Expansion of a Pharmacokinetic Model for Diazepam to Characterize Real-World IV and Oral Data in Children With and Without Obesity

Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, April 2025

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McCann SM, Wen J, Balevic SJ, Muller WJ, Al-Uzri A, Hornik CD, Meyer ML, Anderson SG, Payne EH, Turdalieva S, Chamberlain JM, Gonzalez D; Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act Pediatric Trials Network Steering Committee.

Diazepam is a benzodiazepine approved for use in adults and children. The label incorporates recommended dosing for status epilepticus in children. Published population pharmacokinetic (PK) modeling recommends an intravenous bolus dose of 0.2 mg/kg capped at 8 mg to reach the suggested target exposure of 200-600 ng/mL at 10 min post dose in children up to 17 years of age. This model was developed for children generally without obesity based on IV data, and it is unclear how increased body weight may affect exposure or target attainment given capped dosing.

Population Pharmacokinetics and Exploratory Exposure-Response Relationships of Diazepam in Children Treated for Status Epilepticus

CPT Pharmacometrics & Systems Pharmacology • November 2018

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Ku LC, Hornik CP, Beechinor RJ, Chamberlain JM, Guptill JT, Harper B, Capparelli EV, Martz K, Anand R, Cohen-Wolkowiez M, Gonzalez D; Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act – Pediatric Trials Network Steering Committee.

Diazepam is labeled for status epilepticus (SE) in children, but there are limited data characterizing its disposition in pediatric patients. We developed a population pharmacokinetic (PK) model of i.v. diazepam in children with SE. We evaluated relationships between PK parameters and both safety and efficacy, and simulated exposures using dosing regimens from the product label and clinical practice.