Application of <i>in vitro</i> studies to predict the pharmacokinetics of rivaroxaban tablets
Authors: Suvorova A. V. , Losenkova P. A. , Medvedev Yu. V. , Malashenko E. A. , Karnakova K. K. , Bagaeva N. S. , Savchenko A. Yu. , Poluyanov A. M. , Shohin I. E. 
Published: August 2024

Introduction. The most important stage of pharmaceutical development of a generic drug is a clinical trial involving humans – a bioequivalence study. Considering the importance of finding rivaroxaban drugs in the list of vital and essential drugs, as part of ensuring technological sovereignty, the use of scientific robust and effective methods for determining the quality of the dosage form is required.

Aim. Conduct a study of rivaroxaban tablets on a physiologically relevant tester to predict pharmacokinetic profiles.

Materials and methods. The objects of the study are "Xarelto®, film-coated tablets, 10 mg" (series BXJS871, with an expiration date of October 31, 2024, Bayer AG, Germany), "Xarelto®, film-coated tablets, 20 mg" (series BXKDF32, with an expiration date of May 17, 2026, Bayer AG, Germany) and "Rivaroxaban, film-coated tablets, 10 mg" and "Rivaroxaban, film-coated tablets, 20 mg", domestically produced, with valid expiration dates. During the study, reagents were used to prepare dissolution media and perform quantitative determination. The physiologically relevant test was performed on the SC PRT-6 device (LLC "Scientific Compliance", Russia). The quantitative content of released rivaroxaban within the comparative dissolution kinetics test in a medium of 0.1 in a medium of 0.1 % sodium lauryl sulfate solution in a phosphate buffer solution pH 6.5 was carried out on a SF-2000 spectrophotometer (LLC "OKB Spektr", Russia). The quantitative content of released rivaroxaban within the comparative dissolution kinetics test in biorelevant dissolution media and physiological relevance test was assessed on a high-performance liquid chromatograph "Chromatec-Crystal HPLC 2014" (CJSC "Chromatec", Russia). Pharmacokinetic profiles were modeled in the PK-Sim® (Systems Biology Software Suite 11.2, Bayer Technology Services GmbH, Germany) program based on the data obtained within the physiologically relevant test. The clinical study of rivaroxaban tablets was a prospective, open-label, randomized, crossover, two-stage comparative study in two groups of volunteers with a single dose of drugs on the fast condition. The study randomized 30 healthy male volunteers aged 18–45 years.

Results and discussion. A complex of in vitro tests was conducted, profiles were obtained that allow us to evaluate the dynamics and degree of release of the studied drugs in various parts of the human gastrointestinal tract. A comparison of the sequential and hybrid schemes for conducting the physiological relevance test was carried out. Within the framework of the set of tests, qualitative and quantitative correlation with the clinical trials data was observed only for the hybrid physiological relevance test scheme. Based on the results of physiological relevance test using different schemes, pharmacokinetic profiles for a pair of drugs were predicted and the prediction error was assessed.

Conclusion. A set of scientific in vitro tests was conducted for the drugs "Xarelto®, film-coated tablets, 10 mg and 20 mg", "Rivaroxaban, film-coated tablets, 10 mg and 20 mg". Based on the physiological relevance test results, pharmacokinetic profiles for a pair of drugs were predicted with low error and high reliability. As part of the comparison of data obtained during clinical trial and modeling, the smallest prediction error was noted when performing physiological relevance test using a hybrid scheme.