Pegloticase Injection

Name: Pegloticase Injection

How should this medicine be used?

Pegloticase injection comes as a solution (liquid) to be injected intravenously (into a vein) by a doctor or nurse in a medical office or clinic. It is usually given once every 2 weeks. It will take at least 2 hours for you to receive your dose of pegloticase injection.

It may take several months before pegloticase injection begins to prevent gout attacks. Pegloticase injection may increase the number of gout attacks during the first 3 months of your treatment. Your doctor may prescribe another medication such as colchicine or a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) to prevent gout attacks during the first six months of your treatment. Continue to receive pegloticase injection even if you have gout attacks during your treatment.

Pegloticase injection controls gout but does not cure it. Continue to receive pegloticase injections even if you feel well. Do not stop receiving pegloticase injections without talking to your doctor.

What side effects can this medication cause?

Pegloticase injection may cause side effects. Tell your doctor if any of these symptoms are severe or do not go away:

  • nausea
  • vomiting
  • constipation
  • bruising
  • sore throat

Pegloticase injection may cause other side effects. Call your doctor if you have any unusual problems while receiving this medication.

If you experience a serious side effect, you or your doctor may send a report to the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting program online (http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch) or by phone (1-800-332-1088).

Indications

KRYSTEXXA® (pegloticase) is a PEGylated uric acid specific enzyme indicated for the treatment of chronic gout in adult patients refractory to conventional therapy.

Gout refractory to conventional therapy occurs in patients who have failed to normalize serum uric acid and whose signs and symptoms are inadequately controlled with xanthine oxidase inhibitors at the maximum medically appropriate dose or for whom these drugs are contraindicated.

Important Limitations Of Use

KRYSTEXXA is not recommended for the treatment of asymptomatic hyperuricemia.

Side effects

The most commonly reported serious adverse reactions from pre-marketing controlled clinical trials were anaphylaxis, which occurred at a frequency of 6.5% in patients treated with KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every 2 weeks, compared to none with placebo; infusion reactions, which occurred at a frequency of 26% in patients treated with KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every 2 weeks, compared to 5% treated with placebo; and gout flares, which were more common during the first 3 months of treatment with KRYSTEXXA compared with placebo. All patients in pre-marketing controlled clinical trials were pre-treated with an oral antihistamine, intravenous corticosteroid and/or acetaminophen to prevent anaphylaxis and infusion reaction. Patients also received non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or colchicine, or both, for at least 7 days as gout flare prophylaxis before beginning KRYSTEXXA treatment. [see BOXED WARNING, WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]

Clinical Trials Experience

The data described below reflect exposure to KRYSTEXXA in patients with chronic gout refractory to conventional therapy in two replicate randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind 6-month clinical trials: 85 patients were treated with KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every 2 weeks; 84 patients were treated with KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every 4 weeks; and 43 patients were treated with placebo. These patients were between the ages of 23 and 89 years (average 55 years); 173 patients were male and 39 were female; and 143 patients were White/Caucasian, 27 were Black/African American, 24 were Hispanic/Latino and 18 were all other ethnicities. Common co-morbid conditions among the enrolled patients included hypertension (72%), dyslipidemia (49%), chronic kidney disease (28%), diabetes (24%), coronary artery disease (18%), arrhythmia (16%), and cardiac failure/left ventricular dysfunction (12%).

Because clinical studies are conducted under widely varying and controlled conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in clinical studies of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical studies of another drug, and may not predict the rates observed in a broader patient population in clinical practice.

Anaphylaxis

Diagnostic criteria of anaphylaxis were skin or mucosal tissue involvement, and, either airway compromise, and/or reduced blood pressure with or without associated symptoms, and a temporal relationship to KRYSTEXXA or placebo injection with no other identifiable cause. Using these clinical criteria, anaphylaxis was identified in 14 (5.1%) of 273 total patients studied in the clinical program of IV KRYSTEXXA. The frequency was 6.5% for the every 2-week dosing regimen (8 of 123 patients), and 4.8% for the 4-week dosing frequency (6 of 126) of KRYSTEXXA. There were no cases of anaphylaxis in patients receiving placebo. Anaphylaxis generally occurred within 2 hours after treatment. This occurred with patients being pre-treated with an oral antihistamine, intravenous corticosteroid, and acetaminophen. [see BOXED WARNING, WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]

