EPORATIO Solution for injection Ref.[8883] Active ingredients: Epoetin theta

General

Supplementary iron therapy is recommended for all patients with serum ferritin values below 100 µg/l or with transferrin saturation below 20%. To ensure effective erythropoiesis, iron status has to be evaluated for all patients prior to and during treatment.

Non-response to therapy with epoetin theta should prompt a search for causative factors. Deficiencies of iron, folic acid or vitamin B12 reduce the effectiveness of epoetins and should therefore be corrected. Intercurrent infections, inflammatory or traumatic episodes, occult blood loss, haemolysis, aluminium intoxication, underlying haematological diseases or bone marrow fibrosis may also compromise the erythropoietic response. A reticulocyte count should be considered as part of the evaluation.

Pure red cell aplasia (PRCA)

If typical causes of non-response are excluded, and the patient has a sudden drop in haemoglobin associated with reticulocytopenia, an examination of anti-erythropoietin antibodies and the bone marrow for diagnosis of pure red cell aplasia should be considered. Discontinuation of treatment with epoetin theta should be taken into account.

PRCA caused by neutralising anti-erythropoietin antibodies has been reported in association with erythropoietin therapy, including with epoetin theta. These antibodies have been shown to cross-react with all epoetins, and patients suspected or confirmed to have neutralising antibodies to erythropoietin should not be switched to epoetin theta (see section 4.8).

In order to improve the traceability of epoetins, the name of the administered epoetin should be clearly recorded in the patient file.

A paradoxical decrease in haemoglobin and development of severe anaemia associated with low reticulocyte counts should prompt to discontinue treatment with epoetin and perform anti-erythropoietin antibody testing. Cases have been reported in patients with hepatitis C treated with interferon and ribavirin, when epoetins are used concomitantly. Epoetins are not approved in the management of anaemia associated with hepatitis C.

Hypertension

Patients on epoetin theta therapy can experience an increase in blood pressure or aggravation of existing hypertension particularly during the initial treatment phase.

Therefore, in patients treated with epoetin theta, special care should be taken to monitor closely and control blood pressure. Blood pressure should be controlled adequately before initiation and during therapy to avoid acute complications, such as hypertensive crisis with encephalopathy-like symptoms (e.g. headaches, confused state, speech disturbances, impaired gait) and related complications (seizures, stroke), which may also occur in individual patients with otherwise normal or low blood pressure. If these reactions occur, they require the immediate attention of a physician and intensive medical care. Particular attention should be paid to sudden sharp migraine-like headaches as a possible warning signal.

Increases in blood pressure may require treatment with antihypertensive medicinal products or a dose increase of existing antihypertensive medicinal products. In addition, a reduction of the administered dose of epoetin theta needs to be considered. If blood pressure values remain high, temporary interruption of epoetin theta therapy may be required. Once hypertension has been controlled with more intensified therapy, epoetin theta therapy should be re-started at a reduced dose.

Misuse

Misuse of epoetin theta by healthy persons may lead to an excessive increase in haemoglobin and haematocrit. This may be associated with life-threatening cardiovascular complications.

Severe cutaneous adverse reactions

Severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), which can be life-threatening or fatal, have been reported in association with epoetin treatment. More severe cases have been observed with long-acting epoetins.

At the time of prescription, patients should be advised of the signs and symptoms and monitored closely for skin reactions. If signs and symptoms suggestive of these reactions appear, epoetin theta should be withdrawn immediately and an alternative treatment considered.

If the patient has developed a severe cutaneous skin reaction such as SJS or TEN due to the use of epoetin theta, treatment with epoetin theta must not be restarted in this patient at any time.

Special populations

Due to limited experience, the efficacy and safety of epoetin theta could not be assessed in patients with impaired liver function or homozygous sickle cell anaemia.

In clinical trials, patients over 75 years of age had a higher incidence of serious and severe adverse events irrespective of a causal relationship to treatment with epoetin theta. Furthermore, deaths were more frequent in this patient group compared to younger patients.

Laboratory monitoring

It is recommended that haemoglobin measurement, a complete blood count and platelet count be performed regularly.

Symptomatic anaemia associated with chronic renal failure

The use of epoetin theta in nephrosclerotic patients not yet undergoing dialysis should be defined individually, as a possible accelerated progression of renal failure cannot be ruled out with certainty.

During haemodialysis, patients treated with epoetin theta may require increased anticoagulation treatment to prevent clotting of the arterio-venous shunt.

In patients with chronic renal failure, the maintenance haemoglobin concentration should not exceed the upper limit of the target haemoglobin concentration recommended in section 4.2. In clinical trials, an increased risk of death and serious cardiovascular events was observed when epoetins were administered to target a haemoglobin level in excess of 12 g/dl (7.45 mmol/l). Controlled clinical trials have not shown significant benefits attributable to the administration of epoetins when the haemoglobin concentration is increased beyond the level necessary to control symptoms of anaemia and to avoid blood transfusion.

Caution should be exercised with escalation of epoetin theta doses in patients with chronic renal failure since high cumulative epoetin doses may be associated with an increased risk of mortality, serious cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events. In patients with a poor haemoglobin response to epoetins, alternative explanations for the poor response should be considered (see sections 4.2 and 5.1).

