Combination fo two anti-hyperglycaemic medicinal products with different and complementary mechanisms of action to improve glycaemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes: dapagliflozin, a SGLT2 inhibitor, and metformin hydrochloride, a member of the biguanide class.
Dapagliflozin is a highly potent (Ki: 0.55 nM), selective and reversible inhibitor of SGLT2.
Inhibition of SGLT2 by dapagliflozin reduces reabsorption of glucose from the glomerular filtrate in the proximal renal tubule with a concomitant reduction in sodium reabsorption leading to urinary excretion of glucose and osmotic diuresis. Dapagliflozin therefore increases the delivery of sodium to the distal tubule which increases tubuloglomerular feedback and reduces intraglomerular pressure. This combined with osmotic diuresis leads to a reduction in volume overload, reduced blood pressure, and lower preload and afterload, which may have beneficial effects on cardiac remodelling and preserve renal function. Other effects include an increase in haematocrit and reduction in body weight. The cardiac and renal benefits of dapagliflozin are not solely dependent on the blood glucose-lowering
effect.
Dapagliflozin improves both fasting and post-prandial plasma glucose levels by reducing renal glucose reabsorption leading to urinary glucose excretion. This glucose excretion (glucuretic effect) is observed after the first dose, is continuous over the 24-hour dosing interval and is sustained for the duration of treatment. The amount of glucose removed by the kidney through this mechanism is dependent upon the blood glucose concentration and GFR. Thus, in subjects with normal blood glucose, dapagliflozin has a low propensity to cause hypoglycaemia. Dapagliflozin does not impair normal endogenous glucose production in response to hypoglycaemia. Dapagliflozin acts independently of insulin secretion and insulin action. Improvement in homeostasis model assessment for beta cell function (HOMA beta-cell) has been observed in clinical studies with dapagliflozin.
The SGLT2 is selectively expressed in the kidney. Dapagliflozin does not inhibit other glucose transporters important for glucose transport into peripheral tissues and is >1,400 times more selective for SGLT2 versus SGLT1, the major transporter in the gut responsible for glucose absorption.
Metformin is a biguanide with anti-hyperglycaemic effects, lowering both basal and postprandial plasma glucose. It does not stimulate insulin secretion and therefore does not produce hypoglycaemia.
Metformin may act via three mechanisms:
Metformin stimulates intracellular glycogen synthesis by acting on glycogen synthase. Metformin increases the transport capacity of specific types of membrane glucose transporters (GLUT-1 and GLUT-4).
Increases in the amount of glucose excreted in the urine were observed in healthy subjects and in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus following the administration of dapagliflozin. Approximately 70 g of glucose was excreted in the urine per day (corresponding to 280 kcal/day) at a dapagliflozin dose of 10 mg/day in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus for 12 weeks. Evidence of sustained glucose excretion was seen in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus given dapagliflozin 10 mg/day for up to 2 years.
This urinary glucose excretion with dapagliflozin also results in osmotic diuresis and increases in urinary volume in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Urinary volume increases in subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus treated with dapagliflozin 10 mg were sustained at 12 weeks and amounted to approximately 375 mL/day. The increase in urinary volume was associated with a small and transient increase in urinary sodium excretion that was not associated with changes in serum sodium concentrations.
Urinary uric acid excretion was also increased transiently (for 3-7 days) and accompanied by a sustained reduction in serum uric acid concentration. At 24 weeks, reductions in serum uric acid concentrations ranged from -48.3 to -18.3 micromoles/L (-0.87 to -0.33 mg/dL).
The pharmacodynamics of 5 mg dapagliflozin twice daily and 10 mg dapagliflozin once daily were compared in healthy subjects. The steady-state inhibition of renal glucose reabsorption and the amount of urinary glucose excretion over a 24-hour period was the same for both dosing regimens.
In humans, independently of its action on glycaemia, metformin has favourable effects on lipid metabolism. This has been shown at therapeutic doses in controlled, medium-term or long-term clinical studies: metformin reduces total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
In clinical studies, use of metformin was associated with either a stable body weight or modest weight loss.
Dapagliflozin/metformin fixed combination tablets are considered to be bioequivalent to coadministration of corresponding doses of dapagliflozin and metformin hydrochloride administered together as individual tablets.
