Oral antidiabetic drugs: effect of food on absorption of pioglitazone and metformin from a fixed-dose combination tablet

An open-label, randomized, crossover study involving 28 healthy subjects was conducted to compare the peak (Cmax) and total (AUC(lqc), AUC(infinity)) exposures to pioglitazone and metformin after single-dose administration of a fixed-dose combination tablet containing 15 mg of pioglitazone plus 850 mg metformin when given under fasted versus fed states, with a washout period of 7 days between treatments. Two different fixed-dose combination formulations (bilayer and pioglitazone-micronized fixed-dose combination tablets) were tested. The pioglitazone-micronized fixed-dose combination formulation was selected for clinical development and regulatory approval; the present study describes food effect results with this formulation. For pioglitazone, least squares mean ratios (fed/fasted) and the 90% confidence intervals of these ratios were 1.05 (0.93-1.18) for Cmax, 1.13 (1.02-1.25) for AUC(lqc), and 1.11 (1.01-1.22) for AUC(infinity). For metformin, these values were 0.72 (0.65-0.79) for Cmax, 0.87 (0.81-0.94) for AUC(lqc), and 0.87 (0.81-0.94) for AUC(infinity). Dosing with food resulted in median prolongation of tmax values by 1.5 hours for metformin and 2.0 hours for pioglitazone. Because bioequivalency criteria were met (fed/fasted 90% confidence interval between 0.80 and 1.25) for both pioglitazone and metformin AUC, fixed-dose combination tablets can be taken with or without food, but to minimize gastrointestinal adverse effects of metformin, the fixed-dose combination tablets are recommended to be taken with food.