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Exenatide ER (Cirincione 2017 AAPS J)

Source: vignettes/articles/Cirincione_2017_exenatide_er.Rmd
Cirincione_2017_exenatide_er.Rmd

Model and source

  • Citation: Cirincione B, Edwards J, Mager DE. Population Pharmacokinetics of an Extended-Release Formulation of Exenatide Following Single- and Multiple-Dose Administration. AAPS J. 2017;19(2):487-496. doi:10.1208/s12248-016-9975-1. Disposition parameters (CL_int, Q, Vc_int, Vp, Vmax, Km) and the eGFR-on-CL and WT-on-Vc effects fixed from the IR companion model: Cirincione B, Mager DE. Population pharmacokinetics of exenatide. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2017;83(3):517-526. doi:10.1111/bcp.13135; see modellib(‘Cirincione_2017_exenatide’).
  • Description: Population PK model for extended-release (ER) microsphere SC exenatide in patients with type 2 diabetes (Cirincione 2017 AAPS J): two-compartment disposition with three parallel SC-absorption processes (initial first-order release plus two Savic 2007 analytical transit-compartment chains for the second- and third-phase microsphere release) and parallel linear plus saturable Michaelis-Menten elimination. Disposition parameters (CL, Q, Vc, Vp, Vmax, Km) and the eGFR-on-CL and WT-on-Vc covariate effects are fixed from the IR companion model (Cirincione 2017 BJCP).
  • Article: AAPS J. 2017;19(2):487-496
  • IR companion (disposition source): Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2017;83(3):517-526, packaged as modellib("Cirincione_2017_exenatide").

Population

The combined population PK analysis pooled 64 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus from two phase II clinical trials (Table I). The single-dose study contributed 41 patients (one 2.5, 5, 7, or 10 mg SC dose; 887 PK observations over ~12 weeks); the multi-dose study contributed 23 patients (0.8 or 2 mg SC weekly for 15 weeks; 699 PK observations over ~27 weeks including a 12-week washout). Pooled baseline demographics: 42% female; 37.5% White, 37.5% Hispanic, 10.9% Black, 7.8% Asian; mean age 53.5 years (SD 9.78; range 30-72); mean body weight 95.7 kg (SD 21; range 59-155); mean eGFR 89.6 mL/min/1.73 m^2 (SD 23.2; range 56-169). Renal-function distribution: 23 normal (eGFR >= 90), 38 mild impairment (60-89), 3 moderate (30-59). An additional 119 patients (408 observations) enrolled in a phase III study (2 mg ER SC weekly for 24 weeks) were reserved for external validation.

The same information is available programmatically via readModelDb("Cirincione_2017_exenatide_er")$population.

Source trace

Per-parameter origin is recorded as an in-file comment next to each ini() entry in inst/modeldb/specificDrugs/Cirincione_2017_exenatide_er.R. The table below collects them in one place for review.

Equation / parameter Value Source location
lka (ka) log(3.85) 1/day Table II combined right (RSE 11.2%)
lktr1 (ktr1) log(0.105) 1/day Table II combined right (RSE 9.50%)
lntr1 (N1) log(0.570) Table II combined right (RSE 17.2%)
lktr2 (ktr2) log(0.591) 1/day Table II combined right (RSE 17.9%)
lntr2 (N2) log(26.1) Table II combined right (RSE 19.6%)
lf1 (f1) log(0.0118) (1.18%) Table II combined right (RSE 8.56%)
lf2 (f2) log(0.480) (48.0%) Table II combined right (RSE 8.77%)
f3 (derived) 1 - f1 - f2 Methods page 488 (parameterisation: f3 = 1 - (f1 + f2))
lfrelSD (f_rel SD) log(0.0886) (8.86%) Table II combined right (RSE 7.56%)
lfrelMD (f_rel MD) log(0.155) (15.5%) Table II combined right (RSE 5.93%)
lcl (CL_int) fixed(log(110)) L/day Table II combined right (NE, fixed from IR Cirincione 2017 BJCP)
lq (CLd) fixed(log(89.3)) L/day Table II combined right (NE, fixed from IR)
lvc (Vc_int) fixed(log(7.03)) L Table II combined right (NE, fixed from IR)
lvp (Vp) fixed(log(7.04)) L Table II combined right (NE, fixed from IR)
lvmax (Vmax) fixed(log(37.2)) ug/day Table II combined right (0.0372 mg/day; NE, fixed from IR)
lkm (Km) fixed(log(0.567)) ng/mL Table II combined right (567 pg/mL; NE, fixed from IR)
e_crcl_cl (CL_eGFR) fixed(0.838) Table II combined right (NE, fixed from IR)
e_wt_vc (Vc_wtkg) fixed(2.67) Table II combined right (NE, fixed from IR)
etalka IIV 0.2551 (CV 53.9%) Table II combined right; omega^2 = log(1 + 0.539^2)
etalktr2 IIV 0.0292 (CV 17.2%) Table II combined right; omega^2 = log(1 + 0.172^2)
etalf1 IIV 0.3677 (CV 66.7%) Table II combined right; omega^2 = log(1 + 0.667^2)
etalfrelSD IIV 0.1755 (CV 43.8%) Table II combined right; omega^2 = log(1 + 0.438^2)
expSdSD 0.684 (log SD) Table II combined right (RSE 4.58%)
expSdMD 0.376 (log SD) Table II combined right (RSE 4.57%)
Structure: 2-compartment n/a Methods page 488 / Fig. 1 / IR companion model
Structure: 3 parallel SC absorption n/a Methods page 488 / Fig. 1: first-order + 2 transit chains
Structure: linear + MM elim n/a Methods page 488 / IR companion model
Equation: Savic transit input rate n/a Methods page 488 (gamma-density input; refs 22, 23)

