ITI-007 demonstrates brain occupancy at serotonin 5-HT2A and dopamine D2 receptors and serotonin transporters using positron emission tomography in healthy volunteers

Central modulation of serotonin and dopamine underlies efficacy for a variety of psychiatric therapeutics. ITI-007 is an investigational new drug in development for treatment of schizophrenia, mood disorders, and other neuropsychiatric disorders. The purpose of this study was to determine brain occupancy of ITI-007 at serotonin 5-HT2A receptors, dopamine D-2 receptors, and serotonin transporters using positron emission tomography (PET) in 16 healthy volunteers. Carbon-11-MDL100907, carbon-11-raclopride, and carbon-11-3-amino-4-(2-dimethylaminomethyl-phenylsulfanyl)-benzonitrile) (carbon-11-DASB) were used as the radiotracers for imaging 5-HT2A receptors, D-2 receptors, and serotonin transporters, respectively. Brain regions of interest were outlined using magnetic resonance tomography (MRT) with cerebellum as the reference region. Binding potentials were estimated by fitting a simplified reference tissue model to the measured tissue-time activity curves. Target occupancy was expressed as percent change in the binding potentials before and after ITI-007 administration. Oral ITI-007 (10-40 mg) was safe and well tolerated. ITI-007 rapidly entered the brain with long-lasting and dose-related occupancy. ITI-007 (10 mg) demonstrated high occupancy (> 80 %) of cortical 5-HT2A receptors and low occupancy of striatal D-2 receptors (similar to 12 %). D-2 receptor occupancy increased with dose and significantly correlated with plasma concentrations (r (2) = 0.68, p = 0.002). ITI-007 (40 mg) resulted in peak occupancy up to 39 % of striatal D-2 receptors and 33 % of striatal serotonin transporters. The results provide evidence for a central mechanism of action via dopaminergic and serotonergic pathways for ITI-007 in living human brain and valuable information to aid dose selection for future clinical trials.