Asenapine Drug Information

• Asenapine is indicated for:
• Bipolar I disorder
• Acute monotherapy of manic or mixed episodes, in pediatric patients 10 to 17 years of age
• Adjunctive treatment to lithium or valproate in adults Asenapine is an atypical antipsychotic indicated for: Bipolar I disorder o Acute monotherapy treatment of manic or mixed episodes, in pediatric patients 10 to 17 years of age o Adjunctive treatment to lithium or valproate in adults

Administration Instructions Asenapine is a sublingual tablet

To ensure optimal absorption, patients should be instructed to place the tablet under the tongue and allow it to dissolve completely. The tablet will dissolve in saliva within seconds. Asenapine sublingual tablets should not be split, crushed, chewed, or swallowed.

Patients should be instructed to not eat or drink for 10 minutes after administration.

• Bipolar I Disorder Acute Treatment of Manic or Mixed Episodes: Monotherapy in Pediatric Patients: The recommended dose of asenapine is 2.5 mg to 10 mg twice daily in pediatric patients 10 to 17 years of age, and dose may be adjusted for individual response and tolerability. Pediatric patients aged 10 to 17 years appear to be more sensitive to dystonia with initial dosing with asenapine when the recommended escalation schedule is not followed. The safety of doses greater than 10 mg twice daily has not been evaluated in clinical trials.
• Adjunctive Therapy in Adults: The recommended starting dose of asenapine is 5 mg twice daily when administered as adjunctive therapy with either lithium or valproate. Depending on the clinical response and tolerability in the individual patient, the dose can be increased to 10 mg twice daily. The safety of doses above 10 mg twice daily as adjunctive therapy with lithium or valproate has not been evaluated in clinical trials. For patients on asenapine, used as adjunctive therapy with lithium or valproate, it is generally recommended that responding patients continue treatment beyond the acute episode.

Clinical Trials Experience

Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. Monotherapy in Pediatric Patients with Bipolar Mania: The following findings are based on a 3-week, placebo-controlled trial for bipolar mania in which asenapine was administered at doses of 2.5 mg, 5 mg, or 10 mg twice daily. Adverse Reactions Occurring with Asenapine at an Incidence of 2% or More in Asenapine-treated Bipolar I Patients: Adverse reactions associated with the use of asenapine (incidence of ≥2% in any asenapine dose group and greater than placebo) that occurred during acute therapy are shown in Table 10.

Table 10: Adverse Reactions Reported in 2% or More of Pediatric Patients (Ages 10 to 17 Years) in Any Asenapine Dose Group and Which Occurred at Greater Incidence Than in the Includes the preferred terms tachycardia and heart rate increased. 2 Includes the preferred terms oral hypoesthesia, oral paresthesia, and oral dysesthesia. 3 Includes the preferred terms abdominal pain, abdominal pain upper, abdominal pain lower, and abdominal discomfort. 4 Includes the preferred terms fatigue and lethargy. 5 Includes the preferred terms hyperinsulinemia and blood insulin increased. 6 Includes the preferred terms somnolence, sedation, and hypersomnia. Dose-Related Adverse Reactions: In the short term pediatric bipolar I trial the incidence of fatigue appeared to be dose-related (see Table 10 ). Adjunctive Therapy in Adult Patients with Bipolar Mania: The following findings are based on a 12 week placebo-controlled trial (with a 3 week efficacy endpoint) in adult patients with bipolar mania in which sublingual asenapine was administered in doses of 5 mg or 10 mg twice daily as adjunctive therapy with lithium or valproate.

Adverse Reactions Occurring at an Incidence of 2% or More Among Asenapine-Treated (Adjunctive) Bipolar I Patients: Adverse reactions associated with the use of asenapine (incidence of 2% or greater, rounded to the nearest percent, and asenapine incidence greater than placebo) that occurred during acute adjunctive therapy at 3 weeks, a time when most of the patients were still participating in the trial, are shown in Table 11. Table 11: Adverse Reactions Reported in 2% or More of Adult Patients In Any Asenapine-Dose Group and Which Occurred at Greater Incidence Than in the Placebo Group at 3 Weeks in Adjunctive Bipolar Mania Trials mg twice daily with flexible dosing. Extrapyramidal symptoms included: dystonia, parkinsonism, oculogyration, and tremor (excluding akathisia). Somnolence includes the following events: somnolence and sedation. Dystonia: Symptoms of dystonia, prolonged abnormal contractions of muscle groups, may occur in susceptible individuals during the first few days of treatment.

