Toxico-Kinetics of Recombinant VWF In Non-Human Primates and Rabbits

Abstract 1414

Von Willebrand factor (VWF) is cleaved by the plasma metalloprotease ADAMTS13 that regulates the hemostatic activity of VWF by limiting its multimeric size in the human system. We showed previously by in vitro and ex vivo studies that human recombinant VWF (rVWF) is virtually resistant to the proteolytic activity of murine and rat ADAMTS13, whereas ADAMTS13 from rabbits and cynomolgus monkeys is able to cleave human rVWF.

Here we tested the pharmacological behavior of human rVWF in rabbits and cynomolgus monkeys. The animals were infused once with different doses of human rVWF. VWF antigen rose sharply in a dose-dependent manner (∼25 IU/ml VWF:Ag for the highest dose, 15 min after injection) and then declined gradually (∼7 IU/ml VWF:Ag for the highest dose, 18 hours after injection). By contrast, the ADAMTS13 activity did not show relevant changes throughout the entire test period in the rabbit or in the monkey samples, indicating that an excess of intravenously administered rVWF as the substrate does not exhaust its enzyme ADAMTS13. Most importantly, neither rabbits nor cynomolgus monkeys showed any exaggerated pharmacological or toxic effects upon rVWF administration. Even the administration of 14 daily doses of rVWF to cynomolgus monkeys did not lead to any toxicological effect.

Our data indicate that rabbits and cynomolgus monkeys, two species with a sufficient rVWF cleavage capacity by endogenous ADAMTS13, are appropriate animal models for a meaningful preclinical evaluation of the rVWF product, which allows the therapeutic safety margins for human patients to be determined.