Virtual cohort

Original observed data are not publicly available. The cohort below approximates the Table I demographics: body weight from a truncated normal centred on 95.7 kg (SD 21), eGFR from a distribution matching the reported renal-function bands. All four single-dose levels (2.5, 5, 7, 10 mg SC) are simulated with a 75-day observation window to capture all three release phases. STUDY_MD = 0 selects the single-dose f_rel and residual SD.

set.seed(20260603)
n_per_dose <- 80

renal_bands <- tibble::tibble(
  band       = c("normal", "mild", "moderate"),
  n_in_paper = c(23, 38, 3),
  egfr_min   = c(90, 60, 30),
  egfr_max   = c(150, 89, 59)
)
renal_bands$frac <- renal_bands$n_in_paper / sum(renal_bands$n_in_paper)

draw_egfr <- function(n) {
  bands <- sample(renal_bands$band, n, replace = TRUE, prob = renal_bands$frac)
  vapply(bands, function(b) {
    row <- renal_bands[renal_bands$band == b, ]
    runif(1, row$egfr_min, row$egfr_max)
  }, numeric(1))
}

make_cohort <- function(dose_mg, n, id_offset) {
  tibble::tibble(
    id       = id_offset + seq_len(n),
    dose_mg  = dose_mg,
    WT       = pmin(pmax(rnorm(n, mean = 95.7, sd = 21), 59), 155),
    CRCL     = draw_egfr(n),
    STUDY_MD = 0L
  )
}

doses <- c(2.5, 5, 7, 10)
cohorts <- lapply(seq_along(doses), function(i) {
  make_cohort(doses[i], n_per_dose, id_offset = (i - 1L) * n_per_dose)
})
cohort <- dplyr::bind_rows(cohorts)

# Time grid: rich early sampling (capture process 1), then weekly through ~80 days
obs_times <- c(seq(0, 2, by = 0.1), seq(3, 14, by = 1), seq(16, 80, by = 2))

events <- cohort |>
  dplyr::mutate(amt = dose_mg * 1000, cmt = "depot", evid = 1L, time = 0) |>
  dplyr::select(id, time, amt, cmt, evid, WT, CRCL, STUDY_MD, dose_mg) |>
  dplyr::bind_rows(
    cohort |>
      tidyr::crossing(time = obs_times) |>
      dplyr::mutate(amt = 0, cmt = NA_character_, evid = 0L) |>
      dplyr::select(id, time, amt, cmt, evid, WT, CRCL, STUDY_MD, dose_mg)
  ) |>
  dplyr::arrange(id, time, dplyr::desc(evid))

Simulation 

mod <- rxode2::rxode2(readModelDb("Cirincione_2017_exenatide_er"))
#> ℹ parameter labels from comments will be replaced by 'label()'
conc_unit <- mod$units[["concentration"]]
sim <- rxode2::rxSolve(mod, events = events, keep = c("WT", "CRCL", "STUDY_MD", "dose_mg"))

