A comparison of methods for prediction of pharmacokinetics across factor concentrate switching in hemophilia patients

Canadian clinical experience on switching from standard half-life recombinant factor VIII (rFVIII), octocog alfa, to extended half-life rFVIII, damoctocog alfa pegol, in persons with haemophilia A ≥ 12 years followed in a Comprehensive Hemophilia Care Program in Canada

INTRODUCTION

Damoctocog alfa pegol (BAY 94-9027, Jivi®) is an extended half-life recombinant factor (F)VIII replacement, indicated for the treatment of haemophilia A in patients aged ≥12 years. Following introduction of damoctocog alfa pegol in Canada in 2020, there have been no reports on routine clinical effectiveness and satisfaction, when switching from a previous FVIII product in Canada.

AIM

To report changes in pharmacokinetics, effectiveness, utilization and patient satisfaction when switching to damoctocog alfa pegol prophylaxis from previous standard half-life octocog alfa (BAY 81-8973, Kovaltry®) treatment.

METHODS

A single-centre, intra-patient comparison of pharmacokinetics and clinical outcomes was performed. Blood samples drawn once pre-dose and ≥2 times post-dose were measured by a one-stage assay to assess pharmacokinetic parameters including area under the curve (AUC, primary endpoint). Patient-reported outcomes data were collected using the Patient-Reported Outcomes, Burdens and Experiences questionnaire (PROBE). Clinical outcomes included annualized bleeding rate (ABR) and factor utilization.

RESULTS

Dose-normalized AUC was significantly increased after switch to damoctocog alfa pegol from octocog alfa. Median (quartile [Q]1; Q3) annualized bleeding rates were 0.67 (0.00; 1.33) with damoctocog alfa pegol and 1.33 (0.00; 2.67) with octocog alfa. Half of the patients receiving damoctocog alfa pegol prophylaxis experienced zero bleeds (n = 9, 50.0%) versus 38.9% (n = 7) of patients treated with octocog alfa. Patients' good quality of life was maintained.

CONCLUSION

This study provides routine clinical evidence supporting the benefits of switching from octocog alfa to damoctocog alfa pegol for patients with severe haemophilia A.

The road to implementation of pharmacokinetic-guided dosing of factor replacement therapy in hemophilia and allied bleeding disorders. Identifying knowledge gaps by mapping barriers and facilitators

Clinical guidelines and expert groups recommend the use of pharmacokinetic (PK)-guided dosing of factor replacement therapy for the treatment of bleeding disorders, especially for patients with hemophilia. Although PK-guided dosing is increasingly applied, it is generally not considered standard clinical practice. The aim of this scoping review is to map barriers and facilitators for the implementation of PK-guided dosing in clinical practice and to identify knowledge gaps. A literature search was performed and 110 articles were included that describe PK-guided dosing in patients with bleeding disorders, mostly hemophilia A. We defined two overarching themes, efficacy and feasibility, and discuss five topics within each theme. For each topic, barriers, facilitators and knowledge gaps were described. Although consensus was found with regard to some topics, contradicting reports were found for others, especially with respect to the efficacy of PK-guided dosing. These contradictions highlight the need for future research to elucidate current ambiguities.

A comparison of methods for prediction of pharmacokinetics when switching to extended half-life products in hemophilia A patients

INTRODUCTION

Hemophilia A is a genetic bleeding disorder resulting from a lack of clotting factor VIII. Where extended half-life products are available, people with hemophilia may stop their current drug regimen and switch to a EHL product providing a more convenient dosing regimen. While most factor VIII concentrate regimens are started prophylactically based on international units per weight, this "one-size-fits-all" approach does not account for the large pharmacokinetic variability between individuals.

AIMS

We explored methods to predict individual PK of an EHL product by using population pharmacokinetic models and eta-values (η), a value that quantifies how individuals deviate from a population for any PK parameter, derived from a prior product. In addition, we wanted to investigate which individuals would benefit from this method compared to using a PopPK model alone.

METHODS

PK data from subjects (n = 39) who have taken both Adynovate and Eloctate was collected from clinical trial data and from the Web-Accessible Population Pharmacokinetic Service - Hemophilia (WAPPS-Hemo) database. In addition, PK data from subjects (n = 200) who switched from a standard half-life product to Eloctate was also extracted from the WAPPS-Hemo database. Two methods to estimate individual PK outcomes of the second product were compared. The PopPK method used the Eloctate PopPK model published from WAPPS-Hemo, while the η-method incorporated individually scaled η from the prior product's PopPK model. Both methods were assessed for its performance in predicting PK outcomes. Absolute percent differences were calculated between the predicted and observed PK outcomes. Infusions were parsed into subgroups based on number of samples and individual η-percentiles for analysis.

RESULTS

For the three switching protocols (Adynovate to Eloctate, Eloctate to Adynovate, and SHL FVIII to Eloctate), the η-method resulted in a relative difference reduction in mean absolute percent difference of 27.8% (range 1-59%), 4.9% (range 0-129%), and 18.0% (0-79%) in half-life compared to the PopPK method respectively. With some exceptions (in particular central volume), the η-method produced relative difference reduction in mean absolute percent differences up to 33% lower compared to the PopPK method. When individuals were parsed based on their η-values (either CL or V1), the two methods differentiate up to 64% in terms of half-life and time to 0.02 IU/mL predictions for individuals with a low (0th to 20th percentile) η_CL or η_V1 on the first product. Individuals with higher number of observations per infusion on the first product resulted in better predictions in PK parameter estimates when using the η-method.

CONCLUSION

The use of prior knowledge by implementing η-values into PopPK models may provide clinicians with a safer and more effective method to choose a dosing regimen for patients with hemophilia A switching from one factor concentrate to another. However, the η-method was unable to better predict an increase or decrease in half-life of a future product compared to the PopPK method, and thus supports the conclusion that most individuals would still benefit from a trial on the EHL and subsequent estimation of their individual PK profile from sparse measurements on the EHL.