Inhibitory quotient in HIV pharmacology

Model-Informed Drug Development for Anti-Infectives: State of the Art and Future

Model-informed drug development (MIDD) has a long and rich history in infectious diseases. This review describes foundational principles of translational anti-infective pharmacology, including choice of appropriate measures of exposure and pharmacodynamic (PD) measures, patient subpopulations, and drug-drug interactions. Examples are presented for state-of-the-art, empiric, mechanistic, interdisciplinary, and real-world evidence MIDD applications in the development of antibacterials (review of minimum inhibitory concentration-based models, mechanism-based pharmacokinetic/PD (PK/PD) models, PK/PD models of resistance, and immune response), antifungals, antivirals, drugs for the treatment of global health infectious diseases, and medical countermeasures. The degree of adoption of MIDD practices across the infectious diseases field is also summarized. The future application of MIDD in infectious diseases will progress along two planes; "depth" and "breadth" of MIDD methods. "MIDD depth" refers to deeper incorporation of the specific pathogen biology and intrinsic and acquired-resistance mechanisms; host factors, such as immunologic response and infection site, to enable deeper interrogation of pharmacological impact on pathogen clearance; clinical outcome and emergence of resistance from a pathogen; and patient and population perspective. In particular, improved early assessment of the emergence of resistance potential will become a greater focus in MIDD, as this is poorly mitigated by current development approaches. "MIDD breadth" refers to greater adoption of model-centered approaches to anti-infective development. Specifically, this means how various MIDD approaches and translational tools can be integrated or connected in a systematic way that supports decision making by key stakeholders (sponsors, regulators, and payers) across the entire development pathway.

Perspectives on the Barrier to Resistance for Dolutegravir + Lamivudine, a Two-Drug Antiretroviral Therapy for HIV-1 Infection

In HIV-1-infected patients, virological failure can occur as a consequence of the mutations that accumulate in the viral genome that allow replication to continue in the presence of antiretrovirals (ARVs). The development of treatment-emergent resistance to an ARV can limit a patient's options for future therapy, prompting the need for ARV regimens that are resilient to the emergence of resistance. The genetic barrier to resistance refers to the number of mutations in an ARV's therapeutic target that are required to confer a clinically meaningful loss of susceptibility to the drug. The emergence of resistance can be affected by pharmacological aspects of the ARV, including its structure, inhibitory quotient, therapeutic index, and pharmacokinetic characteristics. Dolutegravir (DTG) has demonstrated a high barrier to resistance, including when used in a two-drug regimen (2DR) with lamivudine (3TC). In the GEMINI-1 and GEMINI-2 studies, DTG +3TC was noninferior to DTG + emtricitabine/tenofovir disoproxil fumarate in treatment-naive participants, with similar proportions achieving HIV-1 RNA <50 copies/mL through 96 weeks. Furthermore, in the TANGO study, virological suppression was maintained at 48 weeks after switching to DTG +3TC from a tenofovir alafenamide (TAF)-based regimen compared with continuing a TAF-based regimen. Most other 2DRs with successful outcomes compared with three-drug regimens have been based on protease inhibitors (PIs); however, this class is associated with adverse metabolic effects and drug–drug interactions. In this review, we discuss the barrier to resistance in the context of a 2DR in which a boosted PI is replaced with DTG +3TC.

The clinical pharmacology of integrase inhibitors

Introduction: Treatment of HIV infection has consistently evolved in the last three decades. A steady improvement in efficacy tolerability, safety, and practical aspects of treatment intake has made HIV infection much easier to manage over the long term, and in optimal treatment conditions the life expectancy of persons living with HIV infection now approaches the values of the general population. The last category of antiretrovirals to be fully developed for clinical use is the one of strand-transfer integrase inhibitors (INSTIs). Areas covered: In this review, the evolution of the knowledge on INSTIs use in the clinical setting is reviewed, analyzed, and interpreted. Emphasis is placed on the properties possibly accounting for several superiority results achieved by INSTIs in non-inferiority designed comparative clinical trials, which led to their inclusion as first line options in all versions of HIV therapeutic guidelines. Expert commentary: Some unprecedented clinical-pharmacological properties of INSTIs, such as their rapid and sustained action against HIV replication, the optimal tolerability and safety profile and a clinically proven robust genetic barrier are the main factors justifying the successful clinical use of INSTIs. Based on these unique features, novel INSTIs-based treatment modalities are being developed, including the reduction of antiretroviral regimens to two drugs only.

