Relative Bioavailability and Food Effect Evaluation for 2 Tablet Formulations of Asciminib in a 2-Arm, Crossover, Randomized, Open-Label Study in Healthy Volunteers.

Asciminib (ABL001) is an orally administered allosteric inhibitor of the BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase. The current study evaluated the relative bioavailability of its 2 tablet variants, AAA and NXA, compared with the capsule CSF and assessed the impact of food in healthy participants in a 2-arm, randomized, open-label, 4-way crossover design. The primary pharmacokinetic parameters analyzed were area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC) from time 0 to the time of last measurable concentration (AUClast ), AUC from time 0 to infinity (AUCinf ), and peak concentration (Cmax ). Forty-five healthy volunteers were enrolled, 22 in the AAA arm and 23 in the NXA arm. Under fasting conditions, the AUCinf , AUClast , and Cmax of the AAA tablet were similar to those of the capsule, but slightly higher (∼20%) for NXA and decreased with a high-fat meal (∼65%) and a low-fat meal (∼30%) for both tablet formulations. Overall, 20 participants (9 in the AAA arm; 11 in the NXA arm) experienced at least 1 adverse event, the most common in both arms being headache. The study showed that under fasting conditions, tablet AAA had bioavailability similar to that in the capsule CSF. The bioavailability of both tablet formulations decreased with food, with a more pronounced effect observed with a high-fat meal.

Safety and efficacy of switching to nilotinib 400 mg twice daily for patients with chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase with suboptimal response or failure on front-line imatinib or nilotinib 300 mg twice daily.

In a randomized, phase III trial of nilotinib versus imatinib in patients with newly diagnosed Philadelphia chromosome positive chronic myeloid leukemia in chronic phase, more patients had suboptimal response or treatment failure on front-line imatinib than on nilotinib. Patients with suboptimal response/treatment failure on imatinib 400 mg once or twice daily or nilotinib 300 mg twice daily could enter an extension study to receive nilotinib 400 mg twice daily. After a 19-month median follow up, the safety profile of nilotinib 400 mg twice daily in patients switching from imatinib (n=35) was consistent with previous reports, and few new adverse events occurred in patients escalating from nilotinib 300 mg twice daily (n=19). Of patients previously treated with imatinib or nilotinib 300 mg twice daily, respectively, 15 of 26 (58%) and 2 of 6 (33%) without complete cytogenetic response at extension study entry, and 11 of 34 (32%) and 7 of 18 (39%) without major molecular response at extension study entry, achieved these responses at any time on nilotinib 400 mg twice daily. Estimated 18-month rates of freedom from progression and overall survival after entering the extension study were lower for patients switched from imatinib (85% and 87%, respectively) versus nilotinib 300 mg twice daily (95% and 94%, respectively). Nilotinib dose escalation was generally well tolerated and improved responses in about one-third of patients with suboptimal response/treatment failure. Switch to nilotinib improved responses in some patients with suboptimal response/treatment failure on imatinib, but many did not achieve complete cytogenetic response (clinicaltrials.gov identifiers: 00718263, 00471497 - extension).

Effect of clopidogrel on the steady-state pharmacokinetics of fluvastatin.

This study assessed the effects of clopidogrel, a CYP 2C9 inhibitor, on fluvastatin pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers. The effects of combined clopidogrel-fluvastatin treatment on platelet function were also determined. Subjects received 80 mg fluvastatin (extended-release formulation) alone on days 1 through 9, 80 mg fluvastatin and 300 mg clopidogrel (loading dose) on day 10, and 80 mg fluvastatin and 75 mg clopidogrel (maintenance dose) on days 11 through 19. Compared to treatment with fluvastatin alone, fluvastatin AUC was similar and C(max) increased marginally (15.7%) with concomitant treatment with clopidogrel. Platelet aggregation was inhibited by clopidogrel by 33% two hours after the loading dose and by 47% at steady state, similar to that reported for clopidogrel alone treatment. The authors conclude that coadministration of fluvastatin and clopidogrel has no clinically relevant effect on fluvastatin pharmacokinetics or on platelet inhibition by clopidogrel.