Clinical Drug-Drug Interaction Evaluations to Inform Drug Use and Enable Drug Access

Abstract

Clinical drug-drug interactions (DDIs) can occur when multiple drugs are taken by the same patient. Significant DDIs can result in clinical toxicity or treatment failure. Therefore, DDI assessment is an integral part of drug development and the benefit-risk assessment of new therapies. Regulatory agencies including the Food and Drug Administration, the European Medicines Agency, and the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Agency of Japan have made recommendations in their DDI guidance documents on various methodologies (in vitro, in silico, and clinical) to assess DDI potential and inform patient management strategies. This commentary focuses on clinical DDI evaluation for the purpose of drug development and regulatory evaluation.

Keywords: cytochrome P450s; drug interaction; inducer; inhibitor; membrane transport/transporters; substrate.