Antibody pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are often governed by biological processes such as binding to antigens and other cognate receptors. Emphasis must also be placed, however, on ...fundamental physicochemical properties that define antibodies as complex macromolecules, including shape, size, hydrophobicity, and charge. Electrostatic interactions between anionic cell membranes and the predominantly positive surface charge of most antibodies can influence blood concentration and tissue disposition kinetics in a manner that is independent of antigen recognition. In this context, the deliberate modification of antibodies by chemical means has been exploited as a valuable preclinical research tool to investigate the relationship between net molecular charge and biological disposition. Findings from these exploratory investigations may be summarized as follows: (I) shifts in isoelectric point of approximately one pI unit or more can produce measurable changes in tissue distribution and kinetics, (II) increases in net positive charge generally result in increased tissue retention and increased blood clearance, and (III) decreases in net positive charge generally result in decreased tissue retention and increased whole body clearance. Understanding electrostatic interactions between antibodies and biological matrices holds relevance in biotechnology, especially with regard to the development of immunoconjugates. The guiding principles and knowledge gained from preclinical evaluation of chemically modified antibodies will be discussed and placed in the context of therapeutic antibodies that are currently marketed or under development, with a particular emphasis on pharmacokinetic and disposition properties.
The parameters characterizing tissue distribution refer to the tissue/plasma partition coefficients (Kp), which can be used to derive volume of distribution at steady-state (Vss). The effort for ...predicting drug distribution in human has been further expanded to calculation methods using in vitro-based algorithms. The objective of the present study was to develop a novel prediction method to estimate human Vss for moderate-to-strong bases. The predictive performance of the novel method was compared with other well established in vitro-based methods available in the literature. Relevant information collected from previous prediction studies of Vss facilitated the development of the novel method. This was based on the calculation of Vss from data on Kp, which were estimated by correlating the unbound tissue/plasma ratio in vivo (Kpu) with the unbound red blood cells partitioning (RBCu) determined in vitro. The comparative assessment of the novel correlation method with existing prediction methods of human Vss was done using a literature dataset of 61 basic drugs (at least one pKa≥7). The five existing Vss prediction methods published in the literature are comprised of four versions of tissue composition-based models along with the model of Lombardo using the principle of Oie-Tozer. The statistical analysis of the prediction performance indicated that the novel method demonstrated a greater degree of accuracy compared to all other published methods. The maximum percentage of predicted values that fall within a twofold-error range is 77% for the basic drugs tested. Overall, the present study describes the development and the assessment of the predictive performance of the novel prediction method of human Vss based upon in vitro data, which appears to be superior based on the current dataset studied for basic drugs.
The pharmacokinetics (PK) of therapeutic antibodies is determined by target and non-target mediated mechanisms. These antibody-specific factors need to be considered during prediction of human PK ...based upon preclinical information. Principles of allometric scaling established for small molecules using data from multiple animal species cannot be directly applied to antibodies. Here, different methods for projecting human clearance (CL) from animal PK data for 13 therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) exhibiting linear PK over the tested dose ranges were examined: simple allometric scaling (CL versus body weight), allometric scaling with correction factors, allometric scaling based on rule of exponent and scaling from only cynomolgus monkey PK data. A better correlation was obtained between the observed human CL and the estimated human CL based on cynomolgus monkey PK data and an allometric scaling exponent of 0.85 for CL than other scaling approaches. Human concentration-time profiles were also reasonably predicted from the cynomolgus monkey data using species-invariant time method with a fixed exponent of 0.85 for CL and 1.0 for volume of distribution. In conclusion, we expanded our previous work and others and further confirmed that PK from cynomolgus monkey alone can be successfully scaled to project human PK profiles within linear range using simplify allometry and Dedrick plots with fixed exponent.