Therapeutic drug monitoring of antiretroviral drugs in HIV-infected patients

INTRODUCTION

Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) may be beneficial when applied to antiretroviral (ARV). Even though TDM can be a valuable strategy in HIV management, its role remains controversial. Areas covered: This review provides a comprehensive update on important issues relating to TDM of ARV drugs in HIV-infected patients. Articles from PubMed with keywords relevant to each topic section were reviewed. Search strategies limited to articles published in English. Expert commentary: There is evidence supporting the use of TDM in HIV treatment. However, some limitations need to be considered. The evidence supporting the use of routine TDM for all patients is limited, as it is not clear that this strategy offers any advantages over TDM for selected indications. Selected groups of patients including patients with physiological changes, patients with drug-drug interactions or toxicity, and the elderly could potentially benefit from TDM, as optimized dosing is challenging in these populations.

Doravirine Suppresses Common Nonnucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitor-Associated Mutants at Clinically Relevant Concentrations

Doravirine (DOR), which is currently in a phase 3 clinical trial, is a novel human immunodeficiency type 1 virus (HIV-1) nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor (NNRTI). DOR exhibits potent antiviral activity against wild-type virus and K103N, Y181C, and K103N/Y181C mutant viruses, with 50% inhibitory concentrations (IC50s) of 12, 21, 31, and 33 nM, respectively, when measured in 100% normal human serum (NHS). To assess the potential for DOR to suppress NNRTI-associated and rilpivirine (RPV)-specific mutants at concentrations achieved in the clinic setting, inhibitory quotients (IQs) were calculated by determining the ratio of the clinical trough concentration over the antiviral IC50for each virus with DOR and RPV and efavirenz (EFV). DOR displayed IQs of 39, 27, and 25 against the K103N, Y181C, and K103N/Y181C mutants, respectively. In contrast, RPV exhibited IQs of 4.6, 1.4, and 0.8, and EFV showed IQs of 2.5, 60, and 1.9 against these viruses, respectively. DOR also displayed higher IQs than those of RPV and EFV against other prevalent NNRTI-associated mutants, with the exception of Y188L. Both DOR and EFV exhibited higher IQs than RPV when analyzed with RPV-associated mutants. Resistance selections were conducted with K103N, Y181C, G190A, and K103N/Y181C mutants at clinically relevant concentrations of DOR, RPV, and EFV. No viral breakthrough was observed with DOR, whereas breakthrough viruses were readily detected with RPV and EFV against Y181C and K103N viruses, respectively. These data suggest that DOR should impose a higher barrier to the development of resistance than RPV and EFV at the concentrations achieved in the clinic setting.

Class-specific relative genetic contribution for key antiretroviral drugs

OBJECTIVES

Antiretroviral pharmacokinetics is defined by numerous factors affecting absorption, distribution, metabolism and elimination. Biological processes underpinning drug distribution are only partially characterized and multiple genetic factors generate cumulative or antagonistic interactions, which complicates the implementation of pharmacogenetic markers. The aim of this study was to assess the degree to which heredity influences pharmacokinetics through the quantification of the relative genetic contribution (rGC) for key antiretrovirals.

METHODS

A total of 407 patients receiving lopinavir/ritonavir, atazanavir/ritonavir, atazanavir, efavirenz, nevirapine, etravirine, maraviroc, tenofovir or raltegravir were included. Intra-patient variability (SDw) and inter-patient (SDb) variability were measured in patients with plasma concentrations available from more than two visits. The rGC was calculated using the following equation: 1 - (1 / F) where F = SDb(2) / SDw(2).

RESULTS

Mean (95% CI) rGC was calculated to be 0.81 (0.72-0.88) for efavirenz, 0.74 (0.61-0.84) for nevirapine, 0.67 (0.49-0.78) for etravirine, 0.65 (0.41-0.79) for tenofovir, 0.59 (0.38-0.74) for atazanavir, 0.47 (0.27-0.60) for atazanavir/ritonavir, 0.36 (0.01-0.48) for maraviroc, 0.15 (0.01-0.44) for lopinavir/ritonavir and 0 (0-0.33) for raltegravir.

