DRUG INTERACTIONS
Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility
No drug-related neoplasms were recorded in rats or mice treated with posaconazole for two years at doses below the maximum tolerated dose. In a two-year carcinogenicity study, rats were given posaconazole orally at doses up to 20 mg/kg (females), or 30 mg/kg (males). These doses are equivalent to 3.9 or 3.5 times the exposure achieved with a 400 mg BID regimen, respectively, based on steady-state AUC in healthy volunteers administered a high fat meal (400 mg BID regimen). In the mouse study, mice were treated at oral doses up to 60 mg/kg/day or 4.8 times the exposure achieved with a 400 mg BID regimen.
Posaconazole was not genotoxic or clastogenic when evaluated in bacterial mutagenicity (Ames), a chromosome aberration study in human peripheral blood lymphocytes, a Chinese hamster ovary cell mutagenicity study, and a mouse bone marrow micronucleus study.
Posaconazole had no effect on fertility of male rats at a dose up to 180 mg/kg (1.7 × the 400 mg BID regimen based on steady-state plasma concentrations in healthy volunteers) or female rats at a dose up to 45 mg/kg (2.2 × the 400 mg BID regimen).
Pregnancy
Pregnancy Category C
Posaconazole has been shown to cause skeletal malformations (cranial malformations and missing ribs) in rats when given in doses ≥27 mg/kg (≥1.4 times the 400 mg BID regimen based on steady-state plasma concentrations of drug in healthy volunteers). The no-effect dose for malformations in rats was 9 mg/kg, which is 0.7 times the exposure achieved with the 400 mg BID regimen. No malformations were seen in rabbits at doses up to 80 mg/kg. In the rabbit, the no-effect dose was 20 mg/kg, while high doses of 40 mg/kg and 80 mg/kg, 2.9 or 5.2 times the exposure achieved with the 400 mg BID regimen, caused an increase in resorptions. In rabbits dosed at 80 mg/kg, a reduction in body weight gain of females and a reduction in litter size was seen. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Posaconazole should be used in pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.
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OVERDOSAGE
During the clinical trials, some patients received posaconazole up to 1600 mg/day with no adverse events noted that were different from the lower doses. In addition, accidental overdose was noted in one patient who took 1200 mg BID for 3 days. No related adverse events were noted by the investigator.
Posaconazole is not removed by hemodialysis.
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CONTRAINDICATIONS
Hypersensitivity to the active substance or to any of the excipients.
Co-administration of NOXAFIL® (posaconazole) with sirolimus is contraindicated. (See CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY/Drug Interactions, and PRECAUTIONS/Drug Interactions).
Co-administration with ergot alkaloids. (See PRECAUTIONS/Drug Interactions.)
Co-administration with the CYP3A4 substrates terfenadine, astemizole, cisapride, pimozide, halofantrine, or quinidine since this may result in increased plasma concentrations of these medicinal products, leading to QTc prolongation and rare occurrences of torsades de pointes. (See CLINICAL PHARMACOLOGY/Drug Interactions and PRECAUTIONS/Drug Interactions.)
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