Neural Network Models for Predicting Solubility and Metabolism Class of Drugs in the Biopharmaceutics Drug Disposition Classification System (BDDCS).

Background and objective: The biopharmaceutics drug disposition classification system (BDDCS) categorizes drugs into four classes on the basis of their solubility and metabolism. This framework allows for the study of the pharmacokinetics of transporters and enzymatic metabolization on biopharmaceuticals, as well as drug-drug interactions in the body. The objective of the present study was to develop computational models by neural network models and structural parameters and physicochemical properties to estimate the class of a drug in the BDDCS system.

Methods: In this study, deep learning methods were utilized to explore the potential of artificial and convolutional neural networks (ANNs and CNNs) in predicting the BDDCS class of 721 substances. The structural parameters and physicochemical properties [Abraham solvation parameters, octanol-water partition (log P) and over the pH range 1-7.5 (log D), number of rotatable bonds, hydrogen bond acceptor numbers, as well as hydrogen bond donor count] are calculated with various software. These compounds were then split into a training set consisting of 602 molecules and a test set of 119 compounds to validate the models.

Results: The results of this study showed that neural network models using applied parameters of the drug, i.e., log D and Abraham solvation parameters, are able to predict the class of solubility and metabolism in the BDDCS system with good accuracy.

Conclusions: Neural network models are well equipped to deal with the relations between the structural parameters and physicochemical properties of drugs and BDDCS classes. In addition, log D is a more suitable parameter compared with log P in predicting BDDCS.