A majority of human therapeutic antibody candidates show pharmacokinetic properties suitable for clinical use, but an unexpectedly fast antibody clearance is sometimes observed that may limit the ...clinical utility. Pharmacokinetic data in cynomolgus monkeys collected for a panel of 52 antibodies showed broad distribution of target-independent clearance values (2.4-61.3 mL/day/kg), with 15 (29%) having clearance > 10 mL/day/kg. Alteration in the interaction with the recycling FcRn receptor did not account for the faster than expected clearance observed for the antibodies; off-target binding was presumed to account for the fast clearance. We developed an assay based on ELISA detection of non-specific binding to baculovirus particles that can identify antibodies having increased risk for fast clearance. This assay can be used during lead generation or optimization to identify antibodies with increased risk of having fast clearance in both humans and cynomolgus monkeys, and thus increase the likelihood of obtaining a suitable drug candidate.
Antibody–drug conjugates (ADCs) are designed to combine the exquisite specificity of antibodies to target tumor antigens with the cytotoxic potency of chemotherapeutic drugs. In addition to the ...general chemical stability of the linker, a thorough understanding of the relationship between ADC composition and biological disposition is necessary to ensure that the therapeutic window is not compromised by altered pharmacokinetics (PK), tissue distribution, and/or potential organ toxicity. The six-transmembrane epithelial antigen of prostate 1 (STEAP1) is being pursued as a tumor antigen target. To assess the role of ADC composition in PK, we evaluated plasma and tissue PK profiles in rats, following a single dose, of a humanized anti-STEAP1 IgG1 antibody, a thio-anti-STEAP1 (ThioMab) variant, and two corresponding thioether-linked monomethylauristatin E (MMAE) drug conjugates modified through interchain disulfide cysteine residues (ADC) and engineered cysteines (TDC), respectively. Plasma PK of total antibody measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) revealed ∼45% faster clearance for the ADC relative to the parent antibody, but no apparent difference in clearance between the TDC and unconjugated parent ThioMab. Total antibody clearances of the two unconjugated antibodies were similar, suggesting minimal effects on PK from cysteine mutation. An ELISA specific for MMAE-conjugated antibody indicated that the ADC cleared more rapidly than the TDC, but total antibody ELISA showed comparable clearance for the two drug conjugates. Furthermore, consistent with relative drug load, the ADC had a greater magnitude of drug deconjugation than the TDC in terms of free plasma MMAE levels. Antibody conjugation had a noticeable, albeit minor, impact on tissue distribution with a general trend toward increased hepatic uptake and reduced levels in other highly vascularized organs. Liver uptakes of ADC and TDC at 5 days postinjection were 2-fold and 1.3-fold higher, respectively, relative to the unmodified antibodies. Taken together, these results indicate that the degree of overall structural modification in anti-STEAP1-MMAE conjugates has a corresponding level of impact on both PK and tissue distribution.
Drug delivery across the brain–blood interfaces is a complex process involving physicochemical drug properties, transporters, enzymes, and barrier dysfunction in diseased conditions. Intact ...blood–brain barrier (BBB) limits the entry of potentially harmful compounds into the brain but may also reduce the CNS permeability of therapeutic agents. BBB permeability is typically assessed by measuring brain-to-plasma ratio in rodents (referred to as B/P ratio, BB, or K p, often calculated as logBB), an approach that suffers significant limitations as discussed in the present review. K p is not a permeability measurement but a partition coefficient mainly driven by the relative binding to plasma and brain tissue components including lipids, phospholipids, and proteins. Compounds with high K p are often lipophilic with low free fraction available to mediate CNS activities. Efforts should be more concentrated on measuring pharmacologically relevant free drug concentrations at the target site. Using healthy rodents to predict brain penetration in patients might be biased due to species differences in BBB-related parameters such as transporter expression and functional activities. In addition, pathophysiological conditions such as aging, multiple sclerosis, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases have been described to affect BBB permeability, with barrier leakage and altered transporter activity. The impact of these species differences and disease states on drug delivery to the brain is largely overlooked. More data are needed to better understand their clinical implication in order to design more appropriate screening strategies and ultimately better mitigate the risk for failure in late stage development.
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