Abstract
PURPOSE: Empagliflozin is a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 inhibitor that is commonly used for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus. As cocrystal formulation can improve the chemical properties of drugs, CKD-370 was newly developed as a cocrystal formulation of empagliflozin with solvate L-proline. This study aimed to compare the pharmacokinetics, safety, and tolerability of these two empagliflozin formulations in healthy Korean subjects. METHODS: A randomized, open-label, two-sequence, two-period crossover study was conducted on healthy Korean participants. The subjects received a single oral 25 mg dose of either test (CKD-370) or reference treatment (Jardiance(®)) tablet at each period. Plasma empagliflozin concentrations were determined using liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry. Pharmacokinetic (PK) parameters were analyzed using non-compartmental methods. The primary PK parameters included the maximum concentration (C(max)) and the area under the concentration-time curve from 0 to last (AUC(last)). The safety of both formulations was monitored and evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 28 healthy Korean adult subjects were randomized, and 27 subjects were included in the PK analysis. The mean ± standard deviation values of the primary PK parameters, C(max) and AUC(last) after administration of the test treatment, were 442.02 ± 103.37 μg/L and 3131.08 ± 529.30 μg·h/L, respectively, and those after administration of the reference treatment were 436.29 ± 118.74 μg/L and 3006.88 ± 514.21 μg·h/L, respectively. The geometric mean ratio and its 90% confidence interval of test to reference treatment for C(max) and AUC(last) were 1.0221 (0.9527-1.0967) and 1.0411 (1.0153-1.0677), respectively, which were within the commonly accepted bioequivalence criteria of 0.80 to 1.25. Both treatments were well-tolerated. CONCLUSION: The two formulations of empagliflozin showed similar PK characteristics and were generally well tolerated in healthy subjects.