Clinical Pharmacology for Terlivaz
Mechanism Of Action
Terlipressin is a synthetic vasopressin analogue with twice the selectivity for vasopressin V1 receptors versus V2 receptors. Terlipressin acts as both a prodrug for lysine-vasopressin, as well as having pharmacologic activity on its own. Terlipressin is thought to increase renal blood flow in patients with hepatorenal syndrome by reducing portal hypertension and blood circulation in portal vessels and increasing effective arterial volume and mean arterial pressure (MAP).
Pharmacodynamics
After administration of a single 0.85 mg dose of terlipressin in patients with hepatorenal syndrome type 1 (HRS-1), an increase in the diastolic, systolic, and mean arterial pressure (MAP), and decrease in heart rate were evident within 5 minutes after dosing and were maintained for at least 6 hours after dosing. The maximum change in blood pressure and heart rate occurred at 1.2 to 2 hours post dose. For MAP, the estimated maximum effect was an increase of 16.2 mmHg. The estimated maximum effect for heart rate was a decrease of 10.6 beats/minute.
Cardiac Electrophysiology
The effect of terlipressin on QTc interval was evaluated in 41 patients with HRS-1. Patients received an initial dose of 1 mg terlipressin acetate every 6 hours for a period of up to 14 days. No clinically meaningful changes from baseline were detected in the trial based on the Fridericia correction method. Increases of the mean QTc interval of <10 ms were reported.
Pharmacokinetics
The pharmacokinetic parameters of terlipressin and its major active metabolite, lysinevasopressin, were derived from population pharmacokinetic modeling with sparse PK samples from 69 patients with HRS-1.
Following a 1 mg IV injection of terlipressin acetate, the median Cmax, AUC24h and Cave of terlipressin at steady state was 70.5 ng/mL, 123 ng×hr/mL and 14.2 ng/mL, respectively. The median Cmax, AUC24h and Cave of lysine-vasopressin were 1.2 ng/mL, 11.2 ng×hr/mL and 0.5 ng/mL, respectively.
Terlipressin and lysine-vasopressin exhibit linear pharmacokinetics in healthy subjects. Plasma concentrations of terlipressin demonstrate proportional increases with the dose administered.
Distribution
The volume of distribution (Vd) of terlipressin was 6.3 L and 1370 L for lysine-vasopressin.
Elimination
The clearance of terlipressin was 27.4 L/hr and 318 L/hr for lysine-vasopressin. There were no dose-dependent changes in the elimination rate constant of terlipressin in healthy subjects. Clearance of terlipressin in HRS-1 patients increased with body weight, while body weight had no effect on the clearance of lysine-vasopressin.
The terminal half-life of terlipressin was 0.9 hours and 3.0 hours for lysine-vasopressin.
Metabolism
Terlipressin is metabolized by cleavage of the N-terminal glycyl residues of terlipressin by various tissue peptidases, resulting in release of the pharmacologically active metabolite lysinevasopressin. Once formed, lysine-vasopressin is metabolized by body tissue via various peptidase-mediated routes. Terlipressin is not metabolized in blood or plasma. Due to the ubiquitous nature of peptidases in body tissue, it is unlikely that the metabolism of terlipressin will be affected by disease state or other drugs.
Excretion
Less than 1% of terlipressin and <0.1% of lysine-vasopressin is excreted in urine in healthy subjects.
Specific Populations
Gender, age, creatinine clearance, Child-Pugh score, serum alkaline phosphatase, serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and total bilirubin do not appear to have any clinically significant effect on clearance of either terlipressin or lysinevasopressin.
Drug Interactions
In vitro studies in human liver microsomes demonstrated that there was little or no evidence that terlipressin was a direct-, time-, or metabolism-dependent inhibitor and inducer of any of the CYP enzymes evaluated. In addition, there was little or no evidence that terlipressin is an inhibitor and substrate of human ABC and SLC transporters. No significant drug-drug interactions are anticipated with TERLIVAZ.
Clinical Studies
The efficacy of TERLIVAZ was assessed in a multicenter, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study (CONFIRM) (NCT02770716). Patients with cirrhosis, ascites, and a diagnosis of HRS-1 with a rapidly progressive worsening in renal function to a serum creatinine (SCr) ≥2.25 mg/dL and meeting a trajectory for SCr to double over two weeks, and without sustained improvement in renal function (<20% decrease in SCr and SCr ≥2.25 mg/dL) 48 hours after both diuretic withdrawal and the beginning of plasma volume expansion with albumin were eligible to participate. All patients underwent fluid challenge with intravenous albumin (1 g/kg on the first day (maximum 100 g) and 20 g/day to 40 g/day thereafter as clinically indicated). Patients with a baseline serum creatinine level >7.0 mg/dL, shock, sepsis, and/or uncontrolled bacterial infection were excluded from the study. Use of vasopressors was prohibited during the treatment period.
A total of 300 patients were enrolled; the median age was 55 years (range: 23 to 82), 60% were male, and 90% were White. At baseline, 40% had alcoholic hepatitis and 19% had ACLF Grade 3; the mean serum creatinine was 3.5 mg/dL, and the mean MELD score was 33.
Patients were randomized 2:1 to treatment with TERLIVAZ (N=199) or placebo (N=101). Patients received 1 mg terlipressin acetate (equivalent to TERLIVAZ 0.85 mg) or placebo every 6 hours administered as an IV bolus injection over 2 minutes for a maximum of 14 days. On Day 4 of therapy, if SCr decreased by less than 30% from the baseline value, the dose was increased to 2 mg terlipressin acetate (equivalent to TERLIVAZ 1.7 mg) every 6 hours. If SCr was at or above the baseline value on Day 4, then treatment was discontinued. Both treatment groups received albumin therapy during the study (median dose 50 g/day). Concomitant diuretics were used in 26% of patients treated with TERLIVAZ and 13% of patients treated with placebo. Median treatment duration was 5 days for TERLIVAZ-treated patients and 4 days for placebo-treated patients.
The primary efficacy endpoint was the incidence of Verified HRS Reversal, defined as the percentage of patients with 2 consecutive SCr values of ≤1.5 mg/dL, obtained at least 2 hours apart while on treatment by Day 14 or discharge. To be included in the primary efficacy endpoint analysis, patients had to be alive and without intervening renal replacement therapy (e.g., dialysis) at least 10 days after achieving Verified HRS Reversal.
A greater proportion of patients achieved Verified HRS Reversal in the TERLIVAZ arm compared to the placebo arm (Table 2).
Table 2: Efficacy Analyses
|
TERLIVAZ
N = 199 |
Placebo
N = 101 |
P value |
| Verified HRS Reversalf, n (%) 95% CI |
58 (29.1) (0.2, 0.4) |
16 (15.8) (0.1, 0.2) |
0.012 |
| Durability of HRS Reversala,b, n (%) 95% CI |
63 (31.7) (0.3, 0.4) |
16 (15.8) (0.1, 0.2) |
0.003 |
| Incidence of HRS Reversala in the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) Subgroup, n (%) 95% CI |
N=84 28 (33.3) (0.2, 0.4) |
N=48 3 (6.3) (0.0, 0.1) |
<0.001 |
| Incidence of Verified HRS Reversal without HRS Recurrence by Day 30, n (%) 95% CI |
48 (24.1) (0.2, 0.3) |
16 (15.8) (0.1, 0.2) |
0.092 |
†Primary endpoint
CI = confidence interval
a Patients with a SCr value of not more than 1.5 mg/dL while on treatment, by Day 14, or discharge.
b Patients with HRS Reversal without renal replacement therapy to Day 30. |