Chemical formula: C₃₀H₃₄N₄O₂ Molecular mass: 482.617 g/mol PubChem compound: 49806720
Alectinib is a highly selective and potent ALK and rearranged during transfection (RET) tyrosine kinase inhibitor. In pre-clinical studies, inhibition of ALK tyrosine kinase activity led to blockage of downstream signalling pathways including signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (STAT 3) and phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K)/protein kinase B (AKT) and induction of tumour cell death (apoptosis).
Alectinib demonstrated in vitro and in vivo activity against mutant forms of the ALK enzyme, including mutations responsible for resistance to crizotinib. The major metabolite of alectinib (M4) has shown similar in vitro potency and activity.
Based on preclinical data, alectinib is not a substrate of P-gp or BCRP, which are both efflux transporters in the blood brain barrier, and is therefore able to distribute into and be retained within the central nervous system.
The pharmacokinetic parameters for alectinib and its major active metabolite (M4) have been characterised in ALK-positive NSCLC patients and healthy subjects. Based on population pharmacokinetic analysis, the geometric mean (coefficient of variation ) steady-state Cmax, Cmin and AUC0-12hr for alectinib were approximately 665 ng/mL (44.3), 572 ng/mL (47.8%) and 7430 ng*h/mL (45.7%), respectively. The geometric mean steady-state Cmax, Cmin and AUC0-12hr for M4 were approximately 246 ng/mL (45.4%), 222 ng/mL (46.6%) and 2810 ng*h/mL (45.9%), respectively.
Following oral administration of 600 mg twice daily under fed conditions in ALK-positive NSCLC patients, alectinib was absorbed reaching Tmax after approximately 4 to 6 hours.
Alectinib steady-state is reached within 7 days with continuous 600 mg twice daily dosing. The accumulation ratio for the twice-daily 600 mg regimen was approximately 6-fold. Population PK analysis supports dose proportionality for alectinib across the dose range of 300 to 900 mg under fed conditions.
The absolute bioavailability of alectinib capsules was 36.9% (90% CI: 33.9%, 40.3%) under fed conditions in healthy subjects.
Following a single oral administration of 600 mg with a high-fat, high-calorie meal, alectinib and M4 exposure was increased by around 3-fold relative to fasted conditions.
Alectinib and its major metabolite M4 are highly bound to human plasma proteins (>99%), independent of active substance concentration. The mean in vitro human blood-to-plasma concentration ratios of alectinib and M4 are 2.64 and 2.50, respectively, at clinically relevant concentrations.
The geometric mean volume of distribution at steady state (Vss) of alectinib following intravenous (IV) administration was 475 L, indicating extensive distribution into tissues. Based on in vitro data, alectinib is not a substrate of P-gp. Alectinib and M4 are not substrates of BCRP or organic anion-transporting polypeptide (OATP) 1B1/B3.
In vitro metabolism studies showed that CYP3A4 is the main CYP isozyme mediating alectinib and its major metabolite M4 metabolism, and is estimated to contribute 40-50% of alectinib metabolism. Results from the human mass balance study demonstrated that alectinib and M4 were the main circulating moieties in plasma with 76% of the total radioactivity in plasma. The geometric mean Metabolite/Parent ratio at steady state is 0.399.
Metabolite M1b was detected as a minor metabolite from in vitro and in human plasma in healthy subjects. Formation of metabolite M1b and its minor isomer M1a is likely to be catalyzed by a combination of CYP isozymes (including isozymes other than CYP3A) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) enzymes.
In vitro studies indicate that neither alectinib nor its major active metabolite (M4) inhibits CYP1A2, CYP2B6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, or CYP2D6 at clinically relevant concentrations. Alectinib did not inhibit OATP1B1/OATP1B3, OAT1, OAT3 or OCT2 at clinically relevant concentrations in vitro.
Following administration of a single dose of 14C-labeled alectinib administered orally to healthy subjects the majority of radioactivity was excreted in faeces (mean recovery 97.8%) with minimal excretion in urine (mean recovery 0.46%). In faeces, 84% and 5.8% of the dose was excreted as unchanged alectinib or M4, respectively.
