Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a product cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another product and may not reflect the rates observed in clinical practice.
Treatment of Chronic Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura (ITP) in Adults
In a prospective, open-label, single-arm, multicenter study 116 subjects with newly diagnosed or chronic ITP received Octagam 10% at a dose of 2 g/kg, administered daily as 1 g/kg intravenous infusions on 2 consecutive days. In the initial study phase, the infusion rate allowed for Octagam 10% administration was up to 6 mg/kg/min [0.06 mL/kg/min], which was achieved in 24 of 26 subjects (92%). Subsequently, the maximum infusion rate allowed was 12 mg/kg/min [0.12mL/kg/min], and 54 (60%) of 90 subjects received Octagam 10% at this rate in the second phase of the trial.
Pre-medication to alleviate potential adverse drug reactions was allowed, and was only administered to 1 (0.9%) of the 116 patients.
The investigators judged 129 (54%) of the temporally associated ("infusional") adverse reactions (AR) in 62 patients to be at least possibly related to the infusion of Octagam 10%. The most common causally related ARs observed in > 5% of subjects are shown in Table 2.
Table 2: Drug-related Adverse Reactions Experienced by >5% of Subjects
|
Reactions |
No. of Subjects (% of Subjects [n=116]) |
|
Headache |
29 (25) |
|
Pyrexia |
17 (15) |
|
Heart Rate Increased |
13 (11) |
Table 3: ARs in >5% Subjects During and Within 72 Hours After the End of 2-Days Treatment Cycle, Irrespective of Causality
|
Reactions |
No. of Subjects (% of Subjects [n=116]) |
|
Headache |
35 (30) |
|
Heart Rate Increased |
25 (22) |
|
Pyrexia |
20 (17) |
|
Heart Rate Decreased |
18 (16) |
|
Hypertension |
7 (6) |
One subject experienced a serious adverse reaction (headache).
Treatment of Dermatomyositis (DM) in Adults
In a prospective, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter study with two study periods, 95 adults with DM were enrolled. In the First Period (16 weeks), 47 subjects received 2 g/kg Octagam 10% and 48 subjects received placebo every 4 weeks for 4 infusion cycles. In the following 6-month open-label Extension Period, 91 subjects received 6 infusion cycles of Octagam 10% (one infusion cycle every 4 weeks). One infusion cycle comprised of all infusions administered over 2-5 days.
Table 4 and Table 5 summarize the most frequent adverse reactions (ARs) that occurred in >5% of subjects with DM in the clinical study. Premedication for infusions was given to 21.3% of patients in the Octagam group.
During the study, no subject met the criteria for a hemolytic transfusion reaction (HTR). No deaths were reported during the study.
The following serious adverse reactions were observed in the study: muscle spasms and dyspnea in one subject, loss of consciousness in one subject, and thromboembolic events (TEEs) in five subjects, including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism in one subject, cerebrovascular accident in one subject, cerebral infarction in one subject, hypoesthesia in one subject and pulmonary embolism in one subject. For risk factors for TEE see also [
5.5
]).
Table 4: Drug-related Adverse Reactions Experienced by >5% of Subjects
|
Reactions |
No. of Subjects (% of Subjects [n=95]) |
|
Headache |
40 (42) |
|
Pyrexia |
18 (19) |
|
Nausea |
15 (16) |
|
Vomiting |
8 (8) |
|
Chills |
7 (7) |
|
Musculoskeletal pain |
7 (7) |
|
Blood pressure increased |
6 (6) |
Table 5: ARs in >5% of Subjects During and Within 72 Hours After End of Infusion Cycle, Irrespective of Causality
|
Reactions |
No. of Subjects (% of Subjects [n=95]) |
|
Headache |
44 (46) |
|
Pyrexia |
19 (20) |
|
Nausea |
16 (17) |
|
Vomiting |
8 (8) |
|
Blood pressure increased |
8 (8) |
|
Chills |
7 (7) |
|
Musculoskeletal pain |
5 (5) |
|
Heart Rate Increased |
5 (5) |
|
Dyspnea |
5 (5) |
|
Infusion site reactions |
5 (5) |