Concentration‐QTc Modeling of the DPP‐4 Inhibitor HSK7653 in a First‐in‐Human Study of Chinese Healthy Volunteers

Abstract Cofrogliptin (HSK7653) is a long‐acting dipeptidyl peptidase‐4 inhibitor for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus with a twice‐monthly dosing regimen. This study included 62 participants (48 without food effect, 14 with food effect) receiving single doses of HSK7653 (5, 10, 25, 50, 100, and 150 mg) or placebo. Pharmacokinetic samples were collected over 24 hours postdosing and sampling times are aligned with 12‐lead electrocardiograms (ECGs) which were derived from continuous ECG recordings. For the concentration‐QT interval corrected for heart rate (C‐QTc) analysis, we used linear mixed‐effects modeling to characterize the correlation between plasma concentrations of HSK7653 and the change from baseline in the QT interval which was corrected by Fridericia's formula (ΔQTcF). The result showed that a placebo‐corrected Fridericia corrected QT interval (ΔΔQTcF) prolongation higher than 10 milliseconds is unlikely at the mean maximum observed concentration (C max ) (411 ng/mL) associated with the recommended therapeutic doses (25 mg twice‐monthly), even at the highest supratherapeutic concentration (2425 ng/mL). Thus, HSK7653 does not significantly affect QT prolongation at either recommended doses or the highest supratherapeutic concentration.