Dystonic symptoms include: spasm of the neck muscles, sometimes progressing to tightness of the throat, swallowing difficulty, difficulty breathing, and/or protrusion of the tongue. While these symptoms can occur at low doses, they occur more frequently and with greater severity with high potency and at higher doses of first generation antipsychotic drugs. An elevated risk of acute dystonia is observed in males and younger age groups.

Extrapyramidal Symptoms: In the short-term, placebo-controlled bipolar mania adult trials, data was objectively collected on the Simpson Angus Rating Scale for extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS), the Barnes Akathisia Scale (for akathisia) and the Assessments of Involuntary Movement Scales (for dyskinesias). The mean change from baseline for the all-asenapine 5 mg or 10 mg twice daily treated group was comparable to placebo in each of the rating scale scores. In short-term placebo-controlled bipolar mania adult trials, the incidence of EPS-related events, excluding events related to akathisia, for asenapine-treated patients was 8% versus 4% for placebo; and the incidence of akathisia-related events for asenapine-treated patients was 7% versus 3% for placebo.

The incidence rates of all EPS events (including akathisia) were lower at the 5 mg twice daily dose (11% of N=122) than the 10 mg twice daily dose (25% of N=119) in another study. EPS-related events include: bradykinesia, dyskinesia, dystonia, oromandibular dystonia, muscle contractions involuntary, muscle twitching, musculoskeletal stiffness, parkinsonism, protrusion tongue, resting tremor, and tremor. Other Findings: Oral hypoesthesia and/or oral paresthesia may occur directly after administration of asenapine and usually resolves within 1 hour.

Laboratory Test Abnormalities: Transaminases: Transient elevations in serum transaminases (primarily ALT) in the short-term bipolar mania adult trials were more common in treated patients. In short-term, placebo-controlled bipolar mania adult trials, the mean increase in transaminase levels for asenapine-treated patients was 6.1 units/L compared to a decrease of 3.9 units/L in placebo-treated patients. The proportion of patients with transaminase elevations ≥3 times upper limit of normal (ULN) (at Endpoint) was 2.1% for asenapine-treated patients versus 0.7% for placebo-treated patients.

In a 52-week, double-blind, comparator-controlled trial that included primarily adult patients, the mean increase from baseline of ALT was 1.7 units/L. In a 3-week, placebo-controlled pediatric trial with bipolar I disorder, transient elevations in serum transaminases (primarily ALT) were more common in treated patients. The proportion of pediatric patients with ALT elevations ≥3 times upper limit of normal (ULN) was 2.4% for patients treated with asenapine 10 mg twice daily versus none for the other asenapine dose groups and placebo-treated patients.

Prolactin: In short-term, placebo-controlled bipolar mania adult trials, the mean increase in prolactin levels was 6.7 ng/mL for asenapine-treated patients compared to a decrease of 1 ng/mL for placebo-treated patients. The proportion of patients with prolactin elevations ≥4 times ULN (at Endpoint) were 2% for asenapine-treated patients versus 0.8% for placebo-treated patients. In a long-term (52-week), double-blind, comparator-controlled adult trial, the mean decrease in prolactin from baseline for asenapine-treated patients was 26.9 ng/mL.

In a 3-week, placebo-controlled pediatric trial with bipolar I disorder, the mean increases (at Endpoint) in prolactin levels were 3.2 ng/mL for patients treated with asenapine 2.5 mg twice daily, 2.1 ng/mL for patients treated with asenapine 5 mg twice daily, and 6.4 ng/mL for patients treated with asenapine 10 mg twice daily compared to an increase of 2.5 ng/mL for placebo-treated patients. There were no reports of prolactin elevations ≥4 times ULN (at Endpoint) for patients treated with asenapine or placebo. There were no reports of gynecomastia in this trial.

Creatine Kinase (CK): The proportion of adult patients with CK elevations >3 times ULN at any time were 6.4% and 11.1% for patients treated with asenapine 5 mg twice daily and 10 mg twice daily, respectively, as compared to 6.7% for placebo-treated patients in pre-marketing short-term, fixed-dose trials in bipolar mania and another indication. The clinical relevance of this finding is unknown. Other Adverse Reactions Observed During the Premarketing Evaluation of Asenapine: Following is a list of MedDRA terms that reflect adverse reactions reported by patients treated with sublingual asenapine at multiple doses of ≥5 mg twice daily during any phase of a trial within the database of adult patients.

