NUPLAZID Capsule Ref.[10166] Active ingredients: Pimavanserin

5.1 Increased Mortality in Elderly Patients with Dementia-Related Psychosis

Antipsychotic drugs increase the all-cause risk of death in elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis. Analyses of 17 dementia-related psychosis placebo-controlled trials (modal duration of 10 weeks and largely in patients taking atypical antipsychotic drugs) revealed a risk of death in the drug-treated patients of between 1.6- to 1.7-times that in placebo-treated patients. Over the course of a typical 10-week controlled trial, the rate of death in drug-treated patients was about 4.5%, compared to a rate of about 2.6% in placebo-treated patients.

Although the causes of death were varied, most of the deaths appeared to be either cardiovascular (e.g., heart failure, sudden death) or infectious (e.g., pneumonia) in nature. NUPLAZID is not approved for the treatment of patients with dementia-related psychosis unrelated to the hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis [see Boxed Warning].

5.2 QT Interval Prolongation

NUPLAZID prolongs the QT interval. The use of NUPLAZID should be avoided in patients with known QT prolongation or in combination with other drugs known to prolong QT interval including Class 1A antiarrhythmics (e.g., quinidine, procainamide) or Class 3 antiarrhythmics (e.g., amiodarone, sotalol), certain antipsychotic medications (e.g., ziprasidone, chlorpromazine, thioridazine), and certain antibiotics (e.g., gatifloxacin, moxifloxacin) [see Drug Interactions (7.1)]. NUPLAZID should also be avoided in patients with a history of cardiac arrhythmias, as well as other circumstances that may increase the risk of the occurrence of torsade de pointes and/or sudden death, including symptomatic bradycardia, hypokalemia or hypomagnesemia, and the presence of congenital prolongation of the QT interval [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.2)].

The following serious adverse reactions are discussed elsewhere in the labeling:

• Increased Mortality in Elderly Patients with Dementia-Related Psychosis [see Boxed Warning and Warnings and Precautions (5.1)]
• QT Interval Prolongation [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2)]

Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.

The clinical trial database for NUPLAZID consists of over 1200 subjects and patients exposed to one or more doses of NUPLAZID. Of these, 616 were patients with hallucinations and delusions associated with Parkinson’s disease psychosis (PDP). In the placebo-controlled setting, the majority of experience in patients comes from studies evaluating once-daily NUPLAZID doses of 34 mg (N=202) compared to placebo (N=231) for up to 6 weeks. In the controlled trial setting, the study population was approximately 64% male and 91% Caucasian, and the mean age was about 71 years at study entry. Additional clinical trial experience in patients with hallucinations and delusions associated with PDP comes from two open-label, safety extension studies (total N=497). The majority of patients receiving long-term treatment received 34 mg once-daily (N=459). Over 300 patients have been treated for more than 6 months; over 270 have been treated for at least 12 months; and over 150 have been treated for at least 24 months.

The following adverse reactions are based on the 6-week, placebo-controlled studies in which NUPLAZID was administered once daily to patients with hallucinations and delusions associated with PDP.

Common Adverse Reactions (incidence ≥5% and at least twice the rate of placebo): peripheral edema (7% NUPLAZID 34 mg vs. 2% placebo) and confusional state (6% NUPLAZID 34 mg vs. 3% placebo).

Adverse Reactions Leading to Discontinuation of Treatment

A total of 8% (16/202) of NUPLAZID 34 mg-treated patients and 4% (10/231) of placebo-treated patients discontinued because of adverse reactions. The adverse reactions that occurred in more than one patient and with an incidence at least twice that of placebo were hallucination (2% NUPLAZID vs. <1% placebo), urinary tract infection (1% NUPLAZID vs. <1% placebo), and fatigue (1% NUPLAZID vs. 0% placebo).

Adverse reactions that occurred in 6-week, placebo-controlled studies and that were reported at an incidence of ≥2% and >placebo are presented in Table 1.

Table 1. Adverse Reactions in Placebo-Controlled Studies of 6-Week Treatment Duration and Reported in ≥2% and >Placebo:

Adverse Reactions in Demographic Subgroups

Examination of population subgroups in the 6-week, placebo-controlled studies did not reveal any differences in safety on the basis of age (≤75 vs. >75 years) or sex. Because the study population was predominantly Caucasian (91%; consistent with reported demographics for PD/PDP), racial or ethnic differences in the safety profile of NUPLAZID could not be assessed. In addition, in the 6-week, placebo-controlled studies, no clinically relevant differences in the incidence of adverse reactions were observed among those with a Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score at entry of <25 versus those with scores ≥25.

The following adverse reactions have been identified during postapproval use of NUPLAZID. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. These reactions include rash, urticaria, reactions consistent with angioedema (e.g., tongue swelling, circumoral edema, throat tightness, and dyspnea), somnolence, falls, agitation, and aggression.

