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  • Epivir Oral Solution
    / GSK


    Active Ingredient
    Lamivudine 10 mg/ml

    Status in Israel
    RX

    Presentation and Status in Health Basket

    Presentation Basket Yarpa Pharmasoft

    Oral Solution

    240 ml

    partial basket chart 9562 5018

    Dosage

    The therapy should be initiated by a physician experienced in the management of HIV infection.
    Epivir may be administered with or without food.
    Epivir is also available as a tablet formulation for patients who weigh at least 14 kg.
    Patients changing between lamivudine tablets and lamivudine oral solution should follow the dosing recommendations that are specific for the formulation.
    For patients who are unable to swallow tablets, the tablet(s) may be crushed and added to a small amount of semi-solid food or liquid, all of which should be consumed immediately.
    Adults, adolescents and children (weighing at least 25 kg): The recommended dose of Epivir is 300 mg daily. This may be administered as either 150 mg (15 ml) twice daily or 300 mg (30 ml) once daily.
    Children (weighing less than 25 kg):
    Children from one year of age: The recommended dose is 0.5 mL/kg (5 mg/kg) twice daily, or 1 mL/kg (10 mg/kg) once daily.
    Children from three months to one year of age: The recommended dose is 0.5 mL/kg (5 mg/kg) twice daily. If a twice daily regimen is not feasible, a once daily regimen (10 mg/kg/day) could be considered. It should be taken into account that data for the once daily regimen are very limited in this population.
    Children less than three months of age: The limited data available are insufficient to propose specific dosage recommendations.
    Patients changing from the twice daily dosing regimen to the once daily dosing regimen should take the recommended once daily dose (as described above) approximately 12 hours after the last twice daily dose, and then continue to take the recommended once daily dose (as described above) approximately every 24 hours. When changing back to a twice daily regimen, patients should take the recommended twice daily dose approximately 24 hours after the last once daily dose.
    Older people: No specific data are available; however, special care is advised in this age group due to age-associated changes such as the decrease in renal function and alteration of haematological parameters.
    Renal impairment: Lamivudine concentrations are increased in patients with
    moderate – severe renal impairment due to decreased clearance. The dose should therefore be adjusted. See prescribing information for full details.
    Hepatic impairment: Data obtained in patients with moderate to severe hepatic impairment shows that lamivudine pharmacokinetics are not significantly affected by hepatic dysfunction. Based on these data, no dose adjustment is necessary in patients with moderate or severe hepatic impairment unless accompanied by renal impairment.


    Indications

    As part of antiretroviral combination therapy for the treatment of Human
    Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infected adults and children.


    Contra-Indications

    Hypersensitivity to the active substance or to any of the excipients.


