Tritiated MK-8617 exhibits minimal metabolic turnover in liver microsomes from rat, dog, and monkey (<10% turover) but significant turnover in human liver microsomes (34% turnover) after 60 min (10 μM MK-8617, 1 mg/mL microsomal protein). In terms of its pharmacokinetic profile, MK-8617 shows good oral bioavailability across species (36 to 71%), with low clearance and volume of distribution. After 48 h treatment of MK-8617, postdose recovery of the radioactivity is about 26% bile, 12% urine, and 38% in feces, indicating that ~38% of the MK-8617 is absorbed and eliminated into bile and urine which is consistent with the oral bioavailability (~36%) observed in the rat study. MK-8617 also elicits an increase in erythropoietin (EPO) levels with a mouse MED of 1.5 mpk when dosed iv.