FDA Posts First Quarterly Report Of Potential Safety Issues On Drugs.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it has posted on its Web site its first quarterly report that lists certain drugs that are being evaluated for potential safety issues. The drugs have been identified based on a review of reports in FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System (AERS).

The information is being provided under provisions of the Food and Drug Administration Amendments Act, signed into law Sept. 27, 2007. The law requires that FDA inform the public each quarter of new safety information or potential signals of serious risk, based on the agency's review of adverse event reports contained in AERS.

The appearance of a drug on this list does not mean that FDA has concluded that the drug has the listed risk, or that FDA has identified a causal relationship between the drug and the listed risk. It is on the list only because FDA has identified a potential safety issue.

"My message to patients is this: Don't stop taking your medicine. If your doctor has prescribed a drug that appears on this list, you should continue taking it unless your doctor advises you differently," said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.

Drugs that appear on the agency's new AERS-based table, titled "Potential Signals of Serious Risks/New Safety Information," are identified by FDA reviewers based on reports from the FDA's AERS database, which contains millions of reports of adverse events submitted to FDA by drug manufacturers, health care professionals and patients. For a drug to appear on this report, an FDA reviewer will have determined there is a reason to examine a drug more closely based on either the seriousness or number of AERS reports associated with the drug. The drugs for which issues have been identified are under evaluation for the listed potential risk.

This first quarterly report, posted to FDA's Web site today, lists 20 drugs along with the potential safety issue associated with each drug. Each quarter, a new report will be posted to FDA's Web site listing additional drugs for which new safety information or potential signals of serious risks have been identified through AERS. The quarterly reports will not be cumulative; they will list only drugs for which new safety information or potential signals of serious risks have been identified through AERS during the previous quarter.

A new quarterly report listing additional drugs for which new safety information or potential signals of serious risks have been identified through AERS will be posted to the FDA's Web site every three months.

"Over the past two years, FDA has become much more proactive in our communication about possible safety problems," Woodcock said. "Patients and health care professionals have told us that they want to be informed about possible safety problems sooner. They want to know when FDA is in the early stages of looking into a potential safety problem. Congress took note of this when it directed us to post this quarterly report of potential safety issues."

Related links:

Web posting, "Potential Signals of Serious Risks/New Safety Information"

Tags: FDA, Drug Safety, AERS

FDA's Ongoing Drug Safety Reviews On CellCept, Singulair, And Spiriva Handihaler.

FDA has informed the health care community about ongoing safety reviews of several drugs. FDA is doing this as part of its commitment to inform health care professionals and the public about its ongoing drug safety reviews. Because this information is preliminary and there is scientific uncertainty, FDA is not taking regulatory action at this point, and is not advising health care professionals to stop using the drugs. FDA is continuing to evaluate the safety of these products, and will issue updates as more information becomes available.

• CellCept (mycophenolate mofetil) and Myfortic (mycophenolic acid)

One of the ongoing safety reviews concerns two drugs used to prevent organ rejection, CellCept (mycophenolate mofetil) and Myfortic (mycophenolic acid). CellCept is approved to prevent heart, liver and kidney transplant rejection. Myfortic is approved to prevent kidney transplant rejection.

This safety review focuses on a potential association between these drugs and a rare, life-threatening CNS disorder called or progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). PML occurs when a latent polyoma virus called the JC virus is activated and attacks the myelin sheath surrounding nerve cells. Most adults carry the virus, which becomes activated mainly in immuno-compromised patients. Symptoms of PML include vision changes, apathy, memory loss or confusion, ataxia and muscular weakness.

FDA is reviewing data on the possible association between CellCept and PML. Roche, the manufacturer of CellCept, and Novartis, the manufacturer of Myfortic, have proposed changes in the labeling of these drugs to include information on PML.

Until FDA has more information, healthcare professionals should be alert to the localized neurologic signs and symptoms that could signal PML in patients taking CellCept and Myfortic. They should also consider reducing the amount of immuno-suppression if a patient develops PML.

• Singulair (montelukast)

In another communication, FDA is informing healthcare professionals about a possible association between the use of Singulair and behavior and mood changes, suicidality and suicide. Singulair (montelukast) is used to treat asthma and allergic rhinitis, and to prevent exercise-induced asthma.

Singulair's manufacturer, Merck & Co., has updated the adverse events information in the drug's labeling several times over the past year. Those adverse events include tremor, depression, suicidality and anxiety. Merck plans to highlight these changes to prescribers, and to provide patient information leaflets on the drug.

FDA is reviewing reports of behavior and mood changes, suicidality and suicide in patients on Singulair, and has asked Merck to review its own clinical trial data for more information about suicide and suicidality. FDA will let clinicians and patients know about the results of these evaluations as soon as they're complete. In the meantime, patients on Singulair should be monitored for suicidality and changes in mood or behavior, and they should be instructed not to discontinue the drug without medical advice.

