Assessment of the Effect of Filgotinib on the Pharmacokinetics of Atorvastatin, Pravastatin, and Rosuvastatin in Healthy Adult Participants

Assessment of interactions and dosage recommendations of synthetic DMARDs-Evidence-based and consensus-based recommendations based on a systematic literature search

Conventional synthetic (cs) and targeted synthetic (ts) disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) have potential interactions with a multitude of drugs. Furthermore, they sometimes have a lower therapeutic index, particularly in cases of limited organ functions. The aim of this work was to establish evidence-based recommendations on the therapeutic use of DMARDs in the context of drug interactions and dosage recommendations. A systematic literature search was carried out on the issue of drug interactions and dosages in cases of patients with limited kidney function and higher age and suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. A total of 2756 scientific publications were screened and 154 selected of which 68 were scrutinized in detail. Furthermore, the respective product information was also analyzed. A multitude of possible interactions of synthetic DMARDs with different drugs were detected, which were then assessed with respect to the clinical significance and consequences. A consensus process led to making recommendations with which the interactions were classified: A: dangerous combination, B: avoid combination (if possible, pausing DMARD treatment), C: possible combination requiring increased monitoring and potential adjustments in dosage and D: pharmacological interaction without relevance in DMARD standard doses. Apart from that dosage recommendations were established for each csDMARD and tsDMARD depending on kidney function and age. There are 3 primary recommendations and 11 core recommendations on interactions and dosages of csDMARDs and tsDMARDs meant as a practical help for therapeutic decision making and to improve safety in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

High hepatic and plasma exposures of atorvastatin in subjects harboring impaired cytochrome P450 3A4∗16 modeled after virtual administrations and possibly associated with statin intolerance found in the Japanese adverse drug event report database

Drug interactions between atorvastatin and cytochrome P450 (P450) 3A substrates/inhibitors lead to an increased incidence of skeletal muscle or hepatic toxicity. However, in this survey, among 483 Japanese subjects administered atorvastatin alone, more than half (258) experienced statin intolerance and were unable to continue using the drug. Although many factors underly atorvastatin toxicity, the intrinsic clearance rate might be a contributing causal factor. The impaired P450 3A4 p.Thr185Ser variant, CYP3A4∗16 (rs12721627), has been identified in East Asians with an allele frequency of 2.2%. Pharmacokinetically modeled plasma concentrations of atorvastatin increased after a virtual oral dose of 40 mg in CYP3A4∗16 homozygotes; the maximum concentration and area under the concentration curve, respectively, were 3.3-fold and 4.2-fold those in subjects homozygous for CYP3A4∗1. In subjects with CYP3A4∗16/∗16, the virtual hepatic concentrations of atorvastatin after daily doses of 10 mg for a week were similar to or higher than the plasma concentrations. These results suggest that the estimated high virtual plasma and hepatic exposures obtained by pharmacokinetic modeling in subjects harboring impaired allele CYP3A4∗16 may be one of the causal factors for statin intolerance in a manner similar to the well-known drug interactions caused by co-administrations of CYP3A inhibitors.

[Assessment of interactions and dosage recommendations of synthetic DMARDs-Evidence-based and consensus-based recommendations based on a systematic literature search]

Conventional synthetic (cs) and targeted synthetic (ts) disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARD) have potential interactions with a multitude of drugs. Furthermore, they sometimes have a lower therapeutic index, particularly in cases of limited organ functions. The aim of this work was to establish evidence-based recommendations on the therapeutic use of DMARDs in the context of drug interactions and dosage recommendations. A systematic literature search was carried out on the issue of drug interactions and dosages in cases of patients with limited kidney function and higher age and suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. A total of 2756 scientific publications were screened and 154 selected of which 68 were scrutinized in detail. Furthermore, the respective specialist subject information was also analyzed. A multitude of possible interactions of synthetic DMARDs with different drugs were detected, which were then assessed with respect to the clinical significance and consequences. A consensus process led to making recommendations with which the interactions were classified: A: dangerous combination, B: avoid combination (if possible, pausing DMARD treatment), C: possible combination requiring increased monitoring and potential adjustments in dosage and D: pharmacological interaction without relevance in DMARD standard doses. Apart from that dosage recommendations were established for each csDMARD and tsDMARD depending on kidney function and age. There are 3 primary recommendations and 11 core recommendations on interactions and dosages of csDMARDs and tsDMARDs meant as a practical help for therapeutic decision making and to improve safety in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.

Filgotinib in rheumatoid arthritis

INTRODUCTION

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) remains a challenge for rheumatologists and patients despite implementation of intensive treat-to-target strategies in shared decision with patients and an increasing availability of drugs. Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi) are a new generation of oral targeted drugs. Filgotinib preferentially inhibits JAK1 and is the latest JAKi to be approved for use in RA.

AREAS COVERED

This narrative review focuses on drug characteristics, efficacy, and safety of filgotinib in patients with RA, summarizing available literature. Trial data are detailed, put into perspective for practice and discussed in regulatory perspective.

