Absorption: After a 100 mg oral dose, the time to maximum observed plasma concentration of miglustat (tmax) ranged from 2 to 2.5 hours in Gaucher patients. Plasma concentrations show a biexponential decline, characterized by a short distribution phase and a longer elimination phase. The effective half-life of miglustat is approximately 6 to 7 hours, which predicts that steady-state will be achieved by 1.5 to 2 days following the start of three times daily dosing.
Miglustat, dosed at 50 and 100 mg three times daily in Gaucher patients, exhibits dose-proportional pharmacokinetics. The pharmacokinetics of miglustat were not altered after repeated dosing three times daily for up to 12 months.
In healthy subjects, co-administration of miglustat with food results in a decrease in the rate of absorption of miglustat (maximum plasma concentration [Cmax] was decreased by 36% and tmax delayed 2 h) but had no statistically significant effect on the extent of absorption of miglustat (area-under-the-plasma-concentration time curve [AUC] was decreased by 14%). The mean oral bioavailability of a 100-mg miglustat capsule is about 97% relative to an oral solution administered under fasting conditions. The pharmacokinetics of miglustat were similar between adult type 1 Gaucher disease patients and healthy subjects after a single dose administration of miglustat 100 mg.
Distribution: Miglustat does not bind to plasma proteins. Mean apparent volume of distribution of miglustat is 83-105 liters in Gaucher patients. At steady state, the concentration of miglustat in cerebrospinal fluid of six non-Gaucher patients was 31.4-67.2% of that in plasma, indicating that miglustat crosses the blood brain barrier.
Metabolism and Excretion: The major route of excretion of miglustat is via kidney. Following administration of a single dose of 100 mg 14C-miglustat to healthy volunteers, 83% of the radioactivity was recovered in urine and 12% in feces. In healthy subjects, 67% of the administered dose was excreted unchanged in urine over 72 hours. The most abundant metabolite in urine was miglustat glucuronide accounting for 5% of the dose. The terminal half-life of radioactivity in plasma was 150 hours, suggesting the presence of one or more metabolites with a prolonged half-life. The metabolite accounting for this observation has not been identified, but may accumulate and reach concentrations exceeding those of miglustat at steady state.
Specific Populations
Gender: There was no statistically significant gender difference in miglustat pharmacokinetics, based on pooled data analysis.
Race: Ethnic differences in miglustat pharmacokinetics have not been evaluated in Gaucher patients. However, apparent oral clearance of miglustat in patients of Ashkenazi Jewish descent was not statistically different to that in others (1 Asian and 15 Caucasians), based on a cross-study analysis.
Hepatic Impairment: No studies have been performed to assess the pharmacokinetics of miglustat in patients with hepatic impairment.
Renal Impairment: Limited data in non-Gaucher patients with impaired renal function indicate that the apparent oral clearance (CL/F) of miglustat decreases with decreasing renal function. While the number of subjects with mild and moderate renal impairment was very small, the data suggest an approximate decrease in the apparent oral clearance of 40% and 60% respectively, in mild and moderate renal impairment, justifying the need to decrease the dosing of miglustat in such patients dependent upon creatinine clearance levels [see Dosage and Administration (2.2)].
Data in severe renal impairment are limited to two patients with creatinine clearances in the range 18-29 mL/min and cannot be extrapolated below this range. These data suggest a decrease in CL/F by at least 70% in patients with severe renal impairment [see Dosage and Administration (2.2) and Use in Specific Populations (8.6)].
Drug Interaction Studies
Miglustat does not inhibit the metabolism of various substrates of cytochrome P450 enzymes including, CYP1A2, CYP2A6, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, CYP3A4 and CYP4A11 in vitro; consequently significant interactions via inhibition of these enzymes are unlikely with drugs that are substrates of cytochrome P450 enzymes.
Drug interaction between miglustat (miglustat 100 mg orally three times daily) and imiglucerase 7.5 or 15 U/kg/day was assessed in imiglucerase-stabilized patients after one month of co-administration. There was no significant effect of imiglucerase on the pharmacokinetics of miglustat, with the co-administration of imiglucerase and miglustat resulting in a 22% reduction in Cmax and a 14% reduction in the AUC for miglustat. While miglustat appeared to increase the clearance of imiglucerase by 70%, these results are not conclusive because of the small number of subjects studied and because patients took variable doses of imiglucerase [see Drug Interactions (7)].
Concomitant therapy with loperamide during clinical trials did not appear to significantly alter the pharmacokinetics of miglustat.