The pharmacokinetics of 5 mg dapagliflozin twice daily and 10 mg dapagliflozin once daily were compared in healthy subjects. Administration of 5 mg dapagliflozin twice daily gave similar overall exposures (AUCss) over a 24-hour period as 10 mg dapagliflozin administered once daily. As expected, dapagliflozin 5 mg administered twice daily compared with 10 mg dapagliflozin once daily resulted in lower peak dapagliflozin plasma concentrations (Cmax) and higher trough plasma dapagliflozin concentrations (Cmin).
The administration of this medicinal product in healthy volunteers after a high fat meal compared to after the fasted state resulted in the same extent of exposure for both dapagliflozin and metformin. The meal resulted in a delay of 1 to 2 hours in the peak concentrations and a decrease in the maximum plasma concentration of 29% of dapagliflozin and 17% of metformin. These changes are not considered to be clinically meaningful.
Pharmacokinetics in the paediatric population have not been studied.
The following statements reflect the pharmacokinetic properties of the individual active substances of this medicinal product.
Dapagliflozin was rapidly and well absorbed after oral administration. Maximum dapagliflozin plasma concentrations (Cmax) were usually attained within 2 hours after administration in the fasted state. Geometric mean steady-state dapagliflozin Cmax and AUCτ values following once daily 10 mg doses of dapagliflozin were 158 ng/mL and 628 ng h/mL, respectively. The absolute oral bioavailability of dapagliflozin following the administration of a 10 mg dose is 78%.
Dapagliflozin is approximately 91% protein bound. Protein binding was not altered in various disease states (e.g. renal or hepatic impairment). The mean steady-state volume of distribution of dapagliflozin was 118 liters.
Dapagliflozin is extensively metabolised, primarily to yield dapagliflozin 3-O-glucuronide, which is an inactive metabolite. Dapagliflozin 3-O-glucuronide or other metabolites do not contribute to the glucose-lowering effects. The formation of dapagliflozin 3-O-glucuronide is mediated by UGT1A9, an enzyme present in the liver and kidney, and CYP-mediated metabolism was a minor clearance pathway in humans.
The mean plasma terminal half-life (t½) for dapagliflozin was 12.9 hours following a single oral dose of dapagliflozin 10 mg to healthy subjects. The mean total systemic clearance of dapagliflozin administered intravenously was 207 mL/min. Dapagliflozin and related metabolites are primarily eliminated via urinary excretion with less than 2% as unchanged dapagliflozin. After administration of a 50 mg [14C]-dapagliflozin dose, 96% was recovered, 75% in urine and 21% in faeces. In faeces, approximately 15% of the dose was excreted as parent drug.
Dapagliflozin exposure increased proportional to the increment in dapagliflozin dose over the range of 0.1 to 500 mg and its pharmacokinetics did not change with time upon repeated daily dosing for up to 24 weeks.
At steady-state (20 mg once-daily dapagliflozin for 7 days), subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus and mild, moderate or severe renal impairment (as determined by iohexol plasma clearance) had mean systemic exposures of dapagliflozin of 32%, 60% and 87% higher, respectively, than those of subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus and normal renal function. The steady-state 24-hour urinary glucose excretion was highly dependent on renal function and 85, 52, 18 and 11 g of glucose/day was excreted by subjects with type 2 diabetes mellitus and normal renal function or mild, moderate or severe renal impairment, respectively. The impact of haemodialysis on dapagliflozin exposure is not known.
In subjects with mild or moderate hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh classes A and B), mean Cmax and AUC of dapagliflozin were up to 12% and 36% higher, respectively, compared with healthy matched control subjects. These differences were not considered to be clinically meaningful. In subjects with severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh class C) mean Cmax and AUC of dapagliflozin were 40% and 67% higher than matched healthy controls, respectively.
There is no clinically meaningful increase in exposure based on age alone in subjects up to 70 years old. However, an increased exposure due to age-related decrease in renal function can be expected. There are insufficient data to draw conclusions regarding exposure in patients >70 years old.
The mean dapagliflozin AUCss in females was estimated to be about 22% higher than in males.
There were no clinically relevant differences in systemic exposures between White, Black or Asian races.
Dapagliflozin exposure was found to decrease with increased weight. Consequently, low-weight patients may have somewhat increased exposure and patients with high weight somewhat decreased exposure. However, the differences in exposure were not considered clinically meaningful.