EXPERT OPINION

Preclinical studies demonstrate preferential inhibition of JAK1 and a promising pharmacokinetic profile with few drug-drug interactions. Increase in hemoglobin in line with preferential inhibition of JAK1 over JAK2 is seen in early-phase clinical trials. A phase III program demonstrates efficacy in several disease stages, numerically higher with 200 mg versus 100 mg daily. In the overall RA population such dose-related effect is not observed for safety except for herpes zoster and increases in lipids and creatine phosphokinase. This reassuring safety profile is to be confirmed in future practice. It also needs to be unraveled if JAK1 preferential inhibition plays a key role in this safety profile.

Filgotinib for moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis

INTRODUCTION

Filgotinib is an oral Janus kinase type 1 (JAK1) selective inhibitor with demonstrated efficacy and safety in ulcerative colitis (UC). The aim of this review is to summarize the available evidence on pharmacological characteristics, efficacy, and safety of filgotinib in UC.

AREAS COVERED

Pubmed, Scopus, and Embase databases were searched for all relevant studies reporting the efficacy and safety of filgotinib in patients with moderate to severe UC. We particularly focused on the risk of zoster infection and venous thromboembolism compared to other JAK inhibitors.

EXPERT OPINION

Filgotinib has remarkable efficacy, safety, and tolerability profiles in the treatment of moderate-to-severe active UC. It can be used in both biologic-naïve and biologic-experienced patients. The rapid mechanism of action and its oral administration route make it a reliable therapeutic option.

Filgotinib: A Clinical Pharmacology Review

Filgotinib (GS-6034, formerly GLPG0634; Jyseleca^®) is an oral, preferential Janus kinase (JAK)-1 inhibitor. Preferential inhibition of JAK1 modulates a subset of proinflammatory cytokines within the JAK-signal transducer and activator of transcription pathway, which differ from those inhibited by JAK2 or JAK3. Filgotinib is absorbed extensively and rapidly after oral dosing and is metabolized by carboxylesterase isoform 2 to form its primary active metabolite, GS-829845. The primary metabolite has a similar JAK1 selectivity profile but reduced activity (by 10-fold) and increased systemic exposure (approximately 16- to 20-fold) compared with the parent compound. Both the parent and the metabolite demonstrate low binding to plasma proteins in humans (< 60%). Systemic exposures of filgotinib and its primary metabolite increase dose proportionally over a 50- to 200-mg once-daily dose range. Food does not affect the pharmacokinetics of filgotinib. Consistent with their terminal elimination half-lives (4.9-10.7 h for filgotinib and 19.6-27.3 h for the primary metabolite), steady state in plasma is reached by day 2 for filgotinib and day 4 for its metabolite. Filgotinib is mainly eliminated in the urine as the metabolite (> 80%). Intrinsic factors such as age, sex, race, mild renal impairment, and mild-to-moderate hepatic impairment have either no or minimal impact on the pharmacokinetics of filgotinib and its primary metabolite. Filgotinib has a low drug-drug interaction potential, without clinically significant interactions with commonly coadministered medications in patients with inflammatory diseases. Both filgotinib and its primary metabolite are substrates of P-glycoprotein (P-gp); however, coadministration with P-gp inhibitors and inducers does not affect filgotinib pharmacokinetics sufficiently to warrant dose adjustment. Neither filgotinib nor its primary metabolite affect the corrected QT interval (calculated using Fridericia's correction formula). Filgotinib is approved for the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and ulcerative colitis in Europe, the UK, and Japan.

A Systematic Review on Disease-Drug-Drug Interactions with immunomodulating drugs: A Critical Appraisal of Risk Assessment and Drug Labelling

Aim

Use of immunomodulating therapeutics for immune‐mediated inflammatory diseases may cause disease‐drug‐drug interactions (DDDIs) by reversing inflammation‐driven alterations in the metabolic capacity of cytochrome P450 enzymes. European Medicine Agency (EMA) and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines from 2007 recommend that the DDDI potential of therapeutic proteins should be assessed. This systematic analysis aimed to characterize the available DDDI trials with immunomodulatory drugs, experimental evidence for a DDDI risk and reported DDDI risk information in FDA/EMA approved drug labelling.

Method

For this systematic review, the EMA list of European Public Assessment Reports of human medicine was used to select immunomodulating monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) marketed after 2007 at risk for a DDDI. Selected drugs were included in PubMed and Embase searches to extract reported interaction studies. The Summary of Product Characteristics (SPCs) and the United States Prescribing Information (USPIs) were subsequently used for analysis of DDDI risk descriptions.

Results

Clinical interaction studies to evaluate DDDI risks were performed for 12 of the 24 mAbs (50%) and for none of the TKIs. Four studies identified a DDDI risk, of which three were studies with interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) neutralizing mAbs. Based on (non)clinical data, a DDDI risk was reported in 32% of the SPCs and in 60% of the USPIs. The EMA/FDA documentation aligned with the DDDI risk potential in 35% of the 20 cases.

Conclusion

This systematic review reinforces that the risk for DDDI by immunomodulating drugs is target‐ and disease‐specific. Drug labelling information designates the greatest DDDI risk to mAbs that neutralize the effects of IL‐6, Tumor Necrosis Factor alfa (TNF‐α) and interleukin‐1 bèta (IL‐1β) in diseases with systemic inflammation.