Interplay of Dissolution, Solubility, and Nonsink Permeation Determines the Oral Absorption of the Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitor GDC-0449 in Dogs: An Investigation Using Preclinical Studies and Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling

Factors determining the pharmacokinetics of 2-chloro-N-(4-chloro-3(pyridine-2-yl)phenyl)-4-(methylsulfonyl) benzamide (GDC-0449) were investigated using preclinical studies and physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. Multiple-dose studies where dogs were given twice-daily oral doses of either 7.5 or 25 mg/kg GDC-0449 showed less than dose-proportional increases in exposure on day 1. At steady state, exposures were comparable between the two dose groups. Oral administration of activated charcoal to dogs receiving oral or intravenous GDC-0449 (25 mg) showed a more rapid decrease in plasma concentrations, suggesting that the concentration gradient driving intestinal membrane permeation was reversible. The biliary clearance of GDC-0449 in dogs was low (0.04 ml/min/kg) and did not account for the majority of the estimated systemic clearance (similar to 19% of systemic clearance). Likewise, in vitro studies using sandwich-cultured human hepatocytes showed negligible biliary excretion. The effect of particle size on oral absorption was shown in a single-dose study where 150 mg of GDC-0449 of two particle sizes was administered. An oral PBPK model was used to investigate mechanisms determining the oral pharmacokinetics of GDC-0449. The overall oral absorption of GDC-0449 appears to depend on the interplay between the dissolution and intestinal membrane permeation processes. A unique feature of GDC-0449 distinguishing it from other Biopharmaceutical Classification System II compounds was that incorporation of the effects of solubility rate-limited absorption and nonsink permeation on the intestinal membrane permeation process was necessary to describe its pharmacokinetic behavior.