Prediction of Maternal and Fetal Doravirine Exposure by Integrating Physiologically Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling and Human Placenta Perfusion Experiments

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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Doravirine is currently not recommended for pregnant women living with human immunodeficiency virus because efficacy and safety data are lacking. This study aimed to predict maternal and fetal doravirine exposure by integrating human placenta perfusion experiments with pregnancy physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. METHODS: Ex vivo placenta perfusions were performed in a closed-closed configuration, in both maternal-to-fetal and fetal-to-maternal directions (n = 8). To derive intrinsic placental transfer parameters from perfusion data, we developed a mechanistic placenta model. Next, we developed a maternal and fetal full-body pregnancy PBPK model for doravirine in Simcyp, which was parameterized with the derived intrinsic placental transfer parameters to predict in vivo maternal and fetal doravirine exposure at 26, 32, and 40 weeks of pregnancy. The predicted total geometric mean (GM) trough plasma concentration (C(trough)) values were compared with the target (0.23 mg/L) derived from in vivo exposure-response analysis. RESULTS: A decrease of 55% in maternal doravirine area under the plasma concentration-time curve (AUC)(0-24h) was predicted in pregnant women at 40 weeks of pregnancy compared with nonpregnant women. At 26, 32, and 40 weeks of pregnancy, predicted maternal total doravirine GM C(trough) values were below the predefined efficacy target of 0.23 mg/L. Perfusion experiments showed that doravirine extensively crossed the placenta, and PBPK modeling predicted considerable fetal doravirine exposure. CONCLUSION: Substantially reduced maternal doravirine exposure was predicted during pregnancy, possibly resulting in impaired efficacy. Therapeutic drug and viral load monitoring are advised for pregnant women treated with doravirine. Considerable fetal doravirine exposure was predicted, highlighting the need for clinical fetal safety data.