Population pharmacokinetics of intravenous and oral panobinostat in patients with hematologic and solid tumors

PURPOSE: The study aimed to characterize the population pharmacokinetics of panobinostat, a pan-deacetylase inhibitor that has demonstrated efficacy in combination with bortezomib and dexamethasone in patients with multiple myeloma. METHODS: A nonlinear mixed-effect model was used to fit plasma panobinostat concentration-time data collected from patients across 14 phase 1 and phase 2 trials following either oral or intravenous (IV) administration. The model was used to estimate bioavailabilities of the two oral formulations and the effects of demographic and clinical covariates on the central volume of distribution and clearance of panobinostat. RESULTS: A total of 7834 samples from 581 patients were analyzed. Panobinostat pharmacokinetic parameters were best characterized by a three-compartment model with first-order absorption and elimination. Bioavailability was 21.4 %. Median clearance was 33.1 L/h. Interindividual variability in clearance was 74 %. For Caucasian patients of median age 61 years, area under the curve (AUC) decreased from 104 to 88 ng· h/mL as body surface area (BSA) increased from the first to third quartiles, 1.8 to 2.1 m(2). For Caucasian patients of median BSA 1.9 m(2), AUC decreased from 102 to 95 ng· h/mL as age increased from the first to third quartiles, 51 to 70 years. For patients of median BSA and median age, AUC ranged across the four race categories from 80 to 116 ng· h/mL. Covariate analysis showed no impact on panobinostat clearance and volume by patients’ sex, tumor type, kidney function, liver markers, or coadministered medications. However, separate analyses of dedicated studies have demonstrated effects of liver impairment and CYP3A4 inhibition. CONCLUSIONS: Although covariate analyses revealed significant effects of body size, age, and race on panobinostat pharmacokinetics, these effects were minor compared to the interindividual variability and therefore not clinically relevant when dosing panobinostat in populations similar to those studied. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00228-015-1846-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.