Pharmacokinetics in the paediatric population have not been studied.
After an oral dose of metformin, tmax is reached in 2.5 h. Absolute bioavailability of a 500 mg or 850 mg metformin tablet is approximately 50-60% in healthy subjects. After an oral dose, the non-absorbed fraction recovered in faeces was 20-30%.
After oral administration, metformin absorption is saturable and incomplete. It is assumed that the pharmacokinetics of metformin absorption is non-linear. At the usual metformin doses and dosing schedules, steady-state plasma concentrations are reached within 24-48 hours and are generally less than 1 μg/mL. In controlled clinical trials, maximum metformin plasma levels (Cmax) did not exceed 5 μg/mL, even at maximum doses.
Plasma protein binding is negligible. Metformin partitions into erythrocytes. The blood peak is lower than the plasma peak and appears at approximately the same time. The red blood cells most likely represent a secondary compartment of distribution. The mean Vd ranged between 63-276 l.
Metformin is excreted unchanged in the urine. No metabolites have been identified in humans.
Renal clearance of metformin is >400 mL/min, indicating that metformin is eliminated by glomerular filtration and tubular secretion. Following an oral dose, the apparent terminal elimination half-life is approximately 6.5 hours.
In patients with decreased renal function (based on measured creatinine clearance), the plasma and blood half-life of metformin is prolonged and the renal clearance is decreased in proportion to the decrease in creatinine clearance, leading to increased levels of metformin in plasma.
Non-clinical data reveal no special hazard for humans based on conventional studies of repeated dose toxicity.
The following statements reflect the preclinical safety data of the individual active substances of dapagliflozin/metformin fixed combination.
Non-clinical data reveal no special hazard for humans based on conventional studies of safety pharmacology, repeated dose toxicity, genotoxicity, carcinogenic potential and fertility. Dapagliflozin did not induce tumours in either mice or rats at any of the doses evaluated in two-year carcinogenicity studies.
Direct administration of dapagliflozin to weanling juvenile rats and indirect exposure during late pregnancy (time periods corresponding to the second and third trimesters of pregnancy with respect to human renal maturation) and lactation are each associated with increased incidence and/or severity of renal pelvic and tubular dilatations in progeny.
In a juvenile toxicity study, when dapagliflozin was dosed directly to young rats from postnatal day 21 until postnatal day 90, renal pelvic and tubular dilatations were reported at all dose levels; pup exposures at the lowest dose tested were ≥15 times the maximum recommended human dose. These findings were associated with dose-related increases in kidney weight and macroscopic kidney enlargement observed at all doses. The renal pelvic and tubular dilatations observed in juvenile animals did not fully reverse within the approximate 1-month recovery period.
In a separate study of pre- and postnatal development, maternal rats were dosed from gestation day 6 through postnatal day 21, and pups were indirectly exposed in utero and throughout lactation. (A satellite study was conducted to assess dapagliflozin exposures in milk and pups.) Increased incidence or severity of renal pelvic dilatation was observed in adult offspring of treated dams, although only at the highest dose tested (associated maternal and pup dapagliflozin exposures were 1,415 times and 137 times, respectively, the human values at the maximum recommended human dose). Additional developmental toxicity was limited to dose-related reductions in pup body weights, and observed only at doses ≥15 mg/kg/day (associated with pup exposures that are ≥29 times the human values at the maximum recommended human dose). Maternal toxicity was evident only at the highest dose tested, and limited to transient reductions in body weight and food consumption at dose. The no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) for developmental toxicity, the lowest dose tested, is associated with a maternal systemic exposure multiple that is approximately 19 times the human value at the maximum recommended human dose.
In additional studies of embryo-foetal development in rats and rabbits, dapagliflozin was administered for intervals coinciding with the major periods of organogenesis in each species. Neither maternal nor developmental toxicities were observed in rabbits at any dose tested; the highest dose tested is associated with a systemic exposure multiple of approximately 1,191 times the maximum recommended human dose. In rats, dapagliflozin was neither embryolethal nor teratogenic at exposures up to 1,441 times the maximum recommended human dose.
Non-clinical data reveal no special hazard for humans based on conventional studies of safety pharmacology, repeated dose toxicity, genotoxicity, carcinogenic potential, toxicity to reproduction and development.
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