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| Names | |
|---|---|
| Trade names | Erleada, others |
| Other names | ARN-509; JNJ-56021927; JNJ-927; A52 |
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| Clinical data | |
| Drug class | Nonsteroidal antiandrogen[1] |
| Main uses | Prostate cancer[2] |
| Side effects | Tiredness, joint pain, rash, falls, high blood pressure, hot flashes, diarrhea, bone fractures[2] |
| Pregnancy category | |
| Routes of use | By mouth[2] |
| External links | |
| AHFS/Drugs.com | Monograph |
| MedlinePlus | a618018 |
| Legal | |
| License data | |
| Legal status | |
| Pharmacokinetics | |
| Bioavailability | 100%[2] |
| Protein binding | Apalutamide: 96%[2] NDMA: 95%[2] |
| Metabolism | Liver (CYP2C8, CYP3A4)[2] |
| Metabolites | • NDMA[2] |
| Elimination half-life | Apalutamide: 3–4 days (at steady-state)[5][2] |
| Excretion | Urine: 65%[2] Feces: 24%[2] |
| Chemical and physical data | |
| Formula | C21H15F4N5O2S |
| Molar mass | 477.44 g·mol−1 |
| 3D model (JSmol) | |
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Apalutamide, sold under the brand name Erleada among others, is a medication used to treat prostate cancer.[2] Specifically it is used in metastatic castration-sensitive prostate cancer and non-metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (NM-CRPC).[2] It is taken by mouth.[2]
Common side effects include tiredness, joint pain, rash, falls, high blood pressure, hot flashes, diarrhea, and bone fractures.[2] Other side effects may include stroke and seizures.[2] Use by males whose partners are pregnant may harm the baby.[2] It is a nonsteroidal antiandrogen (NSAA) and works by blocking androgens including testosterone.[4][1] As prostate cancer require androgens, blocking them slows its growth.[4]
Apalutamide was described in 2007.[6] It approved for medical use in the United States in 2018 and Europe in 2019.[2][4] In the United Kingdom 4 weeks costs the NHS about £2,700 as of 2021.[7] This amount in the United States is about 12,500 USD.[8]
Apalutamide is used in conjunction with castration, either via bilateral orchiectomy or gonadotropin-releasing hormone analogue (GnRH analogue) therapy, as a method of androgen deprivation therapy in the treatment of NM-CRPC.[2][9][10][11] It is also a promising potential treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC), which the NSAA enzalutamide and the androgen synthesis inhibitor abiraterone acetate are used to treat.[12]
Apalutamide is provided in the form of 60 mg oral tablets.[2] It is taken at a dosage of 240 mg once per day (four tablets) when used in the treatment of NM-CRPC.[2]
Contraindications of apalutamide include pregnancy and a history of or susceptibility to seizures.[2]
Apalutamide has been found to be well tolerated in clinical trials,[13][9] with the most common side effects reported when added to surgical or medical castration including fatigue, nausea, abdominal pain, and diarrhea.[14][15][16] Other side effects have included rash, falls and bone fractures, and hypothyroidism, as well as seizures (in 0.2%), among others.[2][17][18] Apalutamide is an expected teratogen and has a theoretical risk of birth defects in male infants if taken by women during pregnancy.[2] It may impair male fertility.[2] When used as a monotherapy (i.e., without surgical or medical castration) in men, NSAAs are known to produce additional, estrogenic side effects like breast tenderness, gynecomastia, and feminization in general by increasing estradiol levels.[19] Similarly to the related second-generation NSAA enzalutamide but unlike first-generation NSAAs like flutamide and bicalutamide, elevated liver enzymes and hepatotoxicity have not been reported with apalutamide.[2]
There is no known antidote for overdose of apalutamide.[2] General supportive measures should be undertaken until clinical toxicity, if any, diminishes or resolves.[2]
Apalutamide has a high potential for drug interactions.[2] In terms of effects of apalutamide on other drugs, the exposure of substrates of CYP3A4, CYP2C19, CYP2C9, UDP-glucuronosyltransferase, P-glycoprotein, ABCG2, or OATP1B1 may be reduced to varying extents.[2] In terms of effects of other drugs on apalutamide, strong CYP2C8 or CYP3A4 inhibitors may increase levels of apalutamide or its major active metabolite N-desmethylapalutamide, while mild to moderate CYP2C8 or CYP3A4 inhibitors are not expected to affect their exposure.[2]

Apalutamide acts as a selective competitive silent antagonist of the androgen receptor (AR), via the ligand-binding domain, and hence is an antiandrogen.[17][21][14][9] It is similar both structurally and pharmacologically to the second-generation NSAA enzalutamide,[13][22] but shows some advantages, including higher antiandrogenic activity as well as several-fold reduced central nervous system distribution.[21][14][9] The latter difference may reduce its comparative risk of seizures and other central side effects.[21][14][9] Apalutamide has 5- to 10-fold greater affinity for the AR than bicalutamide, a first-generation NSAA.[11][10]
