Population pharmacokinetic analysis of transdermal granisetron in healthy Chinese and Caucasian volunteers

Granisetron transdermal patches help prevent chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting, but pharmacokinetic differences between Chinese and Caucasian populations had not previously been compared for this delivery system. This study pooled blood concentration data from 112 Caucasian and 24 Chinese healthy subjects following a single patch application, building a population pharmacokinetic model for the Caucasian population with Phoenix NLME and simulating Chinese dosing conditions for comparison. None of five demographic covariates (age, weight, height, BMI, sex) significantly affected pharmacokinetics, and simulated Caucasian concentrations using the Chinese dosing regimen showed no significant differences in AUC or Cmax from observed Chinese data. The findings indicate no dose adjustment is needed when applying the granisetron transdermal system to the Chinese population relative to Caucasian patients.