Pharmacokinetics and Safety of Single Oral Doses of Emtricitabine in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Children

Abstract
Emtricitabine (FTC; Emtriva), a potent deoxycytidine nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, has recently been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. In adults, FTC has demonstrated linear kinetics over a wide dose range, and FTC 200 mg once a day (QD) is the recommended therapeutic dose. A phase I open-label trial was conducted in children to identify an FTC dosing regimen that would provide comparable plasma exposure to that observed in adults at 200 mg QD. Two single oral doses of FTC (60 and 120 mg/m 2 , up to a maximum of 200 mg, in solutions) were evaluated in HIV-infected children aged 2 in capsules. A total of 25 children (two 2 dose, it is projected (based on dose proportionality) that a 6-mg/kg dose (up to a maximum of 200 mg) of FTC would produce plasma AUCs in children comparable to those in adults given a 200-mg dose (i.e., median of ∼10 h·μg/ml). This pediatric FTC dose is being evaluated in long-term phase II therapeutic trials in HIV-infected children.