7.1 Drugs Having Clinically Important Interactions with NUPLAZID

Table 2 Clinically Important Drug Interactions with NUPLAZID:

7.2 Drugs Having No Clinically Important Interactions with NUPLAZID

Based on pharmacokinetic studies, no dosage adjustment of carbidopa/levodopa is required when administered concomitantly with NUPLAZID [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)].

Risk Summary

There are no data on NUPLAZID use in pregnant women that would allow assessment of the drug-associated risk of major congenital malformations or miscarriage. In animal reproduction studies, no adverse developmental effects were seen when pimavanserin was administered orally to rats or rabbits during the period of organogenesis at doses up to 10- or 12-times the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) of 34 mg/day, respectively. Administration of pimavanserin to pregnant rats during pregnancy and lactation resulted in maternal toxicity and lower pup survival and body weight at doses which are 2-times the MRHD of 34 mg/day [see Data].

The estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage for the indicated population is unknown. In the U.S. general population, the estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage in clinically recognized pregnancies is 2-4% and 15-20%, respectively.

Data

Animal Data

Pimavanserin was not teratogenic in pregnant rats when administered during the period of organogenesis at oral doses of 0.9, 8.5, and 51 mg/kg/day, which are 0.2- and 10-times the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) of 34 mg/day based on AUC at mid and high doses, respectively. Maternal toxicity included reduction in body weight and food consumption at the highest dose.

Administration of pimavanserin to pregnant rats during pregnancy and lactation at oral doses of 8.5, 26, and 51 mg/kg/day, which are 0.14- to 14-times the MRHD of 34 mg/day based on AUC, caused maternal toxicity, including mortality, clinical signs including dehydration, hunched posture, and rales, and decreases in body weight, and/or food consumption at doses ≥26 mg/kg/day (2-times the MRHD based on AUC). At these maternally toxic doses there was a decrease in pup survival, reduced litter size, and reduced pup weights, and food consumption. Pimavanserin had no effect on sexual maturation, neurobehavioral function including learning and memory, or reproductive function in the first generation pups up to 14-times the MRHD of 34 mg/day based on AUC.

Pimavanserin was not teratogenic in pregnant rabbits during the period of organogenesis at oral doses of 4.3, 43, and 85 mg/kg/day, which are 0.2- to 12-times the MRHD of 34 mg/day based on AUC. Maternal toxicity, including mortality, clinical signs of dyspnea and rales, decreases in body weight and/or food consumption, and abortions occurred at doses 12-times the MRHD of 34 mg/day based on AUC.

Risk Summary

There is no information regarding the presence of pimavanserin in human milk, the effects on the breastfed infant, or the effects on milk production. The developmental and health benefits of breastfeeding should be considered along with the mother’s clinical need for NUPLAZID and any potential adverse effects on the breastfed infant from NUPLAZID or from the underlying maternal condition.

Safety and effectiveness of NUPLAZID have not been established in pediatric patients.

No dose adjustment is required for elderly patients.

Parkinson’s disease is a disorder occurring primarily in individuals over 55 years of age. The mean age of patients enrolled in the 6-week clinical studies with NUPLAZID [see Adverse Reactions (6.1)] was 71 years, with 49% 65-75 years old and 31% >75 years old. In the pooled population of patients enrolled in 6-week, placebo-controlled studies (N=614), 27% had MMSE scores from 21 to 24 compared to 73% with scores ≥25. No clinically meaningful differences in safety or effectiveness were noted between these two groups.

No dosage adjustment for NUPLAZID is needed in patients with mild to severe renal impairment or end stage renal disease (ESRD); however, increased exposure (C_max and AUC) to NUPLAZID occurred in patients with severe renal impairment (CrCL <30 mL/min, Cockcroft-Gault) in a renal impairment study [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)].

NUPLAZID should be used with caution in patients with severe renal impairment and end stage renal disease.

In a renal impairment study, dialysis did not appear to significantly affect the concentrations of NUPLAZID [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)].

No dosage adjustment for NUPLAZID is recommended in patients with hepatic impairment based on the exposure differences observed in patients with and without hepatic impairment in a hepatic impairment study [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)].

8.8 Other Specific Populations

No dosage adjustment is required based on patient’s age, sex, ethnicity, or weight. These factors do not affect the pharmacokinetics of NUPLAZID [see Clinical Pharmacology (12.3)].

NUPLAZID is not a controlled substance.

NUPLAZID has not been systematically studied in humans for its potential for abuse, tolerance, or physical dependence.

While short-term, placebo-controlled and long-term, open-label clinical trials did not reveal increases in drug-seeking behavior, the limited experience from the clinical trials do not predict the extent to which a CNS-active drug will be misused, diverted, and/or abused once marketed.