Teruaki Okuda

Discovery of orteronel (TAK-700), a naphthylmethylimidazole derivative, as a highly selective 17,20-lyase inhibitor with potential utility in the treatment of prostate cancer.

A novel naphthylmethylimidazole derivative 1 and its related compounds were identified as 17,20-lyase inhibitors. Based on the structure-activity relationship around the naphthalene scaffold and the results of a docking study of 1a in the homology model of 17,20-lyase, the 6,7-dihydro-5H-pyrrolo[1,2-c]imidazole derivative (+)-3c was synthesized and identified as a potent and highly selective 17,20-lyase inhibitor. Biological evaluation of (+)-3c at a dose of 1mg/kg in a male monkey model revealed marked reductions in both serum testosterone and dehydroepiandrosterone concentrations. Therefore, (+)-3c (termed orteronel [TAK-700]) was selected as a candidate for clinical evaluation and is currently in phase III clinical trials for the treatment of castration-resistant prostate cancer.

High-performance liquid chromatographic determination of pioglitazone and its metabolites in human serum and urine

A high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method for the simultaneous determination of pioglitazone and its metabolites (M-I to M-V) in human serum and urine was developed. The method for serum involved the solid-phase and liquid-liquid extraction. Urine with and without enzymatic hydrolysis using beta-glucuronidase was treated with liquid-liquid extraction. The compounds in the extract were analyzed using HPLC with UV detection at 269 nm. The detection limits of pioglitazone, M-I, M-II, M-III, M-IV, and M-V in serum were 0.01-0.05 micrograms/ml, those in urine were 0.1-0.5 micrograms/ml, and those in urine after enzymatic hydrolysis were 0.3-0.5 micrograms/ml, respectively. The method was applied to the clinical trials of pioglitazone.

Quantitation of a new potent angiotensin II receptor antagonist, TCV-116, and its metabolites in human serum and urine

A sensitive high-performance liquid chromatographic (HPLC) method is described for the determination of a new potent antihypertensive agent, TCV-116, and its two metabolites (M-I and M-II) in human serum or urine. After pre-treatment of the specimens, the analytes were determined using a column switching technique, except for the metabolites in urine which were determined by gradient elution mode HPLC. The quantitation limits for TCV-116, M-I and M-II were all 0.5 ng/ml in serum, and 0.5, 10 and 110 ng/ml in urine, respectively. The methods were applied to clinical trials of TCV-116.

Evaluation of cytochrome P450-mediated drug–drug interactions based on the strategies recommended by regulatory authorities

Herein, we aimed to evaluate the recently proposed risk assessment strategies of a cytochrome P450 (CYP) mediated drug–drug interaction (DDI) according to the European Medicines Evaluation Agency (EMEA) draft guideline, and discuss the differences between this guideline and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) draft guidance. A retrospective study on reported 35 clinical DDI cases revealed that the EMEA assessment successfully predicts moderate-to-strong DDIs, i.e. drugs that cause more than 2-fold increase in the area under the curve in the presence and absence of CYP inhibitor (AUCi/AUC); however, EMEA tends to overlook weak DDIs with AUCi/AUC ≤ 2 to > 1.25. For CYP3A4 inhibitors, even clinically insignificant DDIs were overemphasized if the intestinal DDI is considered. The differences between unbound fraction in plasma and microsomes account for the discrepancies in DDI risk assessment results between EMEA and FDA assessments. Comparing two assessment results for CYP2D6 and CYP2C9 inhibitors, the FDA assessment suggested potential DDI risks for sulphinpyrazone and amitriptyline, while the EMEA assessment indicated no potential risk for these drugs. Through a retrospective study, we showed practical differences in the DDI assessment strategies of EMEA and FDA and suggested improvements in their current strategies.

A 96-Well Plate Assay for CYP4503A Induction Using Cryopreserved Human Hepatocytes

A reliable and practical CYP3A induction assay with cryopreserved human hepatocytes in a 96-well format was developed. Various 96-well plates with different basement membrane were evaluated using prototypical inducers, rifampicin, phenytoin, and carbamazepine. Thin-layer (TL) Matrigel was found to yield the highest basal and induced levels of CYP3A activity as determined by testosterone 6β-hydroxylation. Concentration-dependent CYP3A induction of rifampicin was reproducible with the EC50 values of 0.36 ± 0.28 μM from four batches of human hepatocytes using the 96-well plate with TL Matrigel. The rank order of induction potency for nine inducers or noninducers at a concentration of 10 μM were well comparable among the multiple donors, by expressing the results as percentage of change compared with the positive control, 10 μM rifampicin. Cotreatment of avasimibe or efavirenz with 10 μM rifampicin was found to reduce CYP3A activities induced by rifampicin at a lower rate than treatment with rifampicin alone, whereas treatment with phenobarbital and carbamazepine had no effect. From a comparison of induced CYP3A activities and gene expression levels, there were compounds that would cause induction of CYP3A4 mRNA but not activity, presumably due to their inhibitory effect on CYP3A activity. The cotreatment assay of test compound with rifampicin allows us to exclude the false-negative results caused by the cytotoxicity and/or the mechanism-based inactivation, when the drug candidates ability for CYP3A induction is evaluating the enzyme activity. This 96-well plate assay, which is robust, reproducible, and convenient, has demonstrated the paramount applicability to the early drug discovery stage.