Infusion Reactions

Infusion reactions occurred in 26% of patients in the 2 week dosing regimen group and 41% of patients in the 4 week dosing regimen group, compared to 5% of placebo-treated patients. Manifestations of these reactions included urticaria (frequency of 10.6%), dyspnea (frequency of 7.1%), chest discomfort (frequency of 9.5%), chest pain (frequency of 9.5%), erythema (frequency of 9.5%), and pruritus (frequency of 9.5%). These manifestations overlap with the symptoms of anaphylaxis, but in a given patient did not occur together to satisfy the clinical criteria for diagnosing anaphylaxis. Infusion reactions are thought to result from release of various mediators, such as cytokines. Infusion reactions occurred at any time during a course of treatment with approximately 3% occurring with the first infusion, and approximately 91% occurred during the time of infusion. Some infusion reaction manifestations were reduced with slowing the rate of infusion, or stopping the infusion and restarting the infusion at a slower rate. These infusion reactions occurred with all patients being pre-treated with an oral antihistamine, intravenous corticosteroid and acetaminophen. [see BOXED WARNING, WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]

Gout Flares

Gout flares were common in the study patients before randomization to treatment, with patients experiencing an average of 10 flares in the preceding 18 months prior to study entry. During the controlled treatment period with KRYSTEXXA or placebo, the frequencies of gout flares were high in all treatment groups, but more so with KRYSTEXXA treatment during the first 3 months of treatment, which seemed to decrease in the subsequent 3 months of treatment. The percentages of patients with any flare for the first 3 months were 74%, 81%, and 51%, for KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every 2 weeks, KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every 4 weeks, and placebo, respectively. The percentages of patients with any flare for the subsequent 3 months were 41%, 57%, and 67%, for KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every 2 weeks, KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every 4 weeks, and placebo, respectively. Patients received gout flare prophylaxis with colchicine and/or nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) starting at least one week before receiving KRYSTEXXA. [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS]

Congestive Heart Failure

Two cases of congestive heart failure exacerbation occurred during the trials in patients receiving treatment with KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every 2 weeks. No cases were reported in placebo-treated patients. Four subjects had exacerbations of pre-existing congestive heart failure while receiving KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every 2 weeks during the open-label extension study. [see WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS].

Other Adverse Reactions

The most commonly reported adverse reactions that occurred in greater than or equal to 5% of patients treated with KRYSTEXXA 8mg every 2 weeks are provided in Table 1.

Table 1: Adverse Reactions Occurring in 5% or More of Patients Treated with KRYSTEXXA Compared to Placebo

Adverse Reaction (Preferred Term) KRYSTEXXA 8 mg every 2 weeks
(N=85)
Na (%)
Placebo
(N=43)
N (%)
Gout flare 65 (77%) 35 (81%)
Infusion reaction 22 (26%) 2 (5%)
Nausea 10 (12%) 1 (2%)
Contusionb or Ecchymosisb 9 (11%) 2 (5%)
Nasopharyngitis 6 (7%) 1 (2%)
Constipation 5 (6%) 2 (5%)
Chest Pain 5 (6%) 1 (2%)
Anaphylaxis 4 (5%) 0 (0%)
Vomiting 4 (5%) 1 (2%)
a If the same subject in a given group had more than one occurrence in the same preferred term event category, the subject was counted only once.
b Most did not occur on the day of infusion and could be related to other factors (e.g. concomitant medications relevant to contusion or ecchymosis, insulin dependent diabetes mellitus).

Immunogenicity

Anti-pegloticase antibodies developed in 92% of patients treated with KRYSTEXXA every 2 weeks, and 28% for placebo. Anti-PEG antibodies were also detected in 42% of patients treated with KRYSTEXXA. High anti-pegloticase antibody titer was associated with a failure to maintain pegloticase-induced normalization of uric acid. The impact of anti-PEG antibodies on patients' responses to other PEG-containing therapeutics is unknown.

There was a higher incidence of infusion reactions in patients with high anti-pegloticase antibody titer: 53% (16 of 30) in the KRYSTEXXA every 2 weeks group compared to 6% in patients who had undetectable or low antibody titers.

As with all therapeutic proteins, there is a potential for immunogenicity. The observed incidence of antibody positivity in an assay is highly dependent on several factors including assay sensitivity and specificity and assay methodology, sample handling, timing of sample collection, concomitant medications, and underlying disease. For these reasons, the comparison of the incidence of antibodies to pegloticase with the incidence of antibodies to other products may be misleading.

Overdose

No reports of overdosage with KRYSTEXXA have been reported. The maximum dose that has been administered as a single intravenous dose is 12 mg as uricase protein.

Patients suspected of receiving an overdose should be monitored, and general supportive measures should be initiated as no specific antidote has been identified.

Patient information

KRYSTEXXA®
(pegloticase) Injection For Intravenous Infusion

Read this Medication Guide before you start receiving KRYSTEXXA and before each treatment. There may be new information. This Medication Guide does not take the place of talking with your doctor about your medical condition or treatment. Talk to your doctor if you have any questions about your treatment with KRYSTEXXA.

