Pharmacokinetics and bioavailability of a new long-acting insulin analog in healthy Chinese volunteers: an open, randomized, single-dose, two-period and two-sequence cross-over study

Objectives: INS068 is a novel, soluble, and long-acting insulin analog. In this study, we evaluated the pharmacokinetics and relative bioavailability of two formulations of INS068 in healthy Chinese subjects: a reference formulation packaged in vials and administered via syringe (R), and a test formulation packaged and administered via pen injector (T). Methods: A randomized, open-label, two-period, two-sequence crossover study was conducted with 24 healthy Chinese subjects. Subjects were randomized and administered subcutaneously in the abdomen at 0.4 U/kg of test or reference INS068 injection according to an open crossover design. INS068 concentrations in the serum were measured using LC-MS/MS, and the pharmacokinetic parameters of maximum concentration (C max ) and area under the concentration-time curve (AUC 0–t and AUC 0–∞ ) were used to evaluate relative bioavailability. Results: After a single dose at 0.4 U/kg, the median T max of INS068 was 12 h for both formulations, and the mean t 1/2 for T and R was 13.0 h and 12.6 h, respectively. The geometric means of C max and AUC 0–∞ were 3.99 nmol/L and 120 h·nmol/L for the T, and 4.05 nmol/L and 117 h·nmol/L for the R, respectively. The geometric mean ratios of C max , AUC 0–t and AUC 0–∞ of T over R were 98.7% (90% CI: 92.7%–105.2%), 102.6% (90% CI: 100.0%–105.3%) and 102.8% (90% CI: 100.1%–105.5%). Conclusion: The overall PK profile of the two formulations of INS068 injection was comparable in healthy subjects, and the pen injector of INS068 had adequate safety and tolerability, supporting it as a new formulation in a phase III study and bridging PK data from early phase clinical trials. Clinical Trial Registration: clinicaltrials.gov , identifier: NCT05336071