Wanjun Bai,1 Xue Sun,1 Bo Qiu,1 Caihui Guo,1 Haojing Song,1 Yiting Hu,1 Xueyuan Zhang,2 Peihua Yin,3 Xiaoru Wang,3 Zhanjun Dong1 

1Department of Pharmacy, Hebei General Hospital, Hebei Key Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacy, Shijiazhuang, Hebei, People’s Republic of China; 2Center for Clinical Pharmacology, Shanghai Innovstone Therapeutics Limited, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China; 3Center for Clinical Pharmacology, CSPC Zhongqi Pharmaceutical Technology (Shijiazhuang) Co., Ltd, Shijiazhuang, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Zhanjun Dong, Department of Pharmacy, Hebei General Hospital, Hebei Key Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacy, No. 348 Heping West Road, Xinhua District, Shijiazhuang City, Hebei Province, 050051, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 311 85988604, Email 13313213656@126.com

Objective: This study compared the pharmacokinetics, safety and bioequivalence (BE) of generic and original apremilast tablets in healthy Chinese subjects under fasting and postprandial conditions, providing sufficient evidence for abbreviated new drug application.
Methods: A randomized, open-label, two-formulation, single-dose, two-period crossover pharmacokinetic study was performed. Thirty-two eligible healthy Chinese subjects were enrolled in fasting and postprandial studies, respectively. In each trial, subjects received a single 30-mg dose of the test or reference apremilast tablet, followed by a 7-day washout interval between periods. Serial blood samples were obtained for up to 48 h post-intake in each period, and the plasma concentrations of apremilast were determined by a validated method. The primary pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters, including the maximum plasma concentration (Cmax), the areas under the plasma concentration–time curve (AUC0-t, AUC0-∞), were calculated using the non-compartmental method. The geometric mean ratios of the two formulations and the corresponding 90% confidence intervals (CIs) were acquired for bioequivalence analysis. The safety of both formulations was also evaluated.
Results: Under fasting and postprandial states, the PK parameters of the test drug were similar to those of the reference drug. The 90% CIs of the geometric mean ratios of the test to reference formulations were 94.09– 103.44% for Cmax, 94.05– 103.51% for AUC0-t, and 94.56– 103.86% for AUC0-∞ under fasting conditions, and 99.18– 112.48% for Cmax, 98.79– 106.02% for AUC0-t, and 98.95– 105.89% for AUC0-∞ under postprandial conditions, all of which were within the bioequivalence range of 80.00– 125.00%. Both formulations were well tolerated, and no serious adverse events occurred during the study.
Conclusion: The trial confirmed that the PK parameters of the generic and original apremilast tablets were bioequivalent in healthy Chinese subjects under fasting and postprandial states, which met the predetermined regulatory standards. Both formulations were safe and well tolerated.
Clinical Trial Registration: chinaDrugtrials.org.cn, identifier CTR20191056 (July 30, 2019); chictr.org.cn, identifier ChiCTR2300076806 (October 19, 2023).

Keywords: apremilast, psoriasis, pharmacokinetics, bioequivalence, safety