EMD 534085 does not inhibit any other tested kinesins at 1 μM or 10 μM concentration, showing selectively over kinesin-5. EMD 534085 binds to the allosteric pocket of kinesin-5 [1]. EMD534085 induces rapid cell death in HL60 during mitotic arrest. Caspase-8, ?9, ?3, ?7 are activated; Parp1 is cleaved; Mcl1 and XIAP are degraded in EMD534085-treated HL60 cells. EMD534085 treated HL60 cells also show significantly accumulated phospho-histone H3 level starting at 6 hrs post thymidine release [2].

In a low dose PK of EMD 534085 in mice, the clearance is 1.8 L/h/kg on average, the volume of distribution is 7.4 L/kg and the half-life around 2.5 h. The bioavailability in high dose experiments (>10 mg/kg) is always above 50% in mice. Intraperitoneal administration of EMD 534085 enables significant systemic exposure in mice leading to a significant tumor growth reduction without toxic side effects [1].