CONCLUSIONS

The rank order for genetic contribution to variability in plasma concentrations for the study drugs was efavirenz > nevirapine > etravirine > tenofovir > atazanavir > atazanavir/ritonavir > maraviroc > lopinavir/ritonavir > raltegravir, indicating that class-specific differences exist. The rGC strategy represents a useful tool to rationalize future investigations as drugs with higher rGC scores may represent better candidates for pharmacogenetic-pharmacokinetic studies.

Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic predictors of clinical potency for hepatitis C virus nonnucleoside polymerase and protease inhibitors

This analysis was conducted to determine whether the hepatitis C virus (HCV) viral kinetics (VK) model can predict viral load (VL) decreases for nonnucleoside polymerase inhibitors (NNPolIs) and protease inhibitors (PIs) after 3-day monotherapy studies of patients infected with genotype 1 chronic HCV. This analysis includes data for 8 NNPolIs and 14 PIs, including VL decreases from 3-day monotherapy, total plasma trough concentrations on day 3 (C(min)), replicon data (50% effective concentration [EC(50)] and protein-shifted EC(50) [EC(50,PS)]), and for PIs, liver-to-plasma ratios (LPRs) measured in vivo in preclinical species. VK model simulations suggested that achieving additional log(10) VL decreases greater than one required 10-fold increases in the C(min). NNPolI and PI data further supported this result. The VK model was successfully used to predict VL decreases in 3-day monotherapy for NNPolIs based on the EC(50,PS) and the day 3 C(min). For PIs, however, predicting VL decreases using the same model and the EC(50,PS) and day 3 C(min) was not successful; a model including LPR values and the EC(50) instead of the EC(50,PS) provided a better prediction of VL decrease. These results are useful for designing phase 1 monotherapy studies for NNPolIs and PIs by clarifying factors driving VL decreases, such as the day 3 C(min) and the EC(50,PS) for NNPolIs or the EC(50) and LPR for PIs. This work provides a framework for understanding the pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic relationship for other HCV drug classes. The availability of mechanistic data on processes driving the target concentration, such as liver uptake transporters, should help to improve the predictive power of the approach.

A novel method for determining the inhibitory potential of anti-HIV drugs

In the absence of cure, most HIV-1-infected individuals will require lifelong treatment. It is therefore essential to optimize highly active antiretroviral therapy. Recent research has shown that the slope parameter or Hill coefficient, which describes the steepness of a dose-response curve, is a critical missing dimension in the evaluation of the activity of antiviral drugs. Based on this finding, instantaneous inhibitory potential (IIP) has been derived as a new measure of antiviral drug activity. IIP incorporates the slope parameter and thus is a more accurate pharmacodynamic measure of antiviral activity than current measures such as IC(50) and inhibitory quotient. Determining how to use IIP to predict the in vivo efficacy of anti-HIV-1 drugs is nevertheless important. This article discusses recent advances in in vitro measures of antiviral activity and the therapeutic implications of the dose-response curve slope and IIP.

New approaches for quantitating the inhibition of HIV-1 replication by antiviral drugs in vitro and in vivo

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

With highly active antiretroviral therapy, HIV-1 infection has become a manageable lifelong disease. Developing optimal treatment regimens requires understanding how to best measure anti-HIV activity in vitro and how drug dose-response curves generated in vitro correlate with in-vivo efficacy.

RECENT FINDINGS

Several recent studies have indicated that conventional multiround infectivity assays are inferior to single cycle assays at both low and high levels of inhibition. Multiround infectivity assays can fail to detect subtle but clinically significant anti-HIV activity. The discoveries of the anti-HIV activity of the hepatitis B drug entecavir and the herpes simplex drug acyclovir were facilitated by single-round infectivity assays. Recent studies using a single-round infectivity assay have shown that a previously neglected parameter, the dose-response curve slope, is an extremely important determinant of antiviral activity. Some antiretroviral drugs have steep slopes that result in extraordinary levels of antiviral activity. The instantaneous inhibitory potential, the log reduction in infectivity in a single-round assay at clinical drug concentrations, has been proposed as a novel index for comparing antiviral activity.

SUMMARY

Among in-vitro measures of antiviral activity, single-round infection assays have the advantage of measuring instantaneous inhibition by a drug. Re-evaluating the antiviral activity of approved HIV-1 drugs has shown that the slope parameter is an important factor in drug activity. Determining the instantaneous inhibitory potential by using a single-round infectivity assay may provide important insights that can predict the in-vivo efficacy of anti-HIV-1 drugs.