Pharmacokinetic and metabolomic studies with a BIO 300 Oral Powder formulation in nonhuman primates

BIO 300, a nanosuspension of genistein, is a radiation countermeasure being developed to treat hematopoietic acute radiation syndrome (H-ARS) and the delayed effects of acute radiation exposure (DEARE). Several studies have affirmed its safety and efficacy in alleviating the damaging effects of ionizing radiation. However, dose optimization of any drug has always been an important area of research because unnecessarily high drug doses may result in serious complications. In this study, we assessed the pharmacokinetics (PK) and metabolic profiles of two different doses of BIO 300 Oral Powder (100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) when administered orally to nonhuman primates (NHPs). While the T max values of both doses remained the same, the area under the curve at 48 h (AUC 0−48 ) was tripled by doubling the dose. Additionally, we monitored serum samples for global metabolomic/lipidomic changes using high resolution mass spectrometry followed by functional pathway analysis prior to and at various time points up to 48 h post drug administration. Interestingly, the metabolomic profiles of sera from NHPs that received the lower dose demonstrated a transient perturbation in numerous metabolites between the 4 and 12 h time points. Eventually, the metabolite abundance reverted to near-normal by 48 h. These study results are consistent with our previous studies focused on the PK and metabolomic analysis for parenteral and oral suspension formulations of BIO 300. This study affirms that administration of a single dose of up to 200 mg/kg of BIO 300 Oral Powder conferred no metabolomic-mediated safety features, suggesting the drug can be safely used to combat radiation injury.