The reactions listed are those that could be of clinical importance, as well as reactions that are plausibly drug-related on pharmacologic or other grounds. Reactions already listed for adult patients in other parts of Adverse Reactions, or those considered in Contraindications, Warnings and Precautions or Overdosage are not included. Reactions are further categorized by MedDRA system organ class and listed in order of decreasing frequency according to the following definitions: those occurring in at least 1/100 patients (frequent) (only those not already listed in the tabulated results from placebo-controlled trials appear in this listing); those occurring in 1/100 to 1/1000 patients (infrequent); and those occurring in fewer than 1/1000 patients (rare).

Blood and lymphatic disorders: infrequent: anemia; rare: thrombocytopenia Cardiac disorders: infrequent: temporary bundle branch block Eye disorders: infrequent: accommodation disorder Gastrointestinal disorders: infrequent: swollen tongue General disorders: rare: idiosyncratic drug reaction Investigations: infrequent: hyponatremia Nervous system disorders: infrequent: dysarthria Following is a list of MedDRA terms not already listed either for adults or pediatric patients in other parts of Adverse Reactions, or those considered in Contraindications, Warnings and Precautions or Overdosage that reflect adverse reactions reported by pediatric patients (Ages 10 to 17 years) treated with sublingual asenapine at doses of 2.5 mg, 5 mg, or 10 mg twice daily during any phase of a trial within the database of pediatric patients. Eye disorders: infrequent: diplopia, vision blurred Gastrointestinal disorders: infrequent: gastroesophageal reflux disease Injury, Poisoning, and Procedural Complications: infrequent: fall Skin and subcutaneous tissue disorders: infrequent: photosensitivity reaction Renal and urinary disorders: infrequent: enuresis

Postmarketing Experience

The following adverse reactions have been identified during post-approval use of asenapine. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. In many cases, the occurrence of these adverse reactions led to discontinuation of therapy.

Application site reactions, primarily in the sublingual area, have been reported. These application site reactions included oral ulcers, blisters, peeling/sloughing, and inflammation. Choking has been reported by patients, some of whom may have also experienced oropharyngeal muscular dysfunction or hypoesthesia.

Drugs Having Clinically Important Drug Interactions with Asenapine Table 12: Clinically Important Drug Interactions with Asenapine Concomitant Drug Name or Drug Class Clinical Rationale Clinical Recommendation Antihypertensive Drugs Because of its α 1 -adrenergic antagonism with potential for inducing hypotension, asenapine may enhance the effects of certain antihypertensive agents. Strong CYP1A2 Inhibitors (e.g., Fluvoxamine) Asenapine is metabolized by CYP1A2. Marginal increase of asenapine exposure was observed when asenapine is used with fluvoxamine at 25 mg administered twice daily.

CYP2D6 substrates and inhibitors (e.g., paroxetine) Asenapine may enhance the inhibitory effects of paroxetine on its own metabolism. Concomitant use of paroxetine with asenapine increased the paroxetine exposure by 2-fold as compared to use paroxetine alone. Reduce paroxetine dose by half when paroxetine is used in combination with asenapine.

Drugs Having No Clinically Important Interactions with Asenapine No dosage adjustment of asenapine is necessary when administered concomitantly with paroxetine (see Table 12 in Drug Interactions for paroxetine dosage adjustment), imipramine, cimetidine, valporate, lithium, or a CYP3A4 inducer (e.g., carbamazepine, phenytoin, rifampin). In addition, valproic acid and lithium pre-dose serum concentrations collected from an adjunctive therapy study were comparable between asenapine-treated patients and placebo-treated patients indicating a lack of effect of asenapine on valproic and lithium plasma levels.

Pregnancy Pregnancy Exposure Registry There is a pregnancy exposure registry that monitors pregnancy outcomes in women exposed to asenapine during pregnancy. For more information contact the National Pregnancy Registry for Atypical Antipsychotics at 1-866-961-2388 or visit http://womensmentalhealth.org/clinical-and-research-programs/pregnancyregistry/. Risk Summary Neonates exposed to antipsychotic drugs during the third trimester of pregnancy are at risk for extrapyramidal and/or withdrawal symptoms.

Studies have not been conducted with asenapine in pregnant women. There are no available human data informing the drug-associated risk. The background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage for the indicated populations are unknown.

No teratogenicity was observed in animal reproduction studies with intravenous administration of asenapine to rats and rabbits during organogenesis at doses 0.7 and 0.4 times, respectively, the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) of 10 mg sublingually twice daily. In a pre-and post-natal study in rats, intravenous administration of asenapine at doses up to 0.7 times the MRHD produced increases in post-implantation loss and early pup deaths, and decreases in subsequent pup survival and weight gain. Advise pregnant women of the potential risk to a fetus.