Symptomatic anaemia in cancer patients with non-myeloid malignancies receiving chemotherapy

Effect on tumour growth

Epoetins are growth factors that primarily stimulate red blood cell production. Erythropoietin receptors may be expressed on the surface of a variety of tumour cells. As with all growth factors, there is a concern that epoetins could stimulate the growth of any type of malignancy (see section 5.1).

In several controlled studies, epoetins have not been shown to improve overall survival or decrease the risk of tumour progression in patients with anaemia associated with cancer. In controlled clinical studies, use of epoetins has shown:

• shortened time to tumour progression in patients with advanced head and neck cancer receiving radiation therapy when administered to target a haemoglobin level in excess of 14 g/dl (8.69 mmol/l),
• shortened overall survival and increased deaths attributed to disease progression at 4 months in patients with metastatic breast cancer receiving chemotherapy when administered to target a haemoglobin value of 12-14 g/dl (7.45-8.69 mmol/l),
• increased risk of death when administered to target a haemoglobin value of 12 g/dl (7.45 mmol/l) in patients with active malignant disease receiving neither chemotherapy nor radiation therapy.

Epoetins are not indicated for use in this patient population.

In view of the above, in some clinical situations blood transfusion should be the preferred treatment for the management of anaemia in patients with cancer. The decision to administer recombinant erythropoietins should be based on a benefit-risk assessment with the participation of the individual patient, which should take into account the specific clinical context. Factors that should be considered in this assessment should include the type of tumour and its stage, the degree of anaemia, life-expectancy, the environment in which the patient is being treated, and patient preference (see section 5.1).

Excipients

This medicinal product contains less than 1 mmol sodium (23 mg) per pre-filled syringe, i.e. essentially ‘sodium-free’.

No interaction studies have been performed.

Pregnancy

There are no or limited amount of data (less than 300 pregnancy outcomes) from the use of epoetin theta in pregnant women. Animal studies with other epoetins do not indicate direct harmful effects with respect to reproductive toxicity (see section 5.3). As a precautionary measure, it is preferable to avoid the use of Eporatio during pregnancy.

Breast-feeding

It is unknown whether epoetin theta/metabolites are excreted in human milk, but data in neonates show no absorption or pharmacological activity of erythropoietin when given together with breast milk. A decision must be made whether to discontinue breast-feeding or to discontinue/abstain from Eporatio therapy taking into account the benefit of breast-feeding for the child and the benefit of therapy for the woman.

Fertility

No data are available.

Epoetin theta has no or negligible influence on the ability to drive and use machines.

Summary of the safety profile

Approximately 9% of patients can be expected to experience an adverse reaction. The most frequent adverse reactions are hypertension, influenza-like illness and headache.

Tabulated list of adverse reactions

The safety of epoetin theta has been evaluated based on results from clinical studies including 972 patients.

Adverse reactions listed below in table 1 are classified according to System Organ Class. Frequency groupings are defined according to the following convention: Very common ≥1/10; Common ≥1/100 to <1/10; Uncommon ≥1/1,000 to <1/100; Rare ≥1/10,000 to <1/1,000; Very rare <1/10,000; Not known, cannot be estimated from the available data.

Table 1. Adverse reactions:

^* See subsection “Description of selected adverse reactions” below

Description of selected adverse reactions

In patients with chronic renal failure, neutralising anti-erythropoietin antibody-mediated pure red cell aplasia (PRCA) associated with epoetin theta therapy has been reported in post marketing setting. If PRCA is diagnosed, therapy with epoetin theta must be discontinued and patients should not be switched to another recombinant epoetin (see section 4.4).

One of the most frequent adverse reactions during treatment with epoetin theta is an increase in blood pressure or aggravation of existing hypertension particularly during the initial treatment phase. Hypertension occurs in chronic renal failure patients more often during the correction phase than during the maintenance phase. Hypertension can be treated with appropriate medicinal products (see section 4.4).

Hypertensive crisis with encephalopathy-like symptoms (e.g. headaches, confused state, speech disturbances, impaired gait) and related complications (seizures, stroke) may also occur in individual patients with otherwise normal or low blood pressure (see section 4.4).

Shunt thrombosis may occur, especially in patients who have a tendency to hypotension or whose arterio-venous fistulae exhibit complications (e.g. stenoses, aneurisms) (see section 4.4).

Skin reactions such as rash, pruritus or injection site reactions may occur.

Severe cutaneous adverse reactions (SCARs) including Stevens-Johnson syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN), which can be life-threatening or fatal, have been reported in association with epoetin treatment (see section 4.4).

Symptoms of influenza-like illness such as fever, chills and asthenic conditions have been reported.

Reporting of suspected adverse reactions

Reporting suspected adverse reactions after authorisation of the medicinal product is important. It allows continued monitoring of the benefit/risk balance of the medicinal product. Healthcare professionals are asked to report any suspected adverse reactions via the national reporting system listed in Appendix V.

In the absence of compatibility studies, this medicinal product must not be mixed with other medicinal products.