Regulatory approval documents contain valuable information, often not published, to assess the drug-drug interaction (DDI) profile of newly marketed drugs. This analysis aimed to systematically review all drug metabolism, transport, pharmacokinetics, and DDI data available in the new drug applications and biologic license applications approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in 2014, using the University of Washington Drug Interaction Database, and to highlight the significant findings. Among the 30 new drug applications and 11 biologic license applications reviewed, 35 new molecular entities (NMEs) were well characterized with regard to drug metabolism, transport, and/or organ impairment and were fully analyzed in this review. In vitro, a majority of the NMEs were found to be substrates or inhibitors/inducers of at least one drug metabolizing enzyme or transporter. In vivo, when NMEs were considered as victim drugs, 16 NMEs had at least one in vivo DDI study with a clinically significant change in exposure (area under the time-plasma concentration curve or C max ratio ‡2 or £0.5), with 6 NMEs shown to be sensitive substrates of cytochrome P450 enzymes (area under the time-plasma concentration curve ratio ‡5 when coadministered with potent inhibitors): paritaprevir and naloxegol (CYP3A), eliglustat (CYP2D6), dasabuvir (CYP2C8), and tasimelteon and pirfenidone (CYP1A2). As perpetrators, seven NMEs showed clinically significant inhibition involving both enzymes and transporters, although no clinically significant induction was observed. Physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling and pharmacogenetics studies were used for six and four NMEs, respectively, to optimize dosing recommendations in special populations and/or multiple impairment situations. In addition, the pharmacokinetic evaluations in patients with hepatic or renal impairment provided useful quantitative information to support drug administration in these fragile populations.
IntroductionThe evaluation of pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions (DDIs) during the development of a new molecular entity (NME) is based on a systematic and mechanistic approach that includes the assessment of both the possible effect of the NME on other drugs (NME as a perpetrator or precipitant) as well as the effect of other drugs on the NME (NME as a victim or object) (Zhang et al., 2009b). The results of extensive in vitro and clinical evaluations using probe substrates and inhibitors of drug metabolizing enzymes (DMEs) and transporters are used to predict broader interactions with other drugs, herbs, and/or food products that may be administered concomitantly (Zhang et al., 2009a, b;Lee et al., 2010;Tweedie et al., 2013). This knowledge is critical to support personalized dosing recommendations and to inform health care providers of the potential risk for drug interactions through drug labeling . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) makes the entire new drug application (NDA) and biologic license application (BLA) approval packages, including s...