For deterministic replication (typical-value profiles without between-subject variability, matching the paper’s Figure 4 individual fits at population-mean covariates):

mod_typical <- mod |> rxode2::zeroRe()
#> Warning: No sigma parameters in the model

ev_typical <- do.call(rbind, lapply(doses, function(d) {
  ev_i <- rxode2::et(amt = d * 1000, cmt = "depot") |>
    rxode2::et(seq(0, 80, by = 0.5)) |>
    as.data.frame()
  ev_i$id <- match(d, doses)
  ev_i
}))

params_typical <- tibble::tibble(
  id       = seq_along(doses),
  dose_mg  = doses,
  WT       = 95.7,
  CRCL     = 89.6,
  STUDY_MD = 0L
)

sim_typical <- rxode2::rxSolve(
  mod_typical,
  events     = ev_typical,
  params     = params_typical[, c("id", "WT", "CRCL", "STUDY_MD")],
  returnType = "tibble"
) |>
  dplyr::left_join(params_typical[, c("id", "dose_mg")], by = "id")
#> ℹ omega/sigma items treated as zero: 'etalka', 'etalktr2', 'etalf1', 'etalfrelSD'
#> Warning: multi-subject simulation without without 'omega'

Replicate published figures

Figure 4 – typical concentration profiles by dose

Cirincione 2017 Figure 4 shows the population-mean predicted concentration-time profile after a single SC dose of ER exenatide across the four single-dose levels (2.5, 5, 7, 10 mg). Three distinct phases are visible: an initial first-order release (process 1, peaking within ~1 day), a second peak at ~2-3 weeks (transit chain 1), and a third peak at ~7 weeks (transit chain 2).

sim_typical |>
  dplyr::mutate(dose_label = factor(paste(dose_mg, "mg"),
    levels = paste(doses, "mg"))) |>
  ggplot(aes(time, Cc, colour = dose_label)) +
  geom_line(linewidth = 0.7) +
  labs(x = "Time (day)", y = paste0("Exenatide concentration (", conc_unit, ")"),
       colour = "Single SC dose",
       title = "Typical concentration profiles by single-dose level (replicates Figure 4)",
       caption = "Replicates Figure 4 of Cirincione 2017 AAPS J: typical-value profiles at population-mean WT and eGFR.") +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(legend.position = "bottom")

The three release peaks are most clearly visible on a log scale:

sim_typical |>
  dplyr::filter(Cc > 0) |>
  dplyr::mutate(dose_label = factor(paste(dose_mg, "mg"),
    levels = paste(doses, "mg"))) |>
  ggplot(aes(time, Cc, colour = dose_label)) +
  geom_line(linewidth = 0.7) +
  scale_y_log10() +
  labs(x = "Time (day)", y = paste0("Exenatide concentration (", conc_unit, ", log)"),
       colour = "Single SC dose",
       title = "Typical concentration profiles, log y-axis",
       caption = "Same profiles as above; log scale exposes the three release phases more clearly.") +
  theme_minimal() +
  theme(legend.position = "bottom")

Single-dose population VPC (replicates Figure 3 left panels) 

sim |>
  dplyr::filter(!is.na(Cc), time > 0) |>
  dplyr::mutate(dose_label = factor(paste(dose_mg, "mg"),
    levels = paste(doses, "mg"))) |>
  dplyr::group_by(time, dose_label) |>
  dplyr::summarise(
    Q05 = quantile(Cc, 0.05),
    Q50 = quantile(Cc, 0.50),
    Q95 = quantile(Cc, 0.95),
    .groups = "drop"
  ) |>
  ggplot(aes(time, Q50)) +
  geom_ribbon(aes(ymin = Q05, ymax = Q95), alpha = 0.2) +
  geom_line() +
  facet_wrap(~dose_label) +
  labs(x = "Time (day)", y = paste0("Exenatide concentration (", conc_unit, ")"),
       title = "Single-dose VPC by dose group",
       caption = "5th / 50th / 95th simulated percentiles; replicates Figure 3 left panels (single-dose VPC).") +
  theme_minimal()

PKNCA validation

PKNCA-based Cmax / Tmax / AUC0-last analysis of the simulated single-dose cohort, grouped by dose level so the per-dose summary can be compared against the paper.

sim_nca <- sim |>
  dplyr::filter(!is.na(Cc), time > 0, Cc > 0) |>
  dplyr::mutate(dose_label = paste(dose_mg, "mg")) |>
  dplyr::select(id, time, Cc, dose_label, dose_mg)

conc_obj <- PKNCA::PKNCAconc(sim_nca, Cc ~ time | dose_label + id)

dose_df <- events |>
  dplyr::filter(evid == 1) |>
  dplyr::mutate(dose_label = paste(dose_mg, "mg")) |>
  dplyr::select(id, time, amt, dose_label)

dose_obj <- PKNCA::PKNCAdose(dose_df, amt ~ time | dose_label + id)

