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    Active Ingredient
    Fondaparinux (sodium) 2.5 mg/0.5 ml, 0.75 mg/ 0.6 ml

    Status in Israel
    RX

    Presentation and Status in Health Basket

    Presentation Basket Yarpa Pharmasoft

    Pre-filled Syringe (solution for injection)

    10 X 2.5 mg

    not in the basket chart 78758 9315

    Pre-filled Syringe (solution for injection)

    10 X 7.5 mg

    not in the basket chart 80582 9318

    Dosage

    The recommended dose of fondaparinux is 7.5 mg (patients with body weight ≥ 50, ≤ 100kg) once daily administered by subcutaneous injection. For patients with body weight < 50 kg, the recommended dose is 5 mg. For patients with body weight > 100 kg, the recommended dose is 10 mg. Treatment should be continued for at least 5 days and until adequate oral anticoagulation is established (International Normalised Ratio 2 to 3). Concomitant oral anticoagulation treatment should be initiated as soon as possible and usually within 72 hours. The average duration of administration in clinical trials was 7 days and the clinical experience from treatment beyond 10 days is limited.
    Special populations
    Elderly patients: No dosing adjustment is necessary. In patients ≥75 years, fondaparinux should be used with care, as renal function decreases with age.
    Renal impairment: Fondaparinux should be used with caution in patients with moderate renal impairment.
    There is no experience in the subgroup of patients with both high body weight (>100 kg) and moderate renal impairment (creatinine clearance 30-50 ml/min). In this subgroup, after an initial 10 mg daily dose, a reduction of the daily dose to 7.5 mg may be considered, based on pharmacokinetic modelling.
    Fondaparinux should not be used in patients with severe renal impairment (creatinine clearance < 30 ml/min).
    Hepatic impairment: No dosing adjustment is necessary in patients with either mild or moderate hepatic impairment. In patients with severe hepatic impairment, fondaparinux should be used with care as this patient group has not been studied.
    Paediatric population: Fondaparinux is not recommended for use in children below 17 years of age due to a lack of data on safety and efficacy.
    Method of administration: Fondaparinux is administered by deep subcutaneous injection while the patient is lying down. Sites of administration should alternate between the left and the right anterolateral and left and right posterolateral abdominal wall. To avoid the loss of medicinal product when using the pre-filled syringe do not expel the air bubble from the syringe before the injection. The whole length of the needle should be inserted perpendicularly into a skin fold held between the thumb and the forefinger; the skin fold should be held throughout the injection.


    Indications

    Prevention of Venous Thromboembolic Events (VTE) in patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery of the lower limbs such as hip fracture, major knee surgery or hip replacement surgery. Prevention of VTE in patients undergoing abdominal surgery who are judged to be at high risk of thromboembolic complications, such as patients undergoing abdominal cancer surgery. Prevention of VTE in medicdbal patients who are judged to be at high risk for VTE and who are immobilised due to acute illness such as cardiac insufficiency and/or acute respiratory disorders, and/or acute infectious or inflammatory disease. Treatment of unstable angina or non-ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (UA/NSTEMI) in patients for whom urgent (Treatment of ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) in patients who are managed with thrombolytics or who initially are to receive no other form of reperfusion therapy.


    Contra-Indications

    Known hypersensitivity to fondaparinux or to any of the excipients. Active clinically significant bleeding. Acute bacterial endocarditis. Severe renal impairment defined by creatinine clearance.


