pradefovir-mesylate and adefovir

HepDirect prodrugs represent a novel class of cytochrome P450-activated prodrugs capable of targeting certain drugs to the liver. In this review, the HepDirect prodrug concept and its use for the delivery of nucleotides to the liver for the treatment of viral hepatitis is summarized. Preclinical and clinical data for the most advanced HepDirect prodrug, pradefovir, highlight the liver-targeting capability of these prodrugs, and the potential benefit of liver targeting on drug efficacy, safety and viral resistance.

Topics: Adenine; Animals; Antiviral Agents; Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; Drug Delivery Systems; Haplorhini; Hepatitis B; Humans; Liver; Nucleotides; Organophosphonates; Organophosphorus Compounds; Phosphotransferases; Prodrugs; Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; Rats

Pradefovir is a liver targeted novel prodrug of adefovir (PMEA) developed to provide higher antiviral activity with reduced systemic toxicities. This study evaluated the tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and antiviral activity of pradefovir in patients with chronic hepatitis B (CHB) virus infection.. Non-cirrhotic, treatment-naïve subjects with CHB were divided into five groups (10 patients each) and randomized within each group in a ratio of 6:2:2 to receive an ascending dose of 30, 60, 75, 90, or 120 mg pradefovir, 10 mg adefovir dipivoxil (ADV), or 300 mg tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) once a day for 28 days.. A total of 51 subjects were randomized and 49 subjects completed the study. The groups were well matched and included 39 males, of whom 71% were hepatitis B e-antigen-negative with a mean hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA level of 6.4-7.16 log10 IU/mL. No subject experienced a serious adverse event or nephrotoxicity. The most frequently reported adverse event was asymptomatic reduction in blood cholinesterase levels in the pradefovir group which recovered without any treatment about 13 ± 7 days after drug discontinuation. This adverse event was not observed in the ADV and TDF groups. The mean changes in serum HBV DNA were -2.78, -2.77, -3.08, -3.18, -3.44, -2.34, and -3.07 log10 IU/mL at 30, 60, 75, 90, and 120 mg pradefovir, 10 mg ADV and 300 mg TDF, respectively, with plateau levels reached with 60 mg pradefovir. Pradefovir and its metabolite PMEA showed linear pharmacokinetics proportional to the dose. The half-life of PMEA in the pradefovir group was 11.47-17.63 h.. Short-term use of pradefovir was well tolerated. A decline in HBV DNA levels was superior to TDF at higher doses of pradefovir. 30-60 mg pradefovir is recommended for CHB treatment.. CTR20150224.

Topics: Adenine; Adult; Antiviral Agents; DNA, Viral; Drug Therapy, Combination; Female; Hepatitis B virus; Hepatitis B, Chronic; Humans; Male; Middle Aged; Organophosphonates; Organophosphorus Compounds; Prodrugs; Tenofovir; Treatment Outcome; Viral Load

Pradefovir, a prodrug of PMEA, is under phase 2 clinical trial in China to evaluate its pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics after multiple-dose study, with adefovir dipivoxil and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate as positive control. A rapid and sensitive liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) method was developed and validated for the quantification of pradefovir, PMEA and tenofovir in HBV patient serum. Serum samples were pretreated via simple protein precipitation with methanol and entecavir was used as internal standard. Chromatographic separation was carried out on a Synergi(®) fusion-RP column (150mm×4.6mm) by gradient elution with methanol and 0.1% formic acid in water (v/v) at a flow rate of 1mL/min. The analytes were detected in multiple reaction monitoring mode with positive ion electrospray ionization at m/z 424.1/151.0, 274.1/162.2, 288.1/176.1, and 278.1/152.2for pradefovir, PMEA, tenofovir and IS, respectively. The assays were validated according to current bioanalytical guidelines including specificity, linearity (2.0-500ng/mL for pradefovir and PMEA, 4.0-1000ng/mL for tenofovir), accuracy and precision, extraction recovery, matrix effect and stability. The validated method has been successfully applied to the pharmacokinetic study of pradefovir, adefovir dipivoxil and tenofovir disoproxil fumarate in a set of HBV patients.

