Population Pharmacokinetics of Elagolix in Healthy Women and Women with Endometriosis

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AI-generated summary by claude@2026-06+body, 2026-06-17

A population pharmacokinetic model of elagolix was developed in women with and without endometriosis, finding that OATP1B1 genotype had a statistically, but not clinically, significant effect on elagolix clearance.

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AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-07 · read from full text

This study developed a population pharmacokinetic model for elagolix using pooled data from nine clinical studies totaling 1624 premenopausal women, including healthy volunteers (phase I) and women with endometriosis (phase III). Using nonlinear mixed-effects modeling, the authors found elagolix pharmacokinetics were best described by a two-compartment model with a lag time in absorption, and they tested 15 covariates for effects on apparent clearance and/or distribution volumes. Only OATP1B1 genotype status showed a statistically significant effect on elagolix CL/F, which the authors judged as not clinically meaningful, and pharmacokinetic parameters were similar between healthy women and women with endometriosis. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it characterizes elagolix population pharmacokinetics in women with endometriosis compared with healthy women.

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Abstract

IntroductionElagolix is a novel, orally active, non-peptide, competitive gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor antagonist in development for the management of endometriosis with associated pain and heavy menstrual bleeding due to uterine fibroids. The pharmacokinetics of elagolix have been well-characterized in phase I studies; however, elagolix population pharmacokinetics have not been previously reported. Therefore, a robust model was developed to describe elagolix population pharmacokinetics and to evaluate factors affecting elagolix pharmacokinetic parameters.MethodsThe data from nine clinical studies (a total of 1624 women) were included in the analysis: five phase I studies in healthy, premenopausal women and four phase III studies in premenopausal women with endometriosis.ResultsElagolix population pharmacokinetics were best described by a two-compartment model with a lag time in absorption. Of the 15 covariates tested for effect on elagolix apparent clearance (CL/F) and/or volume of distribution only one covariate, organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) 1B1 genotype status, had a statistically significant, but not clinically meaningful, effect on elagolix CL/F.ConclusionElagolix pharmacokinetics were not affected by patient demographics and were similar between healthy women and women with endometriosis. Clinical Trial Registration Numbers NCT01403038, NCT01620528, NCT01760954, NCT01931670, NCT02143713.
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Abstract

Introduction Elagolix is a novel, orally active, non-peptide, competitive gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) receptor antagonist in development for the management of endometriosis with associated pain and heavy menstrual bleeding due to uterine fibroids. The pharmacokinetics of elagolix have been well-characterized in phase I studies; however, elagolix population pharmacokinetics have not been previously reported. Therefore, a robust model was developed to describe elagolix population pharmacokinetics and to evaluate factors affecting elagolix pharmacokinetic parameters.

Methods

The data from nine clinical studies (a total of 1624 women) were included in the analysis: five phase I studies in healthy, premenopausal women and four phase III studies in premenopausal women with endometriosis.

Results

Elagolix population pharmacokinetics were best described by a two-compartment model with a lag time in absorption. Of the 15 covariates tested for effect on elagolix apparent clearance (CL/F) and/or volume of distribution only one covariate, organic anion transporting polypeptide (OATP) 1B1 genotype status, had a statistically significant, but not clinically meaningful, effect on elagolix CL/F.

Conclusion

Elagolix pharmacokinetics were not affected by patient demographics and were similar between healthy women and women with endometriosis. Clinical Trial Registration Numbers NCT01403038, NCT01620528, NCT01760954, NCT01931670, NCT02143713. Similar content being viewed by others

References

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Acknowledgements

We thank AbbVie employee Sonja Kemmis Causemaker for medical writing support for this manuscript. We also thank AbbVie employee Xiaohua Du for dataset programming efforts. Author information Authors and Affiliations Contributions All authors contributed to the study design and analysis and interpretation of the data. All authors participated in the drafting and revising of the manuscript. Corresponding author Ethics declarations Funding AbbVie provided financial support for the study and participated in the design, study conduct, analysis, and interpretation of data as well as the writing, review, and approval of the manuscript. Conflict of interest Insa Winzenborg, Ahmed Nader, Akshanth R. Polepally, Mohan Liu, Jacob Degner, Cheri E. Klein, Nael M. Mostafa, Peter Noertersheuser, and Juki Ng are employees of AbbVie, Inc. and may hold stock or stock options. Electronic supplementary material Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material. Rights and permissions About this article Cite this article Winzenborg, I., Nader, A., Polepally, A.R. et al. Population Pharmacokinetics of Elagolix in Healthy Women and Women with Endometriosis. Clin Pharmacokinet 57, 1295–1306 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40262-018-0629-6 Published: Version of record: Issue date: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40262-018-0629-6

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Condition tags

endometriosis

MeSH descriptors

Endometriosis Hydrocarbons, Fluorinated Models, Biological Premenopause Pyrimidines Adult Clinical Trials, Phase I as Topic Clinical Trials, Phase III as Topic Endometriosis Endometriosis Female Genotype Humans Hydrocarbons, Fluorinated Inactivation, Metabolic Liver-Specific Organic Anion Transporter 1 Liver-Specific Organic Anion Transporter 1 Premenopause Pyrimidines Receptors, LHRH

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