FDA is also reviewing reports of mood and behavioral changes in other asthma drugs, including Accolate (zafirlukast) and Zyflo (zileuton), and will decide whether further investigation is needed.
FDA's Ongoing Drug Safety Issues On CellCept, Singulair, And Spiriva Handihaler.
• Spiriva Handihaler (tiotropium)

In another communication, FDA informed health professionals of a possible increase in the risk of stroke among patients using the Spiriva Handihaler. This product, which contains tiotropium bromide, is used to treat bronchospasm associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim, conducted a pooled analysis of 29 studies of two tiotropium products, including the Spiriva Handihaler. In this analysis, patients using Spiriva experienced a stroke risk of 8/1000 per year compared with 6/1000 per year for those using a placebo. Pooled analyses like this one have inherent limitations, and so these results must be confirmed by further investigation using other data sources.

FDA has asked for more information from Boehringer Ingelheim, and is also reviewing adverse event reports for this product. The company has conducted a large, four-year study of the Spiriva Handihaler which should provide more information on the potential risks of this product. Results are expected soon. At that point, FDA will analyze all of the data and report its results to health professionals and the public. In the meantime, patients should not stop using the Spiriva Handihaler without talking to their doctors.

Again, these communications are preliminary information, and they're in keeping with FDA's commitment to inform the public about its ongoing drug safety reviews. FDA urges healthcare professionals and patients to report adverse reactions from any of the products discussed here through FDA's Medwatch program at 1-800-FDA-1088 or at the link below.

FDA MedWatch Page. Voluntary Reporting by Health Professionals.
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/report/hcp.htm

Tags: Spiriva Handihaler, CellCept, Myfortic, mycophenolate mofetil, Singulair, montelukast, mood changes, suicidality, Accolate, FDA Action, Drug Safety, zafirlukast, Zyflo, zileuton, Spiriva Handihaler, tiotropium

Collaborative effort by FDA and EMEA expected to yield additional safety data For Drug Safety

FDA, European Medicines Agency to Consider Additional Test Results When Assessing New Drug Safety
Collaborative effort by FDA and EMEA expected to yield additional safety data

In the first use of a framework allowing submission of a single application to the two agencies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the European Medicines Agency (EMEA) worked together to allow drug companies to submit the results of seven new tests that evaluate kidney damage during animal studies of new drugs. The tests measure the levels of seven key proteins or "biomarkers" found in urine that can provide additional information about drug-induced damage to kidney cells, also known as renal toxicity.

The new biomarkers are KIM-1, Albumin, Total Protein, β2-microglobulin, Cystatin C, Clusterin, and Trefoil Factor-3. For decades, both FDA and EMEA have required drug companies to submit the results of two blood tests, called blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and serum creatinine, to evaluate renal toxicity. In addition to those tests, the FDA and EMEA will now consider results from the seven new tests as part of their respective drug review processes. Although a decision by the sponsor to collect information using the new tests is voluntary, if collected, it must be submitted to FDA.

"The development of these and other biomarkers can result in important tools for better understanding the safety profile of new drugs," said Janet Woodcock, M.D., director of FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. "We hope these biomarkers will lead to human tests that detect drug-induced kidney injury in people earlier than is now possible, and help health care professionals better manage potential kidney damage from drugs."

Woodcock added that such human tests could one day open the door to the approval of more powerful drugs, especially for diseases where renal toxicity currently prevents promising experimental drugs from being approved. With more sensitive tests for renal toxicity, FDA could approve such drugs because health care professionals could closely monitor patients and halt the drug if early signs of renal toxicity appear.

Development of the new biomarkers was led by the Predictive Safety Testing Consortium (PSTC), whose members include scientists from 16 pharmaceutical companies. The PSTC was organized and led by the Critical Path Institute, a nonprofit organization that works to support FDA research collaborations that improve the development of medical products.

Researchers from Merck & Co., Whitehouse Station, N.J., and Novartis AG, Basel, Switzerland, identified the new biomarkers, tested them to prove their accuracy and usefulness, and then shared their findings with the other consortium members for further study. The consortium then submitted applications for use of the biomarkers to FDA and EMEA.

The project is the first in which a group of drug companies has worked together to propose and qualify new safety tests and then present them jointly to the FDA and EMEA for consideration. The FDA and EMEA laid the groundwork for these specific joint-agency biomarker reviews in 2004 when they developed a framework called the Voluntary Exploratory Data Submission review process.

The new process allowed the PSTC to submit a single biomarker data application to both regulatory agencies, and then to meet jointly with scientists from both agencies to discuss it in detail and to address additional scientific questions posed by the regulators. Each regulatory agency then reviewed the application separately and made independent decisions on use of the new biomarkers.

FDA scientists believe that the seven new tests may provide important advantages over the BUN and creatinine tests. For example, in experiments using rats, the two traditional tests can only detect kidney damage a week after it has begun to occur. The new tests, however, are more sensitive and can detect cellular damage within hours. And while BUN and serum creatinine show that damage has occurred somewhere in the kidneys, the new tests can pinpoint which parts of the kidney have been affected.

