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A class of potent, nonsteroidal, selective indazole ether-based glucocorticoid receptor modulators (SGRMs) was developed for the inhaled treatment of respiratory diseases. Starting from an orally available compound with demonstrated anti-inflammatory activity in rat, a soft-drug strategy was implemented to ensure rapid elimination of drug candidates to minimize systemic GR activation. The first clinical candidate 1b (AZD5423) displayed a potent inhibition of lung edema in a rat model of allergic airway inflammation following dry powder inhalation combined with a moderate systemic GR-effect, assessed as thymic involution. Further optimization of inhaled drug properties provided a second, equally potent, candidate, 15m (AZD7594), that demonstrated an improved therapeutic ratio over the benchmark inhaled corticosteroid 3 (fluticasone propionate) and prolonged the inhibition of lung edema, indicating potential for once-daily treatment.

Background: Exposure following oral inhalation depends on the deposition pattern of the inhaled aerosol, the extent and rate of oral and pulmonary absorption, as well as systemic distribution and clearance. For lipophilic inhaled compounds with low water solubility and high permeability, the extent and rate of pulmonary absorption can be assumed dependent on deposition pattern as well as dissolution rate., Materials and Methods: A mechanistic model of airway deposition, mucociliary clearance, dissolution, absorption, and dissipation was applied to simulate systemic exposure of the novel selective glucocorticoid receptor modulator, AZD5423, when dosed to healthy volunteers using two different nebulizers and two different dry powder inhalers in combination with two different primary particle size distributions. Results from simulations were compared with observed pharmacokinetic data., Results: Variations in systemic exposure (plasma concentration profile, AUC, and C max ) resulting from variations in dose, deposition pattern, and dissolution rate could not be predicted solely from variations in delivered dose or predicted lung dose (as assessed using an anatomical mouth-throat model), suggesting incomplete pulmonary bioavailability. However, simulated systemic exposure well predicted observed systemic exposures for all tested formulations and devices. Furthermore, simulations of airway tissue exposure suggested that it was not directly linked to systemic exposure., Conclusions: Results support the initial hypothesis that systemic exposure of poorly soluble inhaled drugs is a complex but predictable function of dose, deposition pattern, and rate of dissolution. Furthermore, simulations indicate that local exposure for these types of drugs is not well correlated with systemic exposure. Hence, equivalence with respect to local exposure, and thus with respect to pharmacodynamic effect, cannot be fully inferred from systemic pharmacokinetic equivalence alone.