Metabolite characterization of a novel sedative drug, remimazolam in human plasma and urine using ultra high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with synapt high-definition mass spectrometry

Remimazolam is a new chemical entity belonging to the benzodiazepine class of sedative drugs, which shows faster-acting onset and recovery than currently available short-acting sedatives. In the present study, ultra high performance liquid chromatography with synapt high-definition mass spectrometry method combined with MassLynx software was established to characterize metabolites of remimazolam in human plasma and urine. In total, 5 human metabolites were detected, including 3 phase I and 2 phase II metabolites. There was no novel human metabolite detected compared to that in rat. Hydrolysis, glucuronidation and oxidation were the major metabolic reactions. To our knowledge, this is the first report of the human metabolic profile of remimazolam.