    Special Precautions

    Fondaparinux is intended for subcutaneous use only. Do not administer intramuscularly.
    There is limited experience from treatment with fondaparinux in haemodynamically unstable patients and no experience in patients requiring thrombolysis, embolectomy or insertion of a vena cava filter.
    Haemorrhage Fondaparinux should be used with caution in patients who have an increased risk of haemorrhage, such as those with congenital or acquired bleeding disorders (e.g. platelet count <50,000/mm3), active ulcerative gastrointestinal disease and recent intracranial haemorrhage or shortly after brain, spinal or ophthalmic surgery and in special patient groups as outlined below.
    As for other anticoagulants, fondaparinux should be used with caution in patients who have undergone recent surgery (<3 days) and only once surgical haemostasis has been established.
    Agents that may enhance the risk of haemorrhage should not be administered concomitantly with fondaparinux. These agents include desirudin, fibrinolytic agents, GP IIb/IIIa receptor antagonists, heparin, heparinoids, or Low Molecular Weight Heparin (LMWH). During treatment of VTE, concomitant therapy with vitamin K antagonist should be administered in accordance with the information of Section 4.5. Other antiplatelet medicinal products (acetylsalicylic acid, dipyridamole, sulfinpyrazone, ticlopidine or clopidogrel), and NSAIDs should be used with caution. If coadministration is essential, close monitoring is necessary.
    Spinal / Epidural anaesthesia: In patients receiving fondaparinux for treatment of VTE rather than prophylaxis, spinal/epidural anaesthesia in case of surgical procedures should not be used.
    Elderly patients: The elderly population is at increased risk of bleeding. As renal function generally decreases with age, elderly patients may show reduced elimination and increased exposure of fondaparinux. Incidences of bleeding events in patients receiving the recommended regimen in the treatment of DVT or PE and aged <65 years, 65-75 and >75 years were 3.0 %, 4.5 % and 6.5 %, respectively. The corresponding incidences in patients receiving the recommended regimen of enoxaparin in the treatment of DVT were 2.5%, 3.6% and 8.3% respectively, while the incidences in patients receiving the recommended regimen of UFH in the treatment of PE were 5.5%, 6.6% and 7.4%, respectively. Fondaparinux should be used with caution in elderly patients.
    Low body weight: Clinical experience is limited in patients with body weight <50 kg. Fondaparinux should be used with caution at a daily dose of 5 mg in this population.
    Renal impairment: The risk of bleeding increases with increasing renal impairment. Fondaparinux is known to be excreted mainly by the kidney. Incidences of bleeding events in patients receiving the recommended regimen in the treatment of DVT or PE with normal renal function, mild renal impairment, moderate renal impairment and severe renal impairment were 3.0 % (34/1,132), 4.4 % (32/733), 6.6% (21/318), and 14.5 % (8/55) respectively. The corresponding incidences in patients receiving the recommended regimen of enoxaparin in the treatment of DVT were 2.3% (13/559), 4.6% (17/368), 9.7% (14/145) and 11.1% (2/18) respectively, and in patients receiving the recommended regimen of unfractionated heparin in the treatment of PE were 6.9% (36/523), 3.1% (11/352), 11.1% (18/162) and 10.7% (3/28), respectively. Fondaparinux is contra-indicated in severe renal impairment (creatinine clearance <30 ml/min) and should be used with caution in patients with moderate renal impairment (creatinine clearance 30-50 ml/min). The duration of treatment should not exceed that evaluated during clinical trial (mean 7 days). There is no experience in the subgroup of patients with both high body weight (>100 kg) and moderate renal impairment (creatinine clearance 30-50 ml/min). Fondaparinux should be used with care in these patients. After an initial 10 mg daily dose, a reduction of the daily dose to 7.5 mg may be considered, based on pharmacokinetic modelling.
    Severe hepatic impairment: The use of fondaparinux should be considered with caution because of an increased risk of bleeding due to a deficiency of coagulation factors in patients with severe hepatic impairment.
    Patients with Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia: Fondaparinux should be used with caution in patients with a history of HIT. The efficacy and safety of fondaparinux have not been formally studied in patients with HIT type II. Fondaparinux does not bind to platelet factor 4 and does not cross-react with sera from patients with Heparin Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT) type II. However, rare spontaneous reports of HIT in patients treated with fondaparinux have been received. To date a causal association between treatment with fondaparinux and the occurrence of HIT has not been established.
    Latex Allergy: The needle shield of the pre-filled syringe contains dry natural latex rubber that has the potential to cause allergic reactions in latex sensitive individuals.
    For full details see prescribing information.


    Side Effects

    Undesirable effects in patients undergoing major orthopedic surgery of lower limbs and/or abdominal surgery: Post-operative hemorrhage, anemia. Undesirable effects in medicdbal patients: Bleeding (hematoma, hematuria, hemoptysis, gingival bleeding).
    For full details see prescribing information.


    Drug interactions

    Bleeding risk is increased with concomitant administration of fondaparinux and agents that may enhance the risk of haemorrhage.
    In clinical studies performed with fondaparinux, oral anticoagulants (warfarin) did not interact with the pharmacokinetics of fondaparinux; at the 10 mg dose used in the interaction studies, fondaparinux did not influence the anticoagulation monitoring (INR) activity of warfarin.
    Platelet inhibitors (acetylsalicylic acid), NSAIDs (piroxicam) and digoxin did not interact with the pharmacokinetics of fondaparinux. At the 10 mg dose used in the interaction studies, fondaparinux did not influence the bleeding time under acetylsalicylic acid or piroxicam treatment, nor the pharmacokinetics of digoxin at steady state.


    Pregnancy and Lactation

    Pregnancy: No clinical data on exposed pregnancies are available. Animal studies are insufficient with respect to effects on pregnancy, embryo/foetal development, parturition and postnatal development because of limited exposure. Fondaparinux should not be prescribed to pregnant women unless clearly necessary.
    Breast-feeding: Fondaparinux is excreted in rat milk but it is not known whether fondaparinux is excreted in human milk. Breast-feeding is not recommended during treatment with fondaparinux. Oral absorption by the child is however unlikely.
    Fertility: There are no data available on the effect of fondaparinux on human fertility. Animal studies do not show any effect on fertility.


    Overdose

    Fondaparinux doses above the recommended regimen may lead to an increased risk of bleeding. There is no known antidote to fondaparinux.
    Overdose associated with bleeding complications should lead to treatment discontinuation and search for the primary cause. Initiation of appropriate therapy such as surgical haemostasis, blood replacements, fresh plasma transfusion, plasmapheresis should be considered.


    Manufacturer
    Aspen Notre Dame De Bondeville, France
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