Comparative pharmacokinetic study of two mycophenolate mofetil formulations in stable kidney transplant recipients

We compared steady-state pharmacokinetics of mycophenolatemofetil (MMF) – Myfenax® (Teva) and CellCept® (Roche) – in stable kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). This was an international, multi-centre, randomized, open-label, two-treatment, two-sequence crossover studywith a 3-month follow-up. We included KTRs at least 12 months post-transplantation with stable renal graft function for at least 3 months. The maintenance treatment consisted of MMF in combination with tacrolimuswith or without steroids. At the end of the two treatment periods, 6-h or 12-h PK studies of mycophenolic acid(MPA) were performed. A total of 43 patients (mean age: 50.7 ± 13.5 years; 19 females, 24 males) were randomized. Estimates of test to reference ratios (90% CIs) were 0.959 (0.899; 1.023) h*μg/ml for AUC(0–tau) and 0.873 (0.787; 0.968) μg/ml for Cmax. Estimates for AUC(0–6h) were 0.923 (0.865; 0.984) h*μg/ml and 0.985 (0.877; 1.106) μg/ml for Cmin. Thus, AUC(0–tau), AUC(0–6h), and Cminof MPA were within the predefined margins. Cmaxwas somewhat outside of these margins in this set of patients. The numbers and types of adverse events were not different between the two treatments. The steady-state pharmacokinetics of MPA as well as adverse events are comparable for Myfenax® and CellCept® in tacrolimus-treated stable KTRs. (EudraCT-No.: 2009-010562-31; ClinicalTrials.Gov number: NCT00991510)