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Updated: Sep 13, 2025

Author Spotlight: Developing a Simple and Robust Hepatic Model for Pharmacological and Toxicological Applications
Published on: October 20, 2023
PBPK Modeling to Predict Clinical Drug-Drug Interaction and Impact of Hepatic Impairment for an ADC With the Payload
Niyanta Kumar1, Vaishali Dixit1, Howard Burt2
1Mersana Therapeutics Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract:
Upifitamab rilsodotin-an antibody drug conjugate (ADC)-comprises a NaPi2b-targeted antibody conjugated to an auristatin-based payload (auristatin F-hydroxypropylamide [AF-HPA]). AF-HPA is metabolized by cytochrome P450 3A4 (CYP3A4) and, to a lower extent, by CYP3A5 and demonstrates both reversible and time-dependent inhibition of CYP3A4. AF-HPA is also a P-glycoprotein (P-gp) substrate. A PBPK model was developed using a mixed "bottom-up" and "top-down" modeling approach with a combination of in vitro, nonclinical, and clinical ADME/PK data. The model recapitulated the clinical PK of conjugated and unconjugated AF-HPA. Simulations were used to predict the potential of unconjugated AF-HPA to be a victim or perpetrator of clinical drug-drug interactions (DDI) and predict the impact of hepatic impairment on the exposure to unconjugated AF-HPA. Simulations suggested negligible potential for clinical DDI between unconjugated AF-HPA and CYP3A substrates. Simulations also showed ~30% increase in unconjugated AF-HPA exposure following an IV dose of 36 mg/m2 in the presence of itraconazole, an inhibitor of both CYP3A4 and P-gp. A negligible change in the exposure to unconjugated AF-HPA was predicted in patients with mild hepatic impairment, which aligned with observed clinical data. The model predicted a ~1.5-fold increase in unconjugated AF-HPA AUC and negligible change in the Cmax in patients with moderate and severe hepatic impairment. Finally, this PBPK model may be applied (with modification to the conjugated drug sub-model parameters) to predict DDI and hepatic impairment potential for other ADCs with the same linker and payload.
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