Glatiramer injection

Copaxone, Glatopa

Solution for injection: 20 mg/ml, 40 mg/ml in a single dose, prefilled syringe.

• Glatiramer should be stored refrigerated at 2 C to 8 C (36 F to 46 F).
• It also may be stored at room temperature, 15 C to 30 C (59 F to 86 F) for one month if needed.
• Frozen syringes should be discarded.

You should not use this medication if you are allergic to glatiramer or to mannitol.

To make sure glatiramer is safe for you, tell your doctor about your other medical conditions.

This medicine is not expected to harm an unborn baby. Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.

It is not known whether glatiramer passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing baby. Tell your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.

Follow all directions on your prescription label. Do not use this medicine in larger or smaller amounts or for longer than recommended.

Glatiramer is injected under the skin. You may be shown how to use injections at home. Do not self-inject this medicine if you do not understand how to give the injection and properly dispose of used needles and syringes.

This medicine comes with patient instructions for safe and effective use. Follow these directions carefully. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions.

Wash and dry your hands before preparing the syringe and giving the injection.

Use a different place on your body each time you give yourself an injection. Your doctor will show you the places on your body where you can safely inject the medication. Do not inject glatiramer into the same place two times within 1 week.

Glatiramer prefilled syringes are for a single use only. Throw away the vials or syringes after each injection.

Store the prefilled syringes and vials (bottles) of glatiramer in the refrigerator. Do not allow the medicine to freeze.

Before using the prefilled syringe, take it out of the refrigerator and let it warm at room temperature for 20 minutes. Do not warm the medication in a microwave or hot water. Do not remove air bubbles from the prefilled syringe or you may accidentally remove a small amount of the medicine.

You may also store glatiramer at room temperature, away from moisture, light, and high heat. Glatiramer will keep for up to 30 days if stored at room temperature. Throw away any unused glatiramer that has been at room temperature for longer than 30 days.

Do not use glatiramer if it has changed colors or has particles in it. Call your pharmacist for new medication.

Use a disposable needle and syringe only once. Follow any state or local laws about throwing away used needles and syringes. Use a puncture-proof "sharps" disposal container (ask your pharmacist where to get one and how to throw it away). Keep this container out of the reach of children and pets.

Do not stop using glatiramer without first talking with your doctor.

Seek emergency medical attention or call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222.

Data not available

Glatiramer acetate injection is contraindicated in patients with known hypersensitivity to glatiramer acetate or mannitol.

Clinical Trials Experience

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 clinical practice.

Glatiramer Acetate Injection 20 mg per mL per Day

Among 563 patients treated with glatiramer acetate in blinded placebo-controlled trials, approximately 5% of the subjects discontinued treatment because of an adverse reaction. The adverse reactions most commonly associated with discontinuation were: injection site reactions, dyspnea, urticaria, vasodilatation, and hypersensitivity. The most common adverse reactions were: injection site reactions, vasodilatation, rash, dyspnea, and chest pain.

Table 1 lists treatment-emergent signs and symptoms that occurred in at least 2% of patients treated with glatiramer acetate injection 20 mg per mL in the placebo-controlled trials. These signs and symptoms were numerically more common in patients treated with glatiramer acetate than in patients treated with placebo. Adverse reactions were usually mild in intensity.

Adverse reactions which occurred only in 4 to 5 more subjects in the glatiramer acetate group than in the placebo group (less than 1% difference), but for which a relationship to glatiramer acetate could not be excluded, were arthralgia and herpes simplex.

Laboratory analyses were performed on all patients participating in the clinical program for glatiramer acetate. Clinically-significant laboratory values for hematology, chemistry, and urinalysis were similar for both glatiramer acetate and placebo groups in blinded clinical trials. In controlled trials one patient discontinued treatment due to thrombocytopenia (16 x109/L), which resolved after discontinuation of treatment.

Data on adverse reactions occurring in the controlled clinical trials of glatiramer acetate injection 20 mg per mL were analyzed to evaluate differences based on sex. No clinically-significant differences were identified. Ninety-six percent of patients in these clinical trials were Caucasian. The majority of patients treated with glatiramer acetate were between the ages of 18 and 45. Consequently, data are inadequate to perform an analysis of the adverse reaction incidence related to clinically-relevant age subgroups.

