5.2 Pharmacokinetic properties

 Absorption

After both single and multiple oral doses, retigabine is rapidly absorbed with median tmax values generally between 0.5 and 2 hours. Absolute oral bioavailability of retigabine relative to an intravenous dose is approximately 60%.

Administration of retigabine with a high fat meal resulted in no change in the overall extent of retigabine absorption, but food reduced the between-subject variability in Cmax (23%) compared to the fasted state (41%), and led to an increase in Cmax (38%). The effect of food on Cmax under usual clinical conditions is not expected to be clinically relevant. Therefore Trobalt may be taken with or without food.

Distribution

Retigabine is approximately 80% bound to plasma protein over the concentration range of 0.1 to 2 µg/ml. The steady state volume of distribution of retigabine is 2 to 3 l/kg following intravenous dosing.

Biotransformation

Retigabine is extensively metabolised in humans. A substantial fraction of the retigabine dose is converted to inactive N-glucuronides. Retigabine is also metabolised to an N-acetyl metabolite (NAMR) that is also subsequently glucuronidated. NAMR has antiepileptic activity, but is less potent than retigabine in animal seizure models.

There is no evidence for hepatic oxidative metabolism of retigabine or NAMR by cytochrome P450 enzymes. Therefore co-administration with inhibitors or inducers of cytochrome P450 enzymes is unlikely to affect the pharmacokinetics of retigabine or NAMR.

In vitro studies using human liver microsomes showed little or no potential for retigabine to inhibit the major cytochrome P450 isoenzymes (including CYP1A2, CYP2A6, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1 and CYP3A4/5). In addition, retigabine and NAMR did not induce CYP1A2 or CYP3A4/5 in human primary hepatocytes. Therefore retigabine is unlikely to affect the pharmacokinetics of substrates of the major cytochrome P450 isoenzymes through inhibition or induction mechanisms.

Elimination

Elimination of retigabine occurs via a combination of hepatic metabolism and renal excretion. A total of approximately 84% of the dose is recovered in the urine, including the N-acetyl metabolite (18%), N-glucuronides of the parent active substance and of the N-acetyl metabolite (24%), or parent active substance (36%). Only 14% of retigabine is excreted in the faeces. Retigabine has a plasma half-life of approximately 6 to 10 hours. The total clearance of retigabine from plasma following intravenous dosing is typically 0.4 to 0.6 l/h/kg.

Linearity

Retigabine pharmacokinetics are essentially linear over the single dose range of 25 to 600 mg in healthy volunteers and up to 1,200 mg daily in patients with epilepsy, with no unexpected accumulation following repeated administration.

Special patient populations

Renal impairment

In a single dose study, retigabine AUC was increased by approximately 30% in volunteers with mild renal impairment (creatinine clearance 50 to 80 ml/min) and by approximately 100% in volunteers with moderate to severe renal impairment (creatinine clearance <50 ml/min), relative to healthy volunteers. Adjustment of the Trobalt dose is recomme