Based on a population PK analysis, the apparent clearance (CL/F) of alectinib was 81.9 L/hour. The geometric mean of the individual elimination half-life estimates for alectinib was 32.5 hours. The corresponding values for M4 were 217 L/hour and 30.7 hours, respectively.
Negligible amounts of alectinib and the active metabolite M4 are excreted unchanged in urine (<0.2% of the dose). Based on a population pharmacokinetic analysis alectinib and M4 exposures were similar in patients with mild and moderate renal impairment and normal renal function. The pharmacokinetics of alectinib has not been studied in patients with severe renal impairment.
As elimination of alectinib is predominantly through metabolism in the liver, hepatic impairment may increase the plasma concentration of alectinib and/or its major metabolite M4. Based on a population pharmacokinetic analysis, alectinib and M4 exposures were similar in patients with mild hepatic impairment and normal hepatic function.
Following administration of a single oral dose of 300 mg alectinib in subjects with severe (Child-Pugh C) hepatic impairment, alectinib Cmax was the same and AUCinf was 2.2-fold higher compared with the same parameters in matched healthy subjects. M4 Cmax and AUCinf was 39% and 34% lower respectively, resulting in a combined exposure of alectinib and M4 (AUCinf) 1.8-fold higher in patients with severe hepatic impairment compared with matched healthy subjects.
The hepatic impairment study also included a group with moderate (Child-Pugh B) hepatic impairment, and a modestly higher alectinib exposure was observed in this group compared with matched healthy subjects. The subjects in the Child Pugh B group however did in general not suffer from abnormal bilirubin, albumin or prothrombin time, indicating that they may not be fully representative of moderately hepatically impaired subjects with decreased metabolic capacity.
Age, body weight, race and gender had no clinically meaningful effect on the systemic exposure of alectinib and M4. The range of body weights for patients enrolled in clinical studies is 36.9-123 kg. There are no available data on patients with extreme body weight (>130 kg).
Carcinogenicity studies have not been performed to establish the carcinogenic potential of alectinib.
Alectinib was not mutagenic in vitro in the bacterial reverse mutation (Ames) assay but induced a slight increase in numerical aberrations in the in vitro cytogenetic assay using Chinese Hamster Lung (CHL) cells with metabolic activation, and micronuclei in a rat bone marrow micronucleus test. The mechanism of micronucleus induction was abnormal chromosome segregation (aneugenicity), and not a clastogenic effect on chromosomes.
No fertility studies in animals have been performed to evaluate the effect of alectinib. No adverse effects on male and female reproductive organs were observed in general toxicology studies. These studies were conducted in rats and monkeys at exposures equal to or greater than 2.6- and 0.5-fold, respectively, of the human exposure, measured by area under the curve (AUC), at the recommended dose of 600 mg twice daily.
Alectinib caused embryo-foetal toxicity in pregnant rats and rabbits. In pregnant rats, alectinib caused total embryo-foetal loss (miscarriage) at exposures 4.5-fold of the human AUC exposure and small foetuses with retarded ossification and minor abnormalities of the organs at exposures 2.7-fold of the human AUC exposure. In pregnant rabbits, alectinib caused embryo-foetal loss, small fetuses and increased incidence of skeletal variations at exposures 2.9-fold of the human AUC exposure at the recommended dose.
Alectinib absorbs ultraviolet (UV) light between 200 and 400 nm and demonstrated a phototoxic potential in an in vitro photosafety test in cultured murine fibroblasts after UVA irradiation.
Target organs in both rat and monkey at clinically relevant exposures in the repeat-dose toxicology studies included, but were not limited to the erythroid system, gastrointestinal tract, and hepatobiliary system.
Abnormal erythrocyte morphology was observed at exposures equal or greater than 10-60% the human exposure by AUC at the recommended dose. Proliferative zone extension in gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa in both species was observed at exposures equal to or greater than 20-120% of the human AUC exposure at the recommended dose. Increased hepatic alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and direct bilirubin as well as vacuolation/degeneration/necrosis of bile duct epithelium and enlargement/focal necrosis of hepatocytes was observed in rats and/or monkeys at exposures equal to or greater than 20-30% of the human exposure by AUC at the recommended dose.
A mild hypotensive effect has been observed in monkeys at around clinically relevant exposures.
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