The effect of food on the high clearance drug asenapine after sublingual administration to healthy male volunteers

Purpose To determine the effects of food on the pharmacokinetics of sublingual asenapine. Methods Healthy male volunteers ( n = 26, age 19–53 years) randomly received a single sublingual dose of asenapine 5 mg after ≥10 h fasting (Treatment A, reference), after a high-fat meal (Treatment B) and after ≥10 h fasting with a high-fat meal at 4 h post-dose (Treatment C). Blood samples were drawn over 72 h to measure asenapine plasma concentrations. Effects of food intake on asenapine pharmacokinetics were assessed using bioequivalence criteria and evaluated using a compartmental modelling analysis. Results Compared with the reference, mean asenapine exposure (AUC 0-last and AUC 0-∞ ) was approximately 20 % lower after intake of a high-fat meal prior to dosing, whereas C max decreased by only about 10 %. When a high-fat meal was taken 4 h post-dose in the fasting state, asenapine concentrations were similar to the reference during the first 4 h post-dose. After the meal intake, asenapine concentrations decreased quickly for several hours. Compartmental modelling indicated that a transient 2.5-fold increase in asenapine clearance after eating could explain the asenapine concentration–time profiles for both food regimens. Conclusions To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the effect of food upon the sublingual administration of a drug. A high-fat meal taken before or 4 h post-dose of sublingual asenapine indirectly caused a transient increase in liver blood flow that resulted in a temporal increase in asenapine clearance. As the effects on asenapine exposure were small and not clinically relevant, no additional restrictions are required for the timing of food intake in relation to asenapine dosing.