In the paragraphs that follow, the frequencies of less commonly reported adverse clinical reactions are presented. Because the reports include reactions observed in open and uncontrolled premarketing studies (n = 979), the role of glatiramer acetate in their causation cannot be reliably determined. Furthermore, variability associated with adverse reaction reporting, the terminology used to describe adverse reactions, etc., limit the value of the quantitative frequency estimates provided. Reaction frequencies are calculated as the number of patients who used glatiramer acetate and reported a reaction divided by the total number of patients exposed to glatiramer acetate. All reported reactions are included except those already listed in the previous table, those too general to be informative, and those not reasonably associated with the use of the drug. Reactions are further classified within body system categories and enumerated in order of decreasing frequency using the following definitions: Frequent adverse reactions are defined as those occurring in at least 1/100 patients and infrequent adverse reactions are those occurring in 1/100 to 1/1,000 patients.

Body as a Whole:

Frequent: Abscess

Infrequent: Injection site hematoma, moon face, cellulitis, hernia, injection site abscess, serum sickness, suicide attempt, injection site hypertrophy, injection site melanosis, lipoma, and photosensitivity reaction.

Cardiovascular:

Frequent: Hypertension.

Infrequent:Hypotension, midsystolic click, systolic murmur, atrial fibrillation, bradycardia, fourth heart sound, postural hypotension, and varicose veins.

Digestive:

Infrequent: Dry mouth, stomatitis, burning sensation on tongue, cholecystitis, colitis, esophageal ulcer, esophagitis, gastrointestinal carcinoma, gum hemorrhage, hepatomegaly, increased appetite, melena, mouth ulceration, pancreas disorder, pancreatitis, rectal hemorrhage, tenesmus, tongue discoloration, and duodenal ulcer.

Endocrine:

Infrequent: Goiter, hyperthyroidism, and hypothyroidism.

Gastrointestinal:

Frequent: Bowel urgency, oral moniliasis, salivary gland enlargement, tooth caries, and ulcerative stomatitis.

Hemic and Lymphatic:

Infrequent: Leukopenia, anemia, cyanosis, eosinophilia, hematemesis, lymphedema, pancytopenia, and splenomegaly.

Metabolic and Nutritional:

Infrequent: Weight loss, alcohol intolerance, Cushing’s syndrome, gout, abnormal healing, and xanthoma.

Musculoskeletal:

Infrequent: Arthritis, muscle atrophy, bone pain, bursitis, kidney pain, muscle disorder, myopathy, osteomyelitis, tendon pain, and tenosynovitis.

Nervous:

Frequent: Abnormal dreams, emotional lability, and stupor.

Infrequent: Aphasia, ataxia, convulsion, circumoral paresthesia, depersonalization, hallucinations, hostility, hypokinesia, coma, concentration disorder, facial paralysis, decreased libido, manic reaction, memory impairment, myoclonus, neuralgia, paranoid reaction, paraplegia, psychotic depression, and transient stupor.

Respiratory:

Frequent: Hyperventilation and hay fever.

Infrequent: Asthma, pneumonia, epistaxis, hypoventilation, and voice alteration.

Skin and Appendages:

Frequent: Eczema, herpes zoster, pustular rash, skin atrophy, and warts.

Infrequent: Dry skin, skin hypertrophy, dermatitis, furunculosis, psoriasis, angioedema, contact dermatitis, erythema nodosum, fungal dermatitis, maculopapular rash, pigmentation, benign skin neoplasm, skin carcinoma, skin striae, and vesiculobullous rash.

Special Senses:

Frequent: Visual field defect.

Infrequent: Dry eyes, otitis externa, ptosis, cataract, corneal ulcer, mydriasis, optic neuritis, photophobia, and taste loss.

Urogenital:

Frequent: Amenorrhea, hematuria, impotence, menorrhagia, suspicious papanicolaou smear, urinary frequency, and vaginal hemorrhage.

Infrequent: Vaginitis, flank pain (kidney), abortion, breast engorgement, breast enlargement, carcinoma in situ cervix, fibrocystic breast, kidney calculus, nocturia, ovarian cyst, priapism, pyelonephritis, abnormal sexual function, and urethritis.

