Degarelix

Degarelix has not been studied in patients with a history of a corrected QT interval over 450 msec, in patients with a history of or risk factors for torsades de pointes and in patients receiving concomitant medicinal products that might prolong the QT interval. Therefore in such patients, the benefit/risk ratio of degarelix must be thoroughly appraised.

Patients with known or suspected hepatic disorder have not been included in long-term clinical trials with degarelix. Monitoring of liver function in patients with known or suspected hepatic disorder is advised during treatment. The pharmacokinetics of degarelix has been investigated after single intravenous administration in subjects with mild to moderate hepatic impairment.

There is no need to adjust the dose in patients with mild or moderate liver function impairment. Patients with severe liver impairment have not been studied and caution is therefore warranted.

Degarelix has not been studied in patients with severe renal impairment and caution is therefore warranted.

Degarelix may inhibit male fertility as long as the testosterone is suppressed.

Cardiovascular disease such as stroke and myocardial infarction has been reported in the medical literature in patients with androgen deprivation therapy. Therefore, all cardiovascular risk factors should be taken into account.

A reduction in glucose tolerance has been observed in men who have had orchiectomy or who have been treated with a GnRH agonist. Development or aggravation of diabetes may occur; therefore diabetic patients may require more frequent monitoring of blood glucose when receiving androgen deprivation therapy. The effect of degarelix on insulin and glucose levels has not been studied.

There is no relevant indication for use of degarelix in women.

There is no relevant indication for use of degarelix in women.

Fertility

Degarelix may inhibit male fertility as long as the testosterone is suppressed.

Degarelix has no or negligible influence on the ability to drive and use machines. Fatigue and dizziness are common adverse reactions that might influence the ability to drive and use machines.

Summary of the safety profile

The most commonly observed adverse reactions during degarelix therapy in the confirmatory phase III study (N=409) were due to the expected physiological effects of testosterone suppression, including hot flushes and weight increase (reported in 25% and 7%, respectively, of patients receiving treatment for one year), or injection site adverse reactions. Transient chills, fever or influenza like illness were reported to occur hours after dosing (in 3%, 2% and 1% of patients, respectively).

The injection site adverse reactions reported were mainly pain and erythema, reported in 28% and 17% of patients, respectively, less frequently reported were swelling (6%), induration (4%) and nodule (3%). These events occurred primarily with the starting dose whereas during maintenance therapy with the 80 mg dose, the incidence of these events pr 100 injections was: 3 for pain and <1 for erythema, swelling, nodule and induration. The reported events were mostly transient, of mild to moderate intensity and led to very few discontinuations (<1%). Serious injection site reactions were very rarely reported such as injection site infection, injection site abscess or injection site necrosis that could require surgical treatment/drainage.

Tabulated list of adverse reactions

The frequency of undesirable effects listed below is defined using 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) and very rare (<1/10,000). Within each frequency grouping, undesirable effects are presented in order of decreasing seriousness.

Frequency of adverse drug reactions reported in 1,259 patients treated for a total of 1781 patient years (phase II and III studies) and from post-marketing reports:

^* Known physiological consequence of testosterone suppression

Description of selected adverse reactions

Changes in laboratory parameters

Changes in laboratory values seen during one year of treatment in the confirmatory phase III study (N=409) were in the same range for degarelix and a GnRH-agonist (leuprorelin) used as comparator. Markedly abnormal (>3*ULN) liver transaminase values (ALT, AST and GGT) were seen in 2-6% of patients with normal values prior to treatment, following treatment with both medicinal products. Marked decrease in haematological values, hematocrit (≤0.37) and hemoglobin (≤115 g/l) were seen in 40% and 13-15%, respectively, of patients with normal values prior to treatment, following treatment with both medicinal products. It is unknown to what extent this decrease in haematological values was caused by the underlying prostate cancer and to what extent it was a consequence of androgen deprivation therapy. Markedly abnormal values of potassium (≥5.8 mmol/l), creatinine (≥177 μmol/l) and BUN (≥10.7 mmol/l) in patients with normal values prior to treatment, were seen in 6%, 2% and 15% of degarelix treated patients and 3%, 2% and 14% of leuprorelin treated patients, respectively.

Changes in ECG measurements

Changes in ECG measurements seen during one year of treatment in the confirmatory phase III study (N=409) were in the same range for degarelix and a GnRH-agonist (leuprorelin) used as comparator. Three (<1%) out of 409 patients in the degarelix group and four (2%) out of 201 patients in the leuprorelin 7.5 mg group, had a QTcF≥500 msec. From baseline to end of study the median change in QTcF for degarelix was 12.0 msec and for leuprorelin was 16.7 msec. The lack of intrinsic effect of degarelix on cardiac repolarisation (QTcF), heart rate, AV conduction, cardiac depolarisation, or T or U wave morphology was confirmed in a thorough QT study in healthy subjects (N=80) receiving an i.v. infusion of degarelix over 60 min, reaching a mean C_max of 222 ng/mL, approx. 3-4-fold the C_max obtained during prostate cancer treatment.