What is the most important information I should know about KRYSTEXXA?

Serious allergic reactions may happen in some people who receive KRYSTEXXA. These allergic reactions can be life threatening and usually happen within 2 hours of the infusion.

KRYSTEXXA should be given to you by a doctor or nurse in a healthcare setting where serious allergic reactions can be treated. Your doctor or nurse should watch you for any signs of a serious allergic reaction during and after your treatment with KRYSTEXXA.

Tell your doctor or nurse right away if you have any of these symptoms during or after your treatment with KRYSTEXXA:

  • wheezing, shortness of breath, cough, chest tightness, chest pain, or trouble breathing
  • dizziness, fainting, fast or weak heartbeat or feeling nervous
  • reddening of the face, itching, hives, or feeling warm
  • swelling of the throat or tongue, throat tightness, hoarse voice or trouble swallowing

What is KRYSTEXXA?

KRYSTEXXA is a prescription medicine used in adults to help reduce the signs and symptoms of gout that are not controlled by other treatments.

People with gout have too much uric acid in their bodies. Uric acid crystals collect in joints, kidneys, and other organs. This may cause pain, redness and swelling (inflammation). KRYSTEXXA works to lower blood levels of uric acid.

It is not known if KRYSTEXXA is safe and effective in children.

Who should not receive KRYSTEXXA?

Do not receive KRYSTEXXA if you have a rare blood problem called glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency or favism. Your doctor may test you for G6PD before you start KRYSTEXXA.

What should I tell my doctor before receiving treatment with KRYSTEXXA?

Before you receive KRYSTEXXA, tell your doctor if you:

  • know you have G6PD deficiency
  • ever had any heart problems or high blood pressure
  • are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. It is not known if KRYSTEXXA will harm your unborn baby. Talk to your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant.
  • are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. It is not known if KRYSTEXXA passes into your breast milk. You and your doctor should decide if you will receive KRYSTEXXA or breastfeed.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take, including prescription and non-prescription medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Do not take any other uric acid lowering drug, such as allopurinol or febuxostat (Uloric®), while taking KRYSTEXXA.

Know the medicines you take. Keep a list of your medicines and show them to your doctor and pharmacist when you get a new medicine.

How will I receive KRYSTEXXA?

  • Your doctor may give you medicine before your treatment of KRYSTEXXA to help reduce your chance of getting a reaction. Take these medicines as directed by your doctor or nurse.
  • You will receive KRYSTEXXA through a needle in your vein (i.v. infusion).
  • Your treatment will take about 2 hours or sometimes longer. A doctor or nurse will give you the treatment.
  • You will receive KRYSTEXXA every 2 weeks.
  • If you have side effects, your doctor may stop or slow the infusion and may give you medicine to help the side effects.
  • A doctor or nurse will watch you for side effects while you receive KRYSTEXXA and for some time afterwards.
  • Your doctor may stop your KRYSTEXXA if your uric acid levels do not become normal and stay controlled or you have certain side effects.
  • Your gout flares may increase in the first 3 months when you start receiving KRYSTEXXA. Do not stop receiving KRYSTEXXA even if you have a flare as the amount of flares will decrease after 3 months of treatment. Your doctor may give you other medicines to help reduce your gout flares for the first few months after starting KRYSTEXXA.

What are the possible side effects of KRYSTEXXA?

KRYSTEXXA may cause serious side effects.

See “What is the most important information I should know about KRYSTEXXA?”

The most common side effects of KRYSTEXXA include:

  • gout flares
  • allergic reactions. See “What is the most important information I should know about KRYSTEXXA?”
  • bruising
  • sore throat
  • constipation
  • chest pain
  • vomiting

Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

These are not all of the side effects of KRYSTEXXA. For more information, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

You may also report side effects to Crealta Pharmaceuticals LLC at 1-888-579-7839.

General information about the safe and effective use of KRYSTEXXA.

Medicines are sometimes prescribed for purposes other than those listed in a Medication Guide. This Medication Guide summarizes the most important information about KRYSTEXXA. If you would like more information, talk with your doctor. You can ask your pharmacist or doctor for information about KRYSTEXXA that is written for health professionals.

For more information, go to www.KRYSTEXXA.com or CREALTAPHARMA.com or call 1­888-579-7839.

What are the ingredients in KRYSTEXXA?

Active ingredient: pegloticase

Inactive ingredients: disodium hydrogen phosphate dihydrate, sodium chloride, sodium dihydrogen phosphate dihydrate, and water for injection.

What happens if i miss a dose (krystexxa)?

Call your doctor for instructions if you miss an appointment for your pegloticase injection.

Where can i get more information?

Your pharmacist can provide more information about pegloticase.

Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed.

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