose that MK-2206 should be tested in clinical trials as a potential treatment for COVID-19.