RT Journal Article SR Electronic T1 Impact of Hydrolysis-Mediated Clearance on the Pharmacokinetics of Novel Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase Inhibitors JF Drug Metabolism and Disposition JO Drug Metab Dispos FD American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics SP 238 OP 247 DO 10.1124/dmd.112.047993 VO 41 IS 1 A1 Yohannes Teffera A1 Loren M. Berry A1 Rachael L. Brake A1 Richard T. Lewis A1 Douglas C. Saffran A1 Earl Moore A1 Jingzhou Liu A1 Zhiyang Zhao YR 2013 UL http://dmd.aspetjournals.org/content/41/1/238.abstract AB Compound 1 [(E)-4-fluoro-N-(6-((4-(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)piperidin-1-yl)methyl)-1-((1S,4S)-4-(isopropylcarbamoyl)cyclohexyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-ylidene)benzamide], a new, potent, selective anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) inhibitor with potential application for the treatment of cancer, was selected as candidate to advance into efficacy studies in mice. However, the compound underwent mouse-specific enzymatic hydrolysis in plasma to a primary amine product (M1). Subsequent i.v. pharmacokinetics studies in mice showed that compound 1 had high clearance (CL) and a short half-life. Oral dose escalation studies in mice indicated that elimination of compound 1 was saturable, with higher doses achieving sufficient exposures above in vitro IC50. Chemistry efforts to minimize hydrolysis resulted in the discovery of several analogs that were stable in mouse plasma. Three were taken in vivo into mice and showed decreased CL corresponding to increased in vitro stability in plasma. However, the more stable compounds also showed reduced potency against ALK. Kinetic studies in NADPH-fortified and unfortified microsomes and plasma produced submicromolar Km values and could help explain the saturation of elimination observed in vivo. Predictions of CL based on kinetics from hydrolysis and NADPH-dependent pathways produced predicted hepatic CL values of 3.8, 3.0, 1.6, and 1.2 l/h⋅kg for compound 1, compound 2 [(E)-3,5-difluoro-N-(6-((4-(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)piperidin-1-yl)methyl)-1-((1s,4s)-4-(isopropylcarbamoyl)cyclohexyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-ylidene)benzamide], compound 3 [(E)-3-chloro-5-fluoro-N-(6-((4-(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)piperidin-1-yl)methyl)-1-((1s,4s)-4-(isopropylcarbamoyl)cyclohexyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-ylidene)benzamide], and compound 4 [(E)-N-(6-((4-(2-hydroxypropan-2-yl)piperidin-1-yl)methyl)-1-((1s,4s)-4-(isopropylcarbamoyl)cyclohexyl)-1H-benzo[d]imidazol-2(3H)-ylidene)-3-(trifluoromethyl)benzamide], respectively. The in vivo observed CLs for compounds 1, 2, 3, and 4 were 5.52, 3.51, 2.14, and 2.66 l/h⋅kg, respectively. These results indicate that in vitro metabolism kinetic data, incorporating contributions from both hydrolysis and NADPH-dependent metabolism, could be used to predict the systemic CL of compounds cleared via hydrolytic pathways provided that the in vitro assays thoroughly investigate the processes, including the contribution of other metabolic pathways and the possibility of saturation kinetics.