Overview of the clinical pharmacokinetics of eldecalcitol, a new active vitamin D3 derivative

Eldecalcitol, which was developed by Chugai Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. as a treatmentwith the potential of becoming the drug of first choice for osteoporosis, is a new derivative ofactive vitamin D3（1,25（OH）2D3） with a hydroxypropyloxy group introduced at the 2βposition. The clinical development of this product has included a PhaseⅠmultiple dosestudy, early and late Phase Ⅱ studies, a Phase Ⅲ study, a clinical pharmacology study toinvestigate pharmacokinetics in postmenopausal women, a drug interaction study, a bioequivalenceformulation study and a clinical pharmacology study to investigate pharmacokinetics inpatients with impaired liver function. Using data from all these studies, we sought to characterizethe pharmacokinetic profile of eldecalcitol.（Jpn Pharmacol Ther 2011；39：261－74）