High-performance liquid chromatography using on-line solid-phase extraction: determination of furosemide in human serum

An on-line solid-phase extraction technique based on column switching (heart-cutting) was developed for direct injection analysis of furosemide in human serum. In order to minimize the influence of deterioration in pre-treatment column efficiency, which was caused by protein precipitation with repeated injections of serum, furosemide was completely enriched at the top of the analytical column by ion-pair formation with tetra-n-butylammonium ion during heart-cutting. The robustness of the established on-line solid-phase extraction system was confirmed under routine conditions. As a result, almost comparable chromatograms could be obtained even though 50 repeated injections of a 100-microliter volume of serum were carried out using one pre-treatment column. The linearity of the calibration curves was demonstrated by the correlation coefficient which was greater than 0.99999 (5-1000 ng/ml). The relative errors and C.V. of quality control samples were within 4.00 and 5.88%, respectively (furosemide concentrations: 5, 100 and 1000 ng/ml).

Complete two-dimensional separation for analysis of acidic compounds in plasma using column-switching reversed-phase liquid chromatography

A complete two-dimensional separation technique for the determination of acidic compounds in plasma was developed by using column-switching reversed-phase liquid chromatography. This technique was based on solute peak enrichment at the top of the second column during heart-cutting and an ion-pair chromatographic separation in the second column using tetrabutylammonium ion, where different separation modes in the first and second columns and solute peak enrichment at the top of the second column during heart-cutting were achieved coincidentally. Retention behaviors of two solutes, zidovudine-beta-D-glucuronide (AZT-beta-D-Gluc) and probenecid, in the first and second column and solute peak enrichment at the top of the second column were investigated for establishment of the system. Different retention behaviors of the solutes in the first and second column, which were evaluated by changes in capacity factor versus acetonitrile concentration in the mobile phases, and peak enrichment could be accomplished by using ion-pair chromatography in the second column. System suitability was confirmed by assessing the number of theoretical plates (N) of the second column for the solutes after heart-cutting. The N values in the second column after column switching were almost same as those in the case that the solutes were directly injected onto the second column. These results indicate that complete two-dimensional separation should be achieved by using this system. Furthermore, this technique was applied to method development for the determination of AZT-beta-D-Gluc and probenecid in rat plasma. The peaks of each analyte in the plasma extract obtained by deproteinization were well separated from those of endogenous substances, and easy determination of the analytes could be accomplished at the ng/ml level only by changing the acetonitrile concentration in the mobile phases.

Sensitive determination of methotrexate in monkey plasma by high-performance liquid chromatography using on-line solid-phase extraction

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method was developed for the sensitive determination of methotrexate (MTX) in monkey plasma using direct injection and on-line solid-phase extraction. After application of a 100-microliters aliquot of plasma to a pre-treatment column, the column was washed with 0.02 M phosphate buffer (pH 7) to eliminate plasma proteins and endogenous substances, and subsequently the adsorbed MTX was eluted. The MTX fraction was transferred to an analytical column by a column-switching (heart-cutting) technique, and MTX was analyzed using ion-pair chromatography with tetrabutylammonium bromide. More than 50 injections could be performed onto one pretreatment column. The accuracy, precision, reproducibility and linearity were satisfactory over a wide range of MTX concentrations (5-1000 ng/ml). The quantitation limit was 5 ng/ml with a signal-to-noise ratio of 5. The method was suitable for the pharmacokinetic study of MTX in monkey.

Clarification of P-glycoprotein inhibition-related drug–drug interaction risks based on a literature search of the clinical information

Abstract 1.  Recently, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicines Agency have shown decision trees to determine whether a drug candidate is an inhibitor of P-glycoprotein (P-gp). However, there has been no clear information on whether P-gp inhibition can be significant in clinical drug–drug interactions (DDIs). The purpose of this study was to confirm the effect of P-gp inhibition through comprehensive analysis of the clinical DDI studies. 2.  Clinical information on P-gp inhibition was collected using the University of Washington Metabolism and Transport Drug Interaction Database™. The risks of P-gp inhibition-related DDI were qualitatively evaluated in terms of the contribution of CYP3A inhibition. The degrees of DDI risk were categorized using the area under the plasma concentration–time curve increase ratio (AUCR), according to the FDA DDI criteria. 3.  When both P-gp and CYP3A were inhibited, the DDI risks were potent in 25% of the studies. When CYP3A inhibition did not contribute to the DDI, no study was categorized as potent DDI risk, and the detailed analysis revealed that AUCRs were basically <3.0. The DDI risk caused by P-gp inhibition solely would be limited, although the use of P-gp substrates with narrow therapeutic range should be carefully controlled.

Risk assessment of drug–drug interactions using hepatocytes suspended in serum during the drug discovery process

Abstract 1. This study optimized the reported approach for the prediction of drug–drug interactions (DDIs) using hepatocytes suspended in serum (HHSS) and provided a practical usage of HHSS in the early and late phases of drug discovery. 2. First, the IC50 was determined using HHSS and evaluated as a qualitative index for DDI risks in the early phase. A retrospective study on clinical DDI cases revealed that inhibitors with IC50 < 100 μmol/L caused clinical DDIs while those with IC50 > 100 μmol/L showed weak or no potential for DDIs. Meanwhile, a pragmatic cutoff value could not be determined using previously reported Ki values of recombinant human cytochrome P450s. 3. Second, for a more substantial DDI risk assessment in the later phase, quantitative predictions of clinical DDI based on a static model were attempted by optimizing the most appropriate inhibitor concentration ([I]). The use of hepatic input plasma concentrations as a surrogate for [I] achieved the most successful predictions of the magnitude of increase in the AUC (within a 2-fold range of the observed values for 93.8% of inhibitors). 4. Through this study, we proposed the practical application of HHSS for an effective workflow to explore and profile candidates with less DDI liability.