Understanding mechanisms of negative food effect for voclosporin using physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling

Negative food effect refers to a reduction in bioavailability, when a drug is taken with food. Voclosporin, a highly lipophilic cyclic peptide drug for treatment of active lupus nephritis, has shown negative food effect in clinical trials. Here, the cause of the negative food effect of voclosporin was investigated using physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling to understand the mechanism responsible for oral absorption of voclosporin. Voclosporin is a substrate for P-glycoprotein and CYP3A4, and it has been evaluated for intestinal membrane permeability in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived intestinal epithelial cells (hiPSC-IECs). The membrane permeability in hiPSC-IECs is integrated into the PBPK model for simulating permeability accurately. The PBPK model simulated the systemic PK profile in fasted state in human. Then, the PBPK model with in vitro adsorption of voclosporin onto food simulated the systemic PK profile in fed state for food effect. In addition, the PBPK model for rats also simulated the plasma profile of voclosporin for the food effect. These results suggest that a possible cause of the negative food effect of voclosporin is the adsorption of voclosporin to food in gastrointestinal tract. These approaches could facilitate understanding of the mechanisms responsible for oral absorption of cyclic peptides.