Perfluorohexyloctane

Risk Summary

There are no adequate and well controlled studies with perfluorohexyloctane in pregnant women.

In animal reproduction studies with oral administration of perfluorohexyloctane during the period of organogenesis, no adverse maternal or developmental effects were observed in rats at doses up to 162 times the recommended human ophthalmic dose (RHOD) (see Data). Maternal toxicity, miscarriages and reduced fetal weights were observed in rabbits at all doses tested, with the lowest dose as 41 times the RHOD.

All pregnancies have a risk of birth defect, loss, or other adverse outcomes. In the US general population, the estimated background risk of major birth defects is 2 to 4%, and of miscarriage is 15 to 20%, of clinically recognized pregnancies.

Data

Animal Data

An embryofetal study was conducted in pregnant rabbits administered perfluorohexyloctane by oral gavage on gestation days 6 to 19, to target the period of organogenesis. Perfluorohexyloctane produced maternal toxicity, characterized by reduced body weight gain and food consumption, and miscarriages at all doses tested, with the lowest dose as ≥250 mg/kg/day (41 times the RHOD based on body surface area). Reduced fetal weights were also observed at ≥250 mg/kg/day but no fetal mortality or malformations. A no observed adverse effect level (NOAEL) for maternal toxicity was not established in rabbits.

An embryofetal study was conducted in pregnant rats administered perfluorohexyloctane by oral gavage on gestation days 6 to 17, to target the period of organogenesis. There was no evidence of embryofetal toxicity or teratogenicity at doses up to 2,000 mg/kg/day (162 times the RHOD).

There are no data on the presence of perfluorohexyloctane in human milk, the effects on the breastfed infant, or the effects on milk production. The lack of clinical data during lactation precludes a clear determination of the risk of perfluorohexyloctane to an infant during lactation; however, the developmental and health benefits of breastfeeding should be considered along with the mother’s clinical need for perfluorohexyloctane.

Long-term studies in animals have not been conducted to evaluate the carcinogenic potential of perfluorohexyloctane.

Perfluorohexyloctane was not mutagenic or clastogenic in a standard battery of genotoxicity tests, including a bacterial mutagenicity assay (Ames assay), an in vitro chromosome aberration assay using human peripheral lymphocytes, and an in vivo bone marrow micronucleus assay in rats.

Clinical Trials Experience

Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in 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.

In patients with dry eye disease, 614 patients received at least one dose of MIEBO in two randomized controlled clinical trials across 68 sites in the United States. The most common ocular adverse reaction was blurred vision. Blurred vision and conjunctival redness were reported in 1-3% of individuals.