Clinical Considerations Fetal/Neonatal Adverse Reactions Extrapyramidal and/or withdrawal symptoms, including agitation, hypertonia, hypotonia, tremor, somnolence, respiratory distress and feeding disorder have been reported in neonates who were exposed to antipsychotic drugs during the third trimester of pregnancy. These symptoms have varied in severity. Some neonates recovered within hours or days without specific treatment; others required prolonged hospitalization.

Monitor neonates for extrapyramidal and/or withdrawal symptoms and manage symptoms appropriately. Data Animal Data In animal studies, asenapine increased post-implantation loss and decreased pup weight and survival at doses similar to or less than recommended clinical doses. In these studies there was no increase in the incidence of structural abnormalities caused by asenapine.

Asenapine was not teratogenic in reproduction studies in rats and rabbits at intravenous doses up to 1.5 mg/kg in rats and 0.44 mg/kg in rabbits administered during organogenesis. Plasma levels of asenapine were measured in the rabbit study, and the area under the curve (AUC) at the highest dose tested was 2 times that in humans receiving the MRHD. A cross-fostering study indicated that the decreases in pup survival were largely due to prenatal drug effects.

Increases in post-implantation loss and decreases in pup weight and survival were also seen when pregnant rats were dosed orally with asenapine.

Pediatric Use Safety and efficacy of asenapine in pediatric patients below the age of 10 years of age have not been evaluated. Bipolar I Disorder The safety and efficacy of asenapine as monotherapy in the treatment of bipolar I disorder were established in a 3week, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of 403 pediatric patients 10 to 17 years of age, of whom 302 patients received asenapine at fixed doses ranging from 2.5 mg to 10 mg twice daily. In a Phase 1 study, pediatric patients aged 10 to 17 years appeared to be more sensitive to dystonia with initial dosing with asenapine when the recommended dose escalation schedule was not followed.

Similar safety findings were reported from a 50-week, open-label, uncontrolled safety trial in pediatric patients with bipolar I disorder treated with asenapine monotherapy. The safety and efficacy of asenapine as adjunctive therapy in the treatment of bipolar I disorder have not been established in the pediatric population. In general, the pharmacokinetics of asenapine in pediatric patients (10 to 17 years) and adults are similar.

Body weight gain remained reduced in males to the end of treatment, however, recovery was observed once treatment ended. Neurobehavioral assessment indicated increased motor activity in animals at all dose levels following the completion of treatment, with the evidence of recovery in males. There was no recovery after the end of treatment in female activity pattern as late as day 30 following the completion of treatment (last retesting).

Therefore, a No Observed Adverse Effect Level (NOAEL) for the juvenile animal toxicity of asenapine could not be determined. There were no treatment-related effects on the startle response, learning/memory, organ weights, microscopic evaluations of the brain and, reproductive performance (except for minimally reduced conception rate and fertility index in males and females administered 1.2 and 3.2 mg/kg/day).

• Asenapine is contraindicated in patients with: Severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh C). A history of hypersensitivity reactions to asenapine. Reactions have included anaphylaxis, angioedema, hypotension, tachycardia, swollen tongue, dyspnea, wheezing and rash.
• Severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh C).
• Known hypersensitivity to asenapine, or to any components in the formulation.

• Human Experience: In adult pre-marketing clinical studies involving more than 3350 patients and/or healthy subjects, accidental or intentional acute over dosage of asenapine was identified in 3 patients. Among these few reported cases of overdose, the highest estimated ingestion of asenapine was 400 mg. Reported adverse reactions at the highest dosage included agitation and confusion.
• Management of Overdosage: There is no specific antidote to asenapine. The possibility of multiple drug involvement should be considered. An electrocardiogram should be obtained and management of overdose should concentrate on supportive therapy, maintaining an adequate airway, oxygenation and ventilation, and management of symptoms. Consult with a Certified Poison Control Center for up-to-date guidance and advice on the management of overdosage (1-800-222-1222.) Hypotension and circulatory collapse should be treated with appropriate measures, such as intravenous fluids and/or sympathomimetic agents (epinephrine and dopamine should not be used, since beta stimulation may worsen hypotension in the setting of asenapine-induced alpha blockade). In case of severe extrapyramidal symptoms, anticholinergic medication should be administered. Close medical supervision and monitoring should continue until the patient recovers.