Subcutaneous administration of biotherapeutics: In vitro properties and bioavailability and absorption rate in vivo

Research scientist: Anton Norberg, MSc
Principal investigator: Professor Per Hansson, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Uppsala University

Scientific and industrial context. Subcutaneous administration is one of the most important routes of administration for peptide and protein drugs, and its relevance increases in line with the sharp increase in peptide and protein drugs. Today, there is a lack of established in vitro models for studies on drug interactions with the subcutaneous tissue. Instead, the use of animal models has increased despite poor correlation between animal models and humans. Increased understanding of the subcutaneous tissue interactions of peptide and protein drugs will enable new in vitro models and reduce the amount of animal testing.

Aim. To find out how molecular properties of peptide and protein drugs affect their mobility and tendency to aggregate through physicochemical interactions with components of subcutaneous tissue and how these properties affect the rate of absorption and bioavailability of the drug. Another aim is to establish in vitro / in vivo correlation regarding bioavailability and absorption rate of several peptide and protein drugs for later use as parameters in physiologically based pharmacokinetic and biopharmaceutical models.

Outcome. Increased understanding of the behavior of peptide and protein drugs in subcutaneous tissue and the development of new in vitro models to enable prediction of the absorption of subcutaneously administered drugs.