The seven new tests were developed and will be carried out initially in rats. These tests were selected because other studies have shown that identical biomarkers are produced in human kidney cells. While the FDA and EMEA will consider these biomarkers in rat studies initially, the PSTC has begun work to further qualify the biomarkers for use in human studies. If successful, the PSTC will present a new biomarker data application to the two agencies to seek acceptance of the human biomarkers.

Link to the Predictive Safety Testing Consortium:
http://c-path.org/PredictiveSafetyTestingConsortium/tabid/219/Default.aspx

Tags: FDA Announcement, Drug Safety, EMEA, European Medicines Agency, biomarkers, KIM-1, Albumin, Total Protein, β2-microglobulin, Cystatin C, Clusterin, Trefoil Factor-3

New Labeling Changes for Regranex Gel 0.01% (becaplermin)

FDA Announces New Labeling Changes for Regranex
Product to carry boxed warning

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the addition of a boxed warning to the label of Regranex Gel 0.01% (becaplermin) to address the increased risk of cancer mortality in patients who use 3 or more tubes of the product. Regranex is a topical cream indicated for the treatment of leg and foot ulcers that are not healing in diabetic patients.

The WARNINGS section of the product has been updated to include a BOXED WARNING and a description of the epidemiologic data that is the basis for the revised label. These data come from a retrospective study that compared cancer incidence and cancer mortality among 1,622 patients exposed to Regranex to 2,809 otherwise similar patients who were not exposed. The results were consistent with no overall increase in cancer incidence among the patients exposed to Regranex. However, there was a five-fold increased risk of cancer mortality in the group exposed to three or more tubes of Regranex.

"In announcing this label change, FDA still cautions health care professionals to carefully weigh the risks and benefits of treating patients with Regranex," said Susan Walker, M.D., director of the Division of Dermatological and Dental Products. "Regranex is not recommended for patients with known malignancies."

In late March FDA issued an Ongoing Safety Review Communication on Regranex notifying the public that it was conducting a safety review. This follow-up communication is in keeping with FDA’s commitment to notify the public of any regulatory changes with this FDA approved product.

Regranex is a medicine that is a recombinant form of human platelet-derived growth factor which is applied directly to diabetic foot and leg ulcers that are not healing. The recombinant form of platelet growth factor has a biologic activity that is much like that produced naturally by the body. Growth factors cause cells to divide more rapidly. It is for this reason that the manufacturer continued to monitor studies begun before Regranex was approved in December 1997 for any evidence of adverse effects such as increased numbers of cancers. In a long term safety study completed in 2001, there were more deaths from cancer in people who used Regranex than in those who did not use it.

Following the report of the study completed in 2001, an additional study was performed using a health insurance database that covered the period from January, 1998 through June, 2003. This study used the database to identify two groups of patients with similar diagnoses, drug use, and use of health services, one of which used Regranex and one group that did not. The results of this study showed that deaths from cancer were higher for patients who were given three or more prescriptions for treatment with Regranex than those who were not treated with Regranex. No single type of cancer was identified, but rather deaths from all types of cancer, combined were observed.

To read about Regranex and FDA's follow-up communication go to:

Becaplermin (marketed as Regranex) Information

Update of Safety Review: Follow-up to the March 27, 2008, Communication about the Ongoing Safety Review of Regranex (becaplermin)

Tags: FDA Alert, Drug Safety, Labeling Changes for Regranex, becaplermin

Severe Bone, Joint, or Muscle Pain With Osteoporosis Drugs

FDA is alerting healthcare professionals that severe bone, joint, or muscle pain can occur in patients taking bisphosphonate drugs such as Fosamax (alendronate sodium), Actonel (risedronate sodium), Reclast (zoledronic acid) and Boniva (ibandronate sodium). These drugs are used to treat osteoporosis and certain other diseases.

This severe, sometimes incapacitating musculoskeletal pain has occurred within days, months, or even years after starting bisphosphonates. In the most serious cases, the pain was so severe that patients could not continue their normal activities. Some patients have complete relief of symptoms after they stop taking the drug, while others have reported slow or incomplete resolution.

Note that these events are different from the acute phase response some patients experience after the first treatment with IV bisphosphonates, and occasionally after the first dose of oral bisphosphonates.

Although severe musculoskeletal pain is described in the labeling for all bisphosphonates, this association may be overlooked by practitioners because they may assume that the patient's pain can be attributed to osteoporosis itself.

Practitioners should consider whether musculoskeletal pain in patients on bisphosphonates might be caused by the drug, and consider discontinuing it either temporarily or permanently.

Additional Information:

FDA MedWatch Safety Alert. Bisphosphonates (marketed as Actonel, Actonel+Ca, Aredia, Boniva, Didronel, Fosamax, Fosamax+D, Reclast, Skelid, and Zometa). January 7, 2007.
http://www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety/2008/safety08.htm#Bisphosphonates
http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/bisphosphonates/default.htm

tag: FDA Advisory, Drug Safety, musculoskeletal pain, Bisphosphonates, Actonel, Actonel+Ca, Aredia, Boniva, Didronel, Fosamax, Fosamax+D, Reclast, Skelid, Zometa,