The acquired F876L mutation of the AR identified in advanced prostate cancer cells has been found to confer resistance to both enzalutamide and apalutamide.[23][24] A newer NSAA, darolutamide, is not affected by this mutation, nor has it been found to be affected by any other tested/well-known AR mutations.[25] Apalutamide may be effective in a subset of prostate cancer patients with acquired resistance to abiraterone acetate.[13]
Apalutamide shows potent induction potential of cytochrome P450 enzymes similarly to enzalutamide.[2][26][27] It is a strong inducer of CYP3A4 and CYP2C19 and a weak inducer of CYP2C9, as well as an inducer of UDP-glucuronosyltransferase.[2] In addition, apalutamide is an inducer of P-glycoprotein, ABCG2, and OATP1B1.[2]
Apalutamide binds weakly to and inhibits the GABAA receptor in vitro similarly to enzalutamide (IC50 = 3.0 and 2.7 μM, respectively),[28] but due to its relatively lower central concentrations, may have a lower risk of seizures in comparison.[21][14][16]
Apalutamide has been found to significantly and concentration-dependently increase QT interval.[2]
The mean absolute oral bioavailability of apalutamide is 100%.[2] Mean peak levels of apalutamide occur 2 hours following administration, with a range of 1 to 5 hours.[2] Food delays the median time to peak levels of apalutamide by approximately 2 hours, with no significant changes in the peak levels themselves or in area-under-curve levels.[2] Steady-state levels of apalutamide are achieved following 4 weeks of administration, with an approximate 5-fold accumulation.[2] Peak concentrations for 160 mg/day apalutamide at steady-state are 6.0 μg/mL (12.5 μmol/L),[2] relative to peak levels of 16.6 μg/mL (35.7 μmol/L) for 160 mg/day enzalutamide and mean (R)-bicalutamide levels of 21.6 μg/mL (50.2 μmol/L) for 150 mg/day bicalutamide.[29][30] The mean volume of distribution of apalutamide at steady-state is approximately 276 L.[2] The plasma protein binding of apalutamide is 96%, while that of its major metabolite N-desmethylapalutamide is 95%, both irrespective of concentration.[2]
Apalutamide is metabolized in the liver by CYP2C8 and CYP3A4.[2] A major active metabolite, N-desmethylapalutamide, is formed by these enzymes, with similar contribution of each of these enzymes to its formation at steady-state.[2] Following a single oral dose of 200 mg apalutamide, apalutamide represented 45% and N-desmethylapalutamide 44% of total area-under-curve levels.[2] The mean elimination half-life of apalutamide at steady-state is 3 to 4 days.[2][5] Fluctuations in apalutamide exposure are low and levels are stable throughout the day, with mean peak-to-trough ratios of 1.63 for apalutamide and 1.27–1.3 for N-desmethylapalutamide.[2] After a single dose of apalutamide, its clearance rate (CL/F) was 1.3 L/h, while its clearance rate increased to 2.0 L/h at steady-state.[17] This change is considered to be likely due to CYP3A4 auto-induction.[17] Approximately 65% of apalutamide is excreted in urine (1.2% as unchanged apalutamide and 2.7% as N-desmethylapalutamide) while 24% is excreted in feces (1.5% as unchanged apalutmaide and 2% as N-desmethylapalutamide).[2]
Apalutamide is a structural analogue of enzalutamide and RD-162.[11][31] It is a pyridyl variant of RD-162. Enzalutamide and RD-162 were derived from the nonsteroidal androgen RU-59063, which itself was derived from the first-generation NSAA nilutamide and by extension from flutamide.[32]
Apalutamide
Apalutamide was originated by the University of California system and was developed primarily by Janssen Research & Development, a division of Johnson & Johnson.[33] It was first described in the literature in a United States patent application that was published in November 2007 and in another that was submitted in July 2010.[6][34] A March 2012 publication described the discovery and development of apalutamide.[21] A phase I clinical trial of apalutamide was completed by March 2012, and the results of this study were published in 2013.[21][35] Information on phase III clinical studies, including ATLAS, SPARTAN, and TITAN, was published between 2014 and 2016.[36][37][38] Positive results for phase III trials were first described in 2017, and Janssen submitted a New Drug Application for apalutamide to the United States Food and Drug Administration on 11 October 2017.[39] Apalutamide was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States, under the brand name Erleada, for the treatment of NM-CRPC on 14 February 2018.[40][18] It was subsequently approved in Canada, the European Union, and Australia.[41][4] It was the first medication to be approved specifically for the treatment of NM-CRPC.[2][17][18]
Apalutamide is the generic name of the drug and its INN.[42][41] It is also known by its developmental code names ARN-509 and JNJ-56021927.[33][17]
Apalutamide is marketed under the brand names Erleada and Erlyand.[2][40][18][41]
Apalutamide is available in the United States, Canada, the European Union, and Australia.[2][40][18][41][4]
ARN-509 is related structurally to enzalutamide with greater in vivo activity in CRPC xenograft models (Clegg et al., 2012).
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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