Pharmaceutics (Apr 2021)

Metabolism and Interspecies Variation of IMMH-010, a Programmed Cell Death Ligand 1 Inhibitor Prodrug

  • Yuchen Wang,
  • Xiao Liu,
  • Xiaowen Zou,
  • Shuting Wang,
  • Lijun Luo,
  • Yuke Liu,
  • Kai Dong,
  • Xiaoqing Yao,
  • Yan Li,
  • Xiaoguang Chen,
  • Li Sheng

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceutics13050598
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 13, no. 5
p. 598

Abstract

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IMMH-010 is an ester prodrug of YPD-29B, a potent programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) inhibitor. The metabolism of IMMH-010 was investigated and compared in various species. Four metabolites of IMMH-010 were identified, and the major metabolite was the parent compound, YPD-29B, which was mainly catalyzed by carboxylesterase 1 (CES1). We observed IMMH-010 metabolism in the plasma of various species. IMMH-010 was rapidly metabolized to YPD-29B in rat and mouse plasma, whereas it remained stable in human and monkey plasma. In the liver S9 fractions of human, monkey, dog, and rat, IMMH-010 was quickly transformed to YPD-29B with no obvious differences among species. In addition, the transformation ratio of IMMH-010 to YPD-29B was low in rat and human intestines, which indicated that the intestine was not an important site for IMMH-010 hydrolysis. Moreover, we demonstrated the remarkable antitumor efficacy of IMMH-010 in B16F10 melanoma and MC38 colon carcinoma xenograft mouse models. We also compared the pharmacokinetic profiles of IMMH-010 in rodents and primates. After oral administration of IMMH-010, the general exposure of active metabolite YPD-29B was slightly lower in primates than in rodents, suggesting that data should be extrapolated cautiously from rodents to humans.

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