Glatiramer Acetate Injection 40 mg per mL 3 Times per Week: Among 943 patients treated with glatiramer acetate injection 40 mg per mL 3 times per week in a blinded, placebo-controlled trial, approximately 3% of the subjects discontinued treatment because of an adverse reaction. The most common adverse reactions were injection site reactions, which were also the most common cause of discontinuation.

Table 2 lists treatment-emergent signs and symptoms that occurred in at least 2% of patients treated with glatiramer acetate injection 40 mg per mL in the blinded, placebo-controlled trial. These signs and symptoms were numerically more common in patients treated with glatiramer acetate injection 40 mg per mL than in patients treated with placebo. Adverse reactions were usually mild in intensity.

No new adverse reactions appeared in subjects treated with glatiramer acetate injection 40 mg per mL 3 times per week as compared to subjects treated with glatiramer acetate injection 20 mg per mL per day in clinical trials and during postmarketing experience. Data on adverse reactions occurring in the controlled clinical trial of glatiramer acetate injection 40 mg per mL were analyzed to evaluate differences based on sex. No clinically significant differences were identified. Ninety-eight percent of patients in this clinical trial were Caucasian and the majority were between the ages of 18 and 50. Consequently, data are inadequate to perform an analysis of the adverse reaction incidence related to clinically-relevant age groups.

Postmarketing Experience

The following adverse events occurring under treatment with glatiramer acetate injection 20 mg per mL since market introduction and not mentioned above have been identified during postapproval use of glatiramer acetate. Because these events 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.

Body as a Whole: sepsis; SLE syndrome; hydrocephalus; enlarged abdomen; allergic reaction; anaphylactoid reaction

Cardiovascular System: thrombosis; peripheral vascular disease; pericardial effusion; myocardial infarct; deep thrombophlebitis; coronary occlusion; congestive heart failure; cardiomyopathy; cardiomegaly; arrhythmia; angina pectoris

Digestive System: tongue edema; stomach ulcer; hemorrhage; liver function abnormality; liver damage; hepatitis; eructation; cirrhosis of the liver; cholelithiasis

Hemic and Lymphatic System: thrombocytopenia; lymphoma-like reaction; acute leukemia

Metabolic and Nutritional Disorders: hypercholesterolemia

Musculoskeletal System: rheumatoid arthritis; generalized spasm

Nervous System: myelitis; meningitis; CNS neoplasm; cerebrovascular accident; brain edema; abnormal dreams; aphasia; convulsion; neuralgia

Respiratory System: pulmonary embolus; pleural effusion; carcinoma of lung

Special Senses: glaucoma; blindness

Urogenital System: urogenital neoplasm; urine abnormality; ovarian carcinoma; nephrosis; kidney failure; breast carcinoma; bladder carcinoma; urinary frequency

Mechanism of Action

The mechanism(s) by which glatiramer acetate exerts its effects in patients with MS are not fully understood. However, glatiramer acetate is thought to act by modifying immune processes that are believed to be responsible for the pathogenesis of MS. This hypothesis is supported by findings of studies that have been carried out to explore the pathogenesis of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis, a condition induced in animals through immunization against central nervous system derived material containing myelin and often used as an experimental animal model of MS. Studies in animals and in vitro systems suggest that upon its administration, glatiramer acetate-specific suppressor T-cells are induced and activated in the periphery.

Because glatiramer acetate can modify immune functions, concerns exist about its potential to alter naturally-occurring immune responses. There is no evidence that glatiramer acetate does this, but this has not been systematically evaluated [see Warnings and Precautions (5.4)].

Pharmacokinetics

Results obtained in pharmacokinetic studies performed in humans (healthy volunteers) and animals support that a substantial fraction of the therapeutic dose delivered to patients subcutaneously is hydrolyzed locally. Larger fragments of glatiramer acetate can be recognized by glatiramer acetate-reactive antibodies. Some fraction of the injected material, either intact or partially hydrolyzed, is presumed to enter the lymphatic circulation, enabling it to reach regional lymph nodes, and some may enter the systemic circulation intact.