Studies of daily emtricitabine-tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (FTC-TDF) for HIV preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) in men who have sex with men (MSM) modeled intracellular tenofovir-diphosphate (TFV-DP) in dried blood spots (DBS) to assess adherence and corresponding PrEP outcomes. We conducted a prospective, randomized, crossover pharmacokinetic study of TFV-DP in DBS during 33%, 67%, or 100% of daily dosing under directly observed therapy (DOT). Participants were assigned to two 12-week dosing regimens, separated by a 12-week washout. Forty-eight adults (25 women) from Denver and San Francisco were included. TFV-DP exhibited a median half-life of 17 days, reaching steady state in 8 weeks. TFV-DP was dose proportional with mean (SD) steady-state concentrations of 530 (159), 997 (267), and 1,605 (405) fmol/punch for the 33%, 67%, and 100% arms, respectively. Prior work in MSM demonstrated clinically meaningful TFV-DP thresholds of 350, 700, and 1,250 fmol/punch, which were estimated 25th percentiles for 2, 4, and 7 doses/week. In the present study, corresponding TFV-DP was within 3% of the prior estimates, and subgroups by site, race, and sex were within 14% of prior estimates, although males had 17.6% (95% confidence intervals [CIs], 6.5, 27.4%) lower TFV-DP than females. The thresholds of 350, 700, and 1,250 fmol/punch were achieved by 75% of men taking ≥1.2, 3.2, and 6 doses/week and 75% of women taking ≥0.6, 2.0, and 5.3 doses/week, indicating that lower dosing reached these thresholds for both sexes. In conclusion, TFV-DP arising from DOT was similar to previous estimates and is useful for interpreting PrEP adherence and study outcomes. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT02022657.).

Background Intracellular tenofovir diphosphate (TFV-DP) concentration measured in dried blood spots (DBS) is used to monitor cumulative adherence to pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP). We evaluated TFV-DP in DBS following daily oral PrEP (emtricitabine 200mg/tenofovir diphosphate 300mg) among pregnant and postpartum adolescent girls and young women (AGYW). Methods Directly observed PrEP was administered for 12 weeks in a pregnancy group (14-24 weeks gestation, n=20) and a postpartum group (6-12 weeks postpartum, n=20) of AGYW aged 16-24 years in sub-Saharan Africa. Weekly DBS TFV-DP was measured by validated liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry assay. Week 12 TFV-DP distributions were compared between groups with the Wilcoxon test. Population pharmacokinetic models were fit to estimate steady-state concentrations and create benchmarks for adherence categories. Baseline correlates of TFV-DP were evaluated. Results Participant median age was 20 years (IQR:19,22). Of 3360 doses, 3352 (>99%) were directly observed. TFV-DP median half-life was ten days (IQR:7, 12) in pregnancy and 17 days (IQR:14, 21) postpartum, with steady-state achieved by five and eight weeks, respectively. Observed median steady-state TFV-DP was 965 fmol/punch (IQR:691, 1166) in pregnancy vs 1406 fmol/punch (IQR:1053, 1859) postpartum (p=0.006). Modelled median steady-state TFV-DP was 881 fmol/punch (IQR: 667,1105) in pregnancy vs 1438 fmol/punch (IQR: 1178,1919) postpartum. In pooled analysis, baseline creatinine clearance was associated with observed TFV-DP concentrations. Conclusion TFV-DP in African AGYW was approximately one-third lower in pregnancy than postpartum. Population-specific benchmarks provided by this study can be used to guide PrEP adherence support in pregnant/postpartum African women.

Missing or erroneous information is a common problem in the analysis of pharmacokinetic (PK) data. This may present as missing or inaccurate dose level or dose time, drug concentrations below the analytical limit of quantification, missing sample times, or missing or incorrect covariate information. Several methods to handle problematic data have been evaluated, though no single, broad set of recommendations for commonly occurring errors has been published. In this tutorial, we review the existing literature and present the results of our simulation studies that evaluated common methods to handle known data errors to bridge the remaining gaps and expand upon the existing knowledge. This tutorial is intended for any scientist analyzing a PK dataset with missing or apparently erroneous data. The approaches described herein may also be useful for the analysis of nonclinical PK data. Overview Data from clinical trials is frequently incomplete, particularly datasets collected during large, late phase trials, during routine clinical patient care or follow-up visits. Portions of data may be missing or inaccurate due to factors such as study site noncompliance, patient noncompliance, inappropriate sample handling, data entry errors, and analytical problems. How "problematic" data are handled can impact its interpretation, especially when data used for population pharmacokinetic (PPK) modeling contains missing or erroneous data. Prior to beginning an analysis, pharmacometricians often spend a large portion of time dealing with problematic data. During data cleaning (data quality assurance), the first step is to identify missing or problematic data. Concentration-time data and dosing records are often the primary concern, but other issues, such as missing or questionable covariate data, must also be considered. Once issues/discrepancies are identified, the next challenge is to evaluate frequency of occurrence of each type of problem and the associated reason to establish appropriate methods for handling these erroneous data. Prior studies have addressed handling of specific types of problematic data, though no set of broad recommendations spanning the various types of problematic data have been previously presented. Accepted Article This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved Through review of published methods, simulation of data sets with known errors, and evaluation using different methods for handling these errors, this tutorial aims to provide guidance for dealing with problematic clinical (and some non-clinical) concentration vs. time, dosing, and covariate data. This tutorial is intended to be utilized by scientists analyzing pharmacokinetic data with either missing data or where apparently questionable or erroneous data is present. Although data quality assurance (QA) and control (QC) are essential to successful modeling, this tutorial assumes the dataset has already undergone appropriate QC or was assembled from locked, clean data. Basic assessments include exploratory data analysis by plotting and...

Background: Tenofovir alafenamide (TAF), in combination with FTC, was recently approved for PrEP in the United States. The objective of this study was to assess the relationship between tenofovir-diphosphate (TFV-DP) and emtricitabine-triphosphate (FTC-TP) in dried blood spots (DBS) with adherence to TAF/FTC. Methods: TAF-DBS was a randomized, crossover clinical study of TFV-DP in DBS, following directly observed dosing of 33%, 67%, or 100% of daily TAF (25 mg)/FTC (200 mg). Healthy volunteers were randomized to 2 different, 12-week dosing regimens, separated by a 12-week washout. DBS were collected weekly. TFV-DP and FTC-TP were extracted from two 7-mm punches and assayed with LC-MS/MS. Results: Thirty-seven participants (17 female, 7 African American, and 6 Hispanic) were included. TFV-DP exhibited a mean half-life of 20.8 days (95% confidence interval: 19.3 to 21.3). The slope for TFV-DP versus dosing arm was 1.14 (90% confidence interval: 1.07 to 1.21). The mean (SD) TFV-DP after 12 weeks was 657 (186), 1451 (501), and 2381 (601) fmol/2 7-mm punches for the 33%, 67%, and 100% arms. The following adherence interpretations are proposed: <450 fmol/punches, <2 doses/wk; 450–949 fmol/punches, 2–3 doses/wk; 950–1799 fmol/punches, 4–6 doses/wk; and ≥1800 fmol/punches, 7 doses/wk. FTC-TP was quantifiable for 1 week after drug cessation in 50%, 92%, and 100% of participants in the 33%, 67%, and 100% arms, respectively. Conclusion: TFV-DP in DBS after TAF/FTC exhibited a long half-life and was linearly associated with dosing, similar to its predecessor tenofovir disoproxil fumarate. FTC-TP was quantifiable for up to 1 week after drug cessation. Together, these moieties provide complementary measures of cumulative adherence and recent dosing for TAF/FTC.