    Special Precautions

    While effective viral suppression with antiretroviral therapy has been proven to substantially reduce the risk of sexual transmission, a residual risk cannot be excluded. Precautions to prevent transmission should be taken in accordance with national guidelines.
    Epivir is not recommended for use as monotherapy.
    Renal impairment: In patients with moderate –to- severe renal impairment, the terminal plasma half-life of lamivudine is increased due to decreased clearance, therefore the dose should be adjusted.
    Triple nucleoside therapy: There have been reports of a high rate of virological failure and of emergence of resistance at an early stage when lamivudine was combined with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and abacavir as well as with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate and didanosine as a once daily regimen.
    Opportunistic infections: Patients receiving Epivir or any other antiretroviral therapy may continue to develop opportunistic infections and other complications of HIV infection, and therefore should remain under close clinical observation by physicians experienced in the treatment of patients with associated HIV diseases.
    Pancreatitis: Cases of pancreatitis have occurred rarely. However it is not clear whether these cases were due to the antiretroviral treatment or to the underlying HIV disease.
    Treatment with Epivir should be stopped immediately if clinical signs, symptoms or laboratory abnormalities suggestive of pancreatitis occur.
    Mitochondrial dysfunction following exposure in utero: Nucleoside and nucleotide analogues may impact mitochondrial function to a variable degree, which is most pronounced with stavudine, didanosine and zidovudine. There have been reports of mitochondrial dysfunction in HIV-negative infants exposed in utero and/or post-natally to nucleoside analogues, these have predominantly concerned treatment with regimens containing zidovudine. The main adverse reactions reported are haematological disorders (anaemia, neutropenia) and metabolic disorders (hyperlactatemia, hyperlipasemia). These events have often been transitory. Lateonset neurological disorders have been reported rarely (hypertonia, convulsion, abnormal behaviour). Whether such neurological disorders are transient or permanent is currently unknown. These findings should be considered for any child exposed in utero to nucleoside and nucleotide analogues, who presents with severe clinical findings of unknown etiology, particularly neurologic findings. These findings do not affect current national recommendations to use antiretroviral therapy in pregnant women to prevent vertical transmission of HIV.
    Weight and metabolic parameters: An increase in weight and in levels of blood lipids and glucose may occur during antiretroviral therapy. Such changes may in part be linked to disease control and life style. For lipids, there is in some cases evidence for a treatment effect, while for weight gain there is no strong evidence relating this to any particular treatment. For monitoring of blood lipids and glucose reference is made to established HIV treatment guidelines. Lipid disorders should be managed as clinically appropriate.
    Immune Reactivation Syndrome: In HIV-infected patients with severe immune deficiency at the time of institution of combination antiretroviral therapy (CART), an inflammatory reaction to asymptomatic or residual opportunistic pathogens may arise and cause serious clinical conditions, or aggravation of symptoms. Typically, such reactions have been observed within the first few weeks or months of initiation of CART. Relevant examples are cytomegalovirus retinitis, generalised and/or focal mycobacterium infections, and Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (often referred to as PCP). Any inflammatory symptoms should be evaluated and treatment instituted when necessary. Autoimmune disorders (such as Graves’ disease and autoimmune hepatitis) have also been reported to occur in the setting of immune reactivation; however, the reported time to onset is more variable and these events can occur many months after initiation of treatment.
    Liver disease: If lamivudine is being used concomitantly for the treatment of HIV and HBV, additional information relating to the use of lamivudine in the treatment of hepatitis B infection is available in the Zeffix physician leaflet.
    Patients with chronic hepatitis B or C and treated with combination antiretroviral therapy are at an increased risk of severe and potentially fatal hepatic adverse events. In case of concomitant antiviral therapy for hepatitis B or C, please refer also to the relevant product information for these medicinal products.
    If Epivir is discontinued in patients co-infected with hepatitis B virus, periodic monitoring of liver function tests and markers of HBV replication is recommended, as withdrawal of lamivudine may result in an acute exacerbation of hepatitis (see Zeffix physician leaflet).
    Patients with pre-existing liver dysfunction, including chronic active hepatitis, have an increased frequency of liver function abnormalities during combination antiretroviral therapy, and should be monitored according to standard practice. If there is evidence of worsening liver disease in such patients, interruption or discontinuation of treatment must be considered.
    Excipients: Diabetic patients should be advised that each dose (150 mg = 15 ml) contains 3 g of sucrose.
    Patients with rare hereditary problems of fructose intolerance, glucose-galactose malabsorption or sucrase-isomaltase insufficiency should not take this medicine.
    Epivir contains methyl parahydroxybenzoate and propyl parahydroxybenzoate. These may cause allergic reactions (possibly delayed).
    Paediatric Population: In a study performed in paediatric patients, lower rates of virologic suppression and more frequent viral resistance were reported in children receiving the oral solution of Epivir as compared to those receiving the tablet formulation.
    Whenever possible in children, an all-tablet regimen should preferably be used. Epivir oral solution given concomitantly with sorbitol-containing medicines should be used only when an all-tablet regimen cannot be used and the benefits of treatment outweigh possible risks including lower virological suppression. Consider more frequent monitoring of HIV-1 viral load when Epivir is used with chronically-administered, sorbitol-containing medicines [e.g. Ziagen oral solution]. Although not studied, the same effect would be expected with other
    osmotic acting poly-alcohols or monosaccharide alcohols (e.g. xylitol, mannitol, lactitol, maltitol).
    Osteonecrosis: Although the etiology is considered to be multifactorial (including corticosteroid use, alcohol consumption, severe immunosuppression, higher body mass index), cases of osteonecrosis have been reported particularly in patients with advanced HIVdisease and/or long-term exposure to combination antiretroviral therapy (CART). Patients should be advised to seek medical advice if they experience joint aches and pain, joint stiffness or difficulty in movement.
    Drug Interactions: Epivir should not be taken with any other medicinal products containing lamivudine or medicinal products containing emtricitabine.
    The combination of lamivudine with cladribine is not-recommended.


    Side Effects

    Nervous system disorders: Common: Headache, insomnia.
    Respiratory, thoracic and mediastinal disorders: Common: Cough, nasal symptoms.
    Gastrointestinal disorders: Common: Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain or cramps, diarrhoea.
    Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders: Common: Rash, alopecia.
    Musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders: Common: Arthralgia, muscle disorders.
    General disorders and administration site conditions: Common: Fatigue, malaise, fever.
    See prescribing information for full details.