Topics: Adenine; Adult; Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; Drug Stability; Female; Humans; Linear Models; Male; Middle Aged; Organophosphonates; Organophosphorus Compounds; Prodrugs; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Tandem Mass Spectrometry; Tenofovir

The pharmacokinetics of pradefovir and adefovir, 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl) adenine (PMEA), was evaluated in healthy male volunteers after oral dosing of pradefovir (10, 30, or 60 mg). Pradefovir was absorbed rapidly. The maximum serum concentration, the area under the concentration-time curve between 0 and 96 hours after dosing (AUC(0-96)), and the area under the plasma concentration versus time curve from time 0 to infinity (AUC(0-infinity)) of pradefovir and PMEA increased with the dose of pradefovir. The ratio of PMEA to pradefovir for AUC(0-96) and AUC(0-infinity) ranged from 1.4 to 1.8. Renal clearance of pradefovir (18-31 L/h) increased with the dose of pradefovir and was greater than glomerular filtration. The fraction of total body clearance due to renal clearance was low (0.045 to 0.083), suggesting that metabolic clearance played a significant role in the clearance of pradefovir in man. In addition, an evaluation of the food effect was conducted at the 30-mg dose. The results indicate that food intake has no effect on the extent of exposure of pradefovir and PMEA but may decrease the rate of systemic availability of PMEA.

Topics: Adenine; Administration, Oral; Adult; Antiviral Agents; Dietary Fats; Double-Blind Method; Food-Drug Interactions; Humans; Male; Organophosphonates; Organophosphorus Compounds; Prodrugs

Adefovir dipivoxil, a marketed drug for the treatment of hepatitis B, is dosed at submaximally efficacious doses because of renal toxicity. In an effort to improve the therapeutic index of adefovir, 1-aryl-1,3-propanyl prodrugs were synthesized with the rationale that this selectively liver-activated prodrug class would enhance liver levels of the active metabolite adefovir diphosphate (ADV-DP) and/or decrease kidney exposure. The lead prodrug (14, MB06866, pradefovir), identified from a variety of in vitro and in vivo assays, exhibited good oral bioavailability (F = 42%, mesylate salt, rat) and rate of prodrug conversion to ADV-DP. Tissue distribution studies in the rat using radiolabeled materials showed that cyclic 1-aryl-1,3-propanyl prodrugs enhance the delivery of adefovir and its metabolites to the liver, with pradefovir exhibiting a 12-fold improvement in the liver/kidney ratio over adefovir dipivoxil.

Topics: Adenine; Administration, Oral; Animals; Biological Availability; Dogs; Hepatocytes; In Vitro Techniques; Liver; Male; Microsomes, Liver; Organophosphonates; Organophosphorus Compounds; Prodrugs; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Stereoisomerism; Structure-Activity Relationship; Tissue Distribution

Metabasis Therapeutics Inc (previously Ribapharm Inc) is developing pradefovir, an oral liver-targeting prodrug of adefovir developed using its HepDirect technology, for the potential treatment of HBV infection. Phase II clinical trials of pradefovir have been completed.

Topics: Adenine; Antiviral Agents; Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic; Clinical Trials, Phase II as Topic; Drug Delivery Systems; Hepatitis B, Chronic; Humans; Liver; Organophosphonates; Organophosphorus Compounds; Prodrugs; Structure-Activity Relationship