intervals <- data.frame(
  start    = 0,
  end      = 80,
  cmax     = TRUE,
  tmax     = TRUE,
  auclast  = TRUE
)

nca_res <- PKNCA::pk.nca(PKNCA::PKNCAdata(conc_obj, dose_obj, intervals = intervals))
#> Warning: Requesting an AUC range starting (0) before the first measurement (0.1) is not allowed
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summary(nca_res)
#>  start end dose_label  N auclast        cmax                tmax
#>      0  80      10 mg 80      NC  180 [64.5] 0.300 [0.100, 46.0]
#>      0  80     2.5 mg 80      NC 42.5 [66.2] 0.350 [0.100, 46.0]
#>      0  80       5 mg 80      NC  105 [71.3]  3.15 [0.100, 46.0]
#>      0  80       7 mg 80      NC  136 [78.9] 0.200 [0.100, 46.0]
#> 
#> Caption: auclast, cmax: geometric mean and geometric coefficient of variation; tmax: median and range; N: number of subjects

Comparison against the paper

Cirincione 2017 does not tabulate NCA-style Cmax / AUC for the single-dose study (only concentration-time figures and BLQ-fraction figures). For a qualitative check, the table below reports the simulated typical-subject Cmax and the time at which the largest of the three release peaks occurs for each single-dose level.

nca_typical <- PKNCA::pk.nca(PKNCA::PKNCAdata(
  PKNCA::PKNCAconc(
    sim_typical |>
      dplyr::filter(Cc > 0, time > 0) |>
      dplyr::mutate(dose_label = paste(dose_mg, "mg")) |>
      dplyr::select(id, time, Cc, dose_label),
    Cc ~ time | dose_label + id
  ),
  PKNCA::PKNCAdose(
    params_typical |>
      dplyr::mutate(time = 0, amt = dose_mg * 1000, dose_label = paste(dose_mg, "mg")) |>
      dplyr::select(id, time, amt, dose_label),
    amt ~ time | dose_label + id
  ),
  intervals = data.frame(start = 0, end = 80, cmax = TRUE, tmax = TRUE, auclast = TRUE)
))
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nca_typical_tbl <- as.data.frame(nca_typical$result) |>
  dplyr::filter(PPTESTCD %in% c("cmax", "tmax", "auclast")) |>
  dplyr::select(dose_label, PPTESTCD, PPORRES) |>
  tidyr::pivot_wider(names_from = PPTESTCD, values_from = PPORRES)

knitr::kable(
  nca_typical_tbl,
  digits = 1,
  caption = "Typical-subject NCA from the packaged model. Cmax in pg/mL, Tmax in days, AUC0-80d in pg*day/mL. The dominant peak across all four single-dose levels occurs near day 44 (chain 2, ~7 weeks postinjection) -- matching the paper's narrative that the third-phase release dominates the late single-dose concentration profile."
)
Typical-subject NCA from the packaged model. Cmax in pg/mL, Tmax in days, AUC0-80d in pg*day/mL. The dominant peak across all four single-dose levels occurs near day 44 (chain 2, ~7 weeks postinjection) – matching the paper’s narrative that the third-phase release dominates the late single-dose concentration profile.
dose_label auclast cmax tmax
10 mg NA 125.3 44
2.5 mg NA 29.9 44
5 mg NA 60.7 44
7 mg NA 86.1 44

The typical-subject Cmax scales linearly with dose (a property of the linear absorption and linear-plus-saturable elimination model at the modest concentrations encountered after single doses below 10 mg), and the Tmax sits at the chain 2 peak (~7 weeks postinjection) consistent with the paper’s narrative that the third-phase release dominates the late single-dose concentration profile.

