Weight of Evidence: Is an Animal Study Warranted? Assessments for Carcinogenicity, Drug Abuse Liability, and Pediatric Safety.

Nonclinical safety studies are typically conducted to establish a toxicity profile of a new pharmaceutical in clinical development. Such a profile may encompass multiple differing types of animal studies, or not! Some types of animal studies may not be warranted for a specific program or may only require a limited evaluation if scientifically justified. The goal of this course was to provide a practical perspective on regulatory writing of a dossier(s) using the weight of evidence (WOE) approach for carcinogenicity, drug abuse liability and pediatric safety assessments. These assessments are typically done after some clinical data are available and are highly bespoke to the pharmaceutical being developed. This manuscript will discuss key data elements to consider and strategy options with some case studies and examples. Additionally, US FDA experience with dossier(s) including WOE arguments is discussed.

Immune complex disease in a chronic monkey study with a humanised, therapeutic antibody against CCL20 is associated with complement-containing drug aggregates.

Despite the potential for the chemokine class as therapeutic targets in immune mediated disease, success has been limited. Many chemokines can bind to multiple receptors and many receptors have multiple ligands, with few exceptions. One of those exceptions is CCL20, which exclusively pairs to CCR6 and is associated with several immunologic conditions, thus providing a promising therapeutic target. Following successful evaluation in a single dose, first time in human clinical study, GSK3050002-a humanized IgG1 monoclonal antibody against human CCL20-was evaluated in a 26-week cynomolgus monkey toxicology study. A high incidence of unexpected vascular and organ inflammation was observed microscopically, leading to the decision to halt clinical development. Here we report a dose-responsive increase in the incidence and severity of inflammation in multiple organs from monkeys receiving 30 and 300 mg/kg/week by either subcutaneous or intravenous injection. Histomorphological changes resembled an immune complex-mediated pathology, which is often due to formation of anti-drug antibodies in monkeys receiving a human protein therapeutic and thus not predictive of clinical outcome. However, the presentation was atypical in that there was a clear dose response with a very high incidence of inflammation with a low incidence of ADA that did not correlate well individually. Additionally, the immunohistologic presentation was atypical in that the severity and distribution of tissue inflammation was greater than the numbers of associated immune complexes (i.e., granular deposits). An extensive ex vivo analysis of large molecular weight protein complexes in monkey serum from this study and in human serum samples demonstrated a time-dependent aggregation of GSK3050002, that was not predicted by in vitro assays. The aggregates also contained complement components. These findings support the hypothesis that immune complexes of drug aggregates, not necessarily including anti-drug antibodies, can fix complement, accumulate over time, and trigger immune complex disease. A situation which may have increased clinical relevance than typical anti-drug antibody-associated immune complex disease in monkeys administered human antibody proteins.

Toxicology Evaluation of Drugs Administered via Uncommon Routes: Intranasal, Intraocular, Intrathecal/Intraspinal, and Intra-Articular.

As the need for nasal, ocular, spinal, and articular therapeutic compounds increases, toxicology assessments of drugs administered via these routes play an important role in human safety. This symposium outlined the local and systemic evaluation to support safety during the development of these drugs in nonclinical models with some case studies. Discussions included selection of appropriate species for the intended route; conducting nonclinical studies that closely mimic the intended use with adequate duration; functional assessment, if deemed necessary; evaluation of local tissues with special histological staining procedure; and evaluations of safety margins based on local and systemic toxicity.

Dermatotoxicology: Safety Evaluation of Topical Products in Minipigs: Study Designs and Practical Considerations.

The minipig has long been identified as the nonrodent animal of choice for preclinical safety evaluation of topically applied materials. This article reviews types of topical applications, study designs, and practical considerations. Dermal administration to the minipig presents multiple challenges. Issues to be considered are the area of exposure, the nature of the test article, the need for covering of the dose site, preparation of the dose site, and procedures for administration. The potential for cross-contamination (exposure of control animals to test article) is very high in topical studies and appropriate safeguards to prevent this are discussed. Topical administration to the intact skin is the most commonly utilized form of safety evaluation, but procedures have also been developed for intradermal administration and for the use of nonintact/wounded skin; these will be discussed. Evaluation of local (topical) effects is critical and can become complicated. Considerations in evaluations of the skin are interobserver variability, use of different scoring systems and discrepancies betweenin vivoobservations, necropsy observations, and microscopic pathology findings. Causes for apparent discrepancies and suggestions for practical resolution through appropriate procedures are discussed. Practical issues in necropsy and histotechnology procedures and techniques to optimize preservation of skin are also discussed.

Cytokines: The Good, the Bad, and the Deadly.

Over the past 30 years, the world of pharmaceutical toxicology has seen an explosion in the area of cytokines. An overview of the many aspects of cytokine safety evaluation currently in progress and evolving strategies for evaluating these important entities was presented at this symposium. Cytokines play a broad role to help the immune system respond to diseases, and drugs which modulate their effect have led to some amazing therapies. Cytokines may be "good" when stimulating the immune system to fight a foreign pathogen or attack tumors. Other "good" cytokine effects include reduction of an immune response, for example interferon ß reduction of neuron inflammation in patients with multiple sclerosis. They may be "bad" when their expression causes inflammatory diseases, such as the role of tumor necrosis factor α in rheumatoid arthritis or asthma and Crohn's disease. Therapeutic modulation of cytokine expression can help the "good" cytokines to generate or quench the immune system and block the "bad" cytokines to prevent damaging inflammatory events. However, care must be exercised, as some antibody therapeutics can cause "ugly" cytokine release which can be deadly. Well-designed toxicology studies should incorporate careful assessment of cytokine modulation that will allow effective therapies to treat unmet needs. This symposium discussed lessons learned in cytokine toxicology using case studies and suggested future directions.