Metabolic activation of pradefovir to 9-(2-phosphonylmethoxyethyl)adenine (PMEA) was evaluated by using cDNA-expressed CYP isozymes in portal vein-cannulated rats following oral administration and in human liver microsomes. The enzyme induction potential of pradefovir was evaluated in rats following multiple oral dosing and in primary cultures of human hepatocytes. The results indicated that CYP3A4 is the only cDNA-expressed CYP isozyme catalyzing the conversion of pradefovir to PMEA. Pradefovir was converted to PMEA in human liver microsomes with a K(m) of 60 microM, a maximum rate of metabolism of 228 pmol/min/mg protein, and an intrinsic clearance of about 359 ml/min. Addition of ketoconazole and monoclonal antibody 3A4 significantly inhibits the conversion of pradefovir to PMEA in human liver microsomes, suggesting the predominant role of CYP3A4 in the metabolic activation of pradefovir. Pradefovir at 0.2, 2, and 20 microM was neither a direct inhibitor nor a mechanism-based inhibitor of CYP3A4, CYP2D6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2E1, and CYP1A2 in human liver microsomes. In rats, the liver was the site of metabolic activation of pradefovir, whereas the small intestine did not play a significant role in the metabolic conversion of pradefovir to PMEA. Daily oral dosing (300 mg/kg of body weight) to rats for 8 days showed that pradefovir was not an inducer of P450 enzymes in rats. Furthermore, pradefovir at 10 microg/ml was not an inducer of either CYP1A2 or CYP3A4/5 in primary cultures of human hepatocytes.

Topics: Adenine; Animals; Antibodies, Monoclonal; Biotransformation; Cytochrome P-450 CYP3A; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme Inhibitors; Cytochrome P-450 Enzyme System; DNA, Complementary; Drug Interactions; Enzyme Induction; Hepatocytes; Humans; Isoenzymes; Ketoconazole; Microsomes, Liver; Organophosphonates; Organophosphorus Compounds; Prodrugs; Rats

Targeting drugs to specific organs, tissues, or cells is an attractive strategy for enhancing drug efficacy and reducing side effects. Drug carriers such as antibodies, natural and manmade polymers, and labeled liposomes are capable of targeting drugs to blood vessels of individual tissues but often fail to deliver drugs to extravascular sites. An alternative strategy is to use low molecular weight prodrugs that distribute throughout the body but cleave intracellularly to the active drug by an organ-specific enzyme. Here we show that a series of phosphate and phosphonate prodrugs, called HepDirect prodrugs, results in liver-targeted drug delivery following a cytochrome P450-catalyzed oxidative cleavage reaction inside hepatocytes. Liver targeting was demonstrated in rodents for MB06866 [(2R,4S)-9-[2-[4-(3-chlorophenyl)-2-oxo-1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinan-2-yl]methoxyethyl]adenine (remofovir)], a Hep-Direct prodrug of the nucleotide analog adefovir (PMEA), and MB07133 [(2R,4S)-4-amino-1-[5-O-[2-oxo-4-(4-pyridyl)-1,3,2-dioxaphosphorinan-2-yl]-beta-d-arabinofuranosyl]-2(1H)-pyrimidinone], a HepDirect prodrug of cytarabine (araC) 5'-monophosphate. Liver targeting led to higher levels of the biologically active form of PMEA and araC in the liver and to lower levels in the most toxicologically sensitive organs. Liver targeting also confined production of the prodrug byproduct, an aryl vinyl ketone, to hepatocytes. Glutathione within the hepatocytes rapidly reacted with the byproduct to form a glutathione conjugate. No byproduct-related toxicity was observed in hepatocytes or animals treated with HepDirect prodrugs. A 5-day safety study in mice demonstrated the toxicological benefits of liver targeting. These findings suggest that HepDirect prodrugs represent a potential strategy for targeting drugs to the liver and achieving more effective therapies against chronic liver diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Topics: Acetaminophen; Adenine; Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; Animals; Biotransformation; Bone Marrow; Cell Separation; Cytarabine; Drug Delivery Systems; Glutathione; Hepatocytes; In Vitro Techniques; Inactivation, Metabolic; Liver; Male; Mice; Organophosphonates; Organophosphorus Compounds; Prodrugs; Rats; Tissue Distribution