Assumptions and deviations

  • Multi-dose limitation of the analytical transit chains. The two Savic 2007 analytical transit-compartment input rates (in_t1 and in_t2 in the model) use the rxode2 tad(depot) and podo(depot) functions, which are scalars referencing the most recent dose. For multi-dose simulations, contributions to the current input rate from prior doses’ transit-chain residuals are not summed – only the most-recent dose’s transit-chain contribution is captured. The first-order absorption process (process 1, via the depot ODE) does superpose correctly across doses. Single-dose simulations are exact. For weekly multi-dose simulations (as in Figure 5 of the paper) the model will under-predict steady-state concentrations because chain 2’s mean transit time of ~46 days means earlier doses’ chain-2 contributions are still active when the next weekly dose is administered. The paper handled this in NONMEM using the multiple-dose transit-compartment methodology of reference (23); the rxode2 transit() macro family does not currently superpose analytical transit contributions across doses. Users running multi-dose simulations should be aware of this limitation; an alternative parameterisation that uses discrete ODE-based transit chains (rounding N1, N2 to integer compartment counts) would handle multi-dose superposition correctly but would slightly distort the absorption-rate time course (especially for chain 1 where N1 = 0.570 is well below an integer chain count).
  • Time-unit conversion to days. Cirincione 2017 AAPS J Table II presents disposition parameters in day units (CL_int = 110 L/day, CLd = 89.3 L/day, Vmax = 0.0372 mg/day). The IR companion model packaged as modellib("Cirincione_2017_exenatide") uses hour units (CL_int = 4.58 L/hr, CLd = 3.72 L/hr, Vmax = 1.55 ug/hr). The ER model uses day units consistent with the AAPS J paper; numerically CL_int = 4.58 L/hr * 24 = 110 L/day (and likewise for CLd, Vmax). The volumes and dimensionless effects (Vc, Vp, Km, e_crcl_cl, e_wt_vc) are time-unit-invariant. The two models are internally consistent.
  • Units within the model. Dose in micrograms (1 mg = 1000 ug; single doses are 2500 / 5000 / 7000 / 10000 ug; weekly doses are 800 / 2000 ug); central compartment in ug; Vc in L; concentration Cc reported in pg/mL after multiplying central/vc (= ug/L = ng/mL) by 1000. Km is stored as 0.567 ng/mL so it is unit-consistent with central / vc, and the Michaelis-Menten elimination term is written vmax / (km*vc + central) so the (km*vc) product has units of ug matching central.
  • Study indicator (STUDY_MD). The covariate STUDY_MD is a binary indicator (1 = phase II multi-dose study with 0.8 or 2 mg weekly; 0 = phase II single-dose study) used to switch between the study-specific relative bioavailability (frelMD = 15.5% vs frelSD = 8.86%) and the study-specific log-scale residual SD (0.376 vs 0.684). For the phase III external-validation cohort (2 mg weekly for 24 weeks), use STUDY_MD = 1 so the multi-dose values apply. STUDY_MD has no analogous column in the source dataset – it is derived per subject from the dose-record structure of the original analysis.
  • Disposition parameters fixed from the IR companion model. All disposition parameters (CL_int, CLd, Vc_int, Vp, Vmax, Km) and the eGFR-on-CL and WT-on-Vc covariate effects are inherited verbatim from the IR Cirincione 2017 BJCP paper (modellib("Cirincione_2017_exenatide")), per the AAPS J paper Methods. They are wrapped in fixed() in ini() so a downstream user can see the provenance and so re-fitting would correctly hold them constant. The IIV terms on these parameters are not carried over to the ER model – the AAPS J paper does not report IIV on the fixed-from-IR parameters in the ER analysis, so only the ER-specific IIV (on ka, ktr2, f1, f_rel(SD)) is encoded.
  • Bioavailability fractions. The paper parameterises three parallel absorption fractions with the constraint f3 = 1 - (f1 + f2) (Methods page 488) so that the total ER bioavailability across the three processes equals f_rel. The model file encodes f1 and f2 as estimated ini() parameters and derives f3 inside model(). The published point estimates (f1 = 1.18%, f2 = 48.0%, f3 = 50.8%) sum exactly to 100%; with log-normal IIV on f1 (CV 66.7%), f3 remains positive for plausible eta draws because f2 is fixed and f1 stays small.
  • IIV distribution. Log-normal IIV is used as the paper describes (“Interindividual variability (IIV) was estimated using a log-normal distribution model on two of the first-order rate constants (k_a and k_tr2) and the fraction of the bioavailable dose in the initial release (f_1)”; combined model adds IIV on f_rel). The reported CV% values are converted to the log-normal variance via omega^2 = log(1 + CV^2). No correlations between IIV terms were reported, so all etas are independent in the model.
  • Virtual cohort. Original observed data are not publicly available. The cohort approximates Table I demographics: body weight from a truncated normal (mean 95.7, SD 21, clipped to the reported 59-155 kg range), eGFR sampled uniformly within each renal-function band using the per-band patient counts from the pooled cohort. Sex and race distributions are not used by the model and therefore are not reproduced.
  • No covariates on absorption parameters. Methods page 489 explicitly states “Given the small number of patients relative to the complexities of the model, the influence of patient covariates on the absorption parameters for the PK model was not assessed.” The model therefore carries WT and eGFR only as disposition-side covariates (on Vc and CL respectively), inherited from the IR companion. Absorption parameters (ka, ktr1, N1, ktr2, N2, f1, f2, f_rel) have no covariate effects.