Sacubitril 24 mg, Valsartan 26 mg Tablets

ENTRESTO contains a neprilysin inhibitor, sacubitril, and an angiotensin receptor blocker, valsartan. ENTRESTO inhibits neprilysin (neutral endopeptidase; NEP) via LBQ657, the active metabolite of the prodrug sacubitril, and blocks the angiotensin II type-1 (AT1) receptor via valsartan. The cardiovascular and renal effects of ENTRESTO in heart failure patients are attributed to the increased levels of peptides that are degraded by neprilysin, such as natriuretic peptides, by LBQ657, and the simultaneous inhibition of the effects of angiotensin II by valsartan. Valsartan inhibits the effects of angiotensin II by selectively blocking the AT1 receptor, and also inhibits angiotensin II-dependent aldosterone release.

Absorption — Following oral administration, ENTRESTO dissociates into sacubitril and valsartan. Sacubitril is further metabolized to LBQ657. The peak plasma concentrations of sacubitril, LBQ657, and valsartan are reached in 0.5 hours, 2 hours, and 1.5 hours, respectively. The oral absolute bioavailability of sacubitril is estimated to be greater than or equal to 60%. The valsartan in ENTRESTO is more bioavailable than the valsartan in other marketed tablet formulations; 26 mg, 51 mg, and 103 mg of valsartan in ENTRESTO is equivalent to 40 mg, 80 mg, and 160 mg of valsartan in other marketed tablet formulations, respectively.

Following twice-daily dosing of ENTRESTO, steady-state levels of sacubitril, LBQ657, and valsartan are reached in 3 days. At steady state, sacubitril and valsartan do not accumulate significantly, whereas LBQ657 accumulates by 1.6-fold. ENTRESTO administration with food has no clinically significant effect on the systemic exposures of sacubitril, LBQ657, or valsartan. Although there is a decrease in exposure to valsartan when ENTRESTO is administered with food, this decrease is not accompanied by a clinically significant reduction in the therapeutic effect. ENTRESTO can therefore be administered with or without food.

Distribution — Sacubitril, LBQ657 and valsartan are highly bound to plasma proteins (94% to 97%). Based on the comparison of plasma and CSF exposures, LBQ657 crosses the blood brain barrier to a limited extent (0.28%). The average apparent volumes of distribution of valsartan and sacubitril are 75 and 103 L, respectively.

Metabolism — Sacubitril is readily converted to LBQ657 by esterases; LBQ657 is not further metabolized to a significant extent. Valsartan is minimally metabolized; only about 20% of the dose is recovered as metabolites. A hydroxyl metabolite has been identified in plasma at low concentrations (less than 10%).

Elimination — Following oral administration, 52% to 68% of sacubitril (primarily as LBQ657) and approximately 13% of valsartan and its metabolites are excreted in urine; 37% to 48% of sacubitril (primarily as LBQ657), and 86% of valsartan and its metabolites are excreted in feces. Sacubitril, LBQ657, and valsartan are eliminated from plasma with a mean elimination half-life (T1/2) of approximately 1.4 hours, 11.5 hours, and 9.9 hours, respectively.

Linearity/Nonlinearity — The pharmacokinetics of sacubitril, LBQ657, and valsartan were linear over an ENTRESTO dose range of 24 mg sacubitril/26 mg valsartan to 194 mg sacubitril/206 mg valsartan.

Effect of Co-administered Drugs on ENTRESTO: — Because CYP450 enzyme-mediated metabolism of sacubitril and valsartan is minimal, coadministration with drugs that impact CYP450 enzymes is not expected to affect the pharmacokinetics of ENTRESTO. Dedicated drug interaction studies demonstrated that coadministration of furosemide, warfarin, digoxin, carvedilol, a combination of levonorgestrel/ethinyl estradiol, amlodipine, omeprazole, hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), metformin, atorvastatin, and sildenafil, did not alter the systemic exposure to sacubitril, LBQ657 or valsartan.

Effect of ENTRESTO on Co-administered Drugs: — In vitro data indicate that sacubitril inhibits OATP1B1 and OATP1B3 transporters. The effects of ENTRESTO on the pharmacokinetics of coadministered drugs are summarized in Figure 1.

Specific Populations — Effect of specific populations on the pharmacokinetics of LBQ657 and valsartan are shown in Figure 2.

Pediatric Patients: The pharmacokinetics of ENTRESTO were evaluated in pediatric heart failure patients 1 to less than 18 years old administered oral doses of 0.8 mg/kg and 3.1 mg/kg of ENTRESTO. Pharmacokinetic data indicated that exposure to ENTRESTO in pediatric and adult patients is similar.