    Drug interactions

    Interaction studies have only been performed in adults.
    The likelihood of metabolic interactions is low due to limited metabolism and plasma protein binding and almost complete renal clearance.
    Administration of trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole 160 mg/800 mg results in a 40% increase in lamivudine exposure, because of the trimethoprim component; the sulfamethoxazole component did not interact. However, unless the patient has renal impairment, no dosage adjustment of lamivudine is necessary. Lamivudine has no effect on the pharmacokinetics of trimethoprim or sulfamethoxazole. When concomitant administration is warranted, patients should be monitored clinically. Co-administration of lamivudine with high doses of co-trimoxazole for the treatment of Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PCP) and toxoplasmosis should be avoided.
    The possibility of interactions with other medicinal products administered concurrently should be considered, particularly when the main route of elimination is active renal secretion via the organic cationic transport system e.g. trimethoprim. Other medicinal products (e.g. ranitidine, cimetidine) are eliminated only in part by this mechanism and were shown not to interact with lamivudine. The nucleoside analogues (e.g. didanosine) like zidovudine, are not
    eliminated by this mechanism and are unlikely to interact with lamivudine.
    A modest increase in Cmax (28%) was observed for zidovudine when administered with lamivudine, however overall exposure (AUC) is not significantly altered. Zidovudine has no effect on the pharmacokinetics of lamivudine.
    Due to similarities, Epivir should not be administered concomitantly with other cytidine analogues, such as emtricitabine. Moreover, Epivir should not be taken with any other medicinal products containing lamivudine.
    In vitro lamivudine inhibits the intracellular phosphorylation of cladribine leading to a potential risk of cladribine loss of efficacy in case of combination in the clinical setting. Some clinical findings also support a possible interaction between lamivudine and cladribine. Therefore, the concomitant use of lamivudine with cladribine is not recommended.
    Lamivudine metabolism does not involve CYP3A, making interactions with medicinal products metabolised by this system (e.g. PIs) unlikely.
    Coadministration of sorbitol solution (3.2 g, 10.2 g, 13.4 g) with a single 300 mg dose of lamivudine oral solution resulted in dose-dependent decreases of 14%, 32%, and 36% in lamivudine exposure (AUC∞) and 28%, 52%, and 55% in the Cmax of lamivudine in adults.
    When possible, avoid chronic coadministration of Epivir with medicinal products containing sorbitol or other osmotic acting poly-alcohols or monosaccharide alcohols (e.g. xylitol, mannitol, lactitol, maltitol). Consider more frequent monitoring of HIV-1 viral load when chronic coadministration cannot be avoided.


    Pregnancy and Lactation

    Pregnancy: As a general rule, when deciding to use antiretroviral agents for the treatment of HIV infection in pregnant women and consequently for reducing the risk of HIV vertical transmission to the newborn, the animal data as well as the clinical experience in pregnant women should be taken into account.
    Animal studies with lamivudine showed an increase in early embryonic deaths in rabbits but not in rats. Placental transfer of lamivudine has been shown to occur in humans.
    More than 1000 outcomes from first trimester and more than 1000 outcomes from second and third trimester exposure in pregnant women indicate no malformative and foeto/neonatal effect. Epivir can be used during pregnancy if clinically needed. The malformative risk is unlikely in humans based on those data.
    For patients co-infected with hepatitis who are being treated with lamivudine and subsequently become pregnant, consideration should be given to the possibility of a recurrence of hepatitis on discontinuation of lamivudine.
    Mitochondrial dysfunction: Nucleoside and nucleotide analogues have been demonstrated in vitro and in vivo to cause a variable degree of mitochondrial damage. There have been reports of mitochondrial dysfunction in infants exposed in utero and/or post-natally to nucleoside analogues.
    Lactation: Following oral administration lamivudine was excreted in breast milk at similar concentrations to those found in serum. Based on more than 200 mother/child pairs treated for HIV, serum concentrations of lamivudine in breastfed infants of mothers treated for HIV are very low (<4% of maternal serum concentrations) and progressively decrease to undetectable levels when breastfed infants reach 24 weeks of age. There are no data available on the safety of lamivudine when administered to babies less than three months old. It is recommended that HIV infected women do not breast-feed their infants under any circumstances in order to avoid transmission of HIV.


    Overdose

    Administration of lamivudine at very high dose levels in acute animal studies did not result in any organ toxicity. Limited data are available on the consequences of ingestion of acute overdoses in humans. No fatalities occurred, and the patients recovered. No specific signs or symptoms have been identified following such overdose.
    If overdosage occurs the patient should be monitored, and standard supportive treatment applied as required. Since lamivudine is dialysable, continuous haemodialysis could be used in the treatment of overdosage, although this has not been studied.


    Important notes

    Shelf life: Discard the oral solution one month after first opening.
    Storage: Do not store above 25°C.


    Manufacturer
    GlaxoSmithKline
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