Granix Drug Information

is indicated to reduce the duration of severe neutropenia in adult and pediatric patients 1 month and older with non-myeloid malignancies receiving myelosuppressive anticancer drugs associated with a clinically significant incidence of febrile neutropenia. GRANIX (tbo-filgrastim) is a leukocyte growth factor indicated in adult and pediatric patients 1 month and older for reduction in the duration of severe neutropenia in patients with non-myeloid malignancies receiving myelosuppressive anticancer drugs associated with a clinically significant incidence of febrile neutropenia.

Recommended Dosage

The recommended dose of GRANIX is 5 mcg/kg per day administered as a subcutaneous injection. Administer the first dose of GRANIX no earlier than 24 hours following myelosuppressive chemotherapy. Do not administer GRANIX within 24 hours prior to chemotherapy.

Daily dosing with GRANIX should continue until the expected neutrophil nadir is passed and the neutrophil count has recovered to the normal range. Monitor complete blood count (CBC) prior to chemotherapy and twice per week until recovery.

General Considerations for

Administration GRANIX may be administered by either a healthcare professional, a patient or caregiver. Before a decision is made to allow GRANIX to be administered by a patient or caregiver, ensure that the patient is an appropriate candidate for self-administration or administration by a caregiver. Proper training on storage, preparation, and administration technique should be provided.

If a patient or caregiver is not an appropriate candidate for any reason, then in such patients, GRANIX should be administered by a healthcare professional. Dispense only the prefilled syringe without a safety needle guard device to patient or caregiver. Instruct patients and caregivers to follow the Instructions for Use provided with the GRANIX prefilled syringe to properly administer an injection after training by a healthcare professional.

Visually inspect parenteral drug products for particulate matter and discoloration prior to administration. Do not administer GRANIX if discoloration or particulates are observed. The prefilled syringe and vial are for single-dose only.

Discard unused portions. GRANIX and all its components are not made with natural rubber latex. Recommended sites for subcutaneous GRANIX injections include the abdomen (except for the two-inch area around the navel), the front of the middle thighs, the upper outer areas of the buttocks, or the upper back portion of the upper arms.

The injection site should be varied daily. GRANIX should not be injected into an area that is tender, red, bruised, or hard, or that has scars or stretch marks.

Important

Administration Instructions for Healthcare Professionals Hold the syringe assembly by the open sides of the device and remove the needle shield. Expel any extra volume depending on dose needed. Inject GRANIX subcutaneously as recommended.

Push the plunger as far as it will go to inject all the medication. Injection of the entire prefilled syringe contents is necessary to activate the needle guard. With the plunger still pressed all the way down, remove the needle from the skin.

Slowly let go of the plunger and allow the empty syringe to move up inside the device until the entire needle is guarded. Discard the syringe assembly in approved containers. needle image 1 needle image 2 needle image 3 needle image 4 needle image 5 needleimage 6

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 clinical practice. Adverse Reactions in Adult Patients GRANIX clinical trials safety data are based upon the results of three randomized clinical trials in patients receiving myeloablative chemotherapy for breast cancer (N=348), lung cancer (N=240) and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (N=92). In the breast cancer study, 99% of patients were female, the median age was 50 years, and 86% of patients were Caucasian. In the lung cancer study, 80% of patients were male, the median age was 58 years, and 95% of patients were Caucasian.

In the non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma study, 52% of patients were male, the median age was 55 years, and 88% of patients were Caucasian. In all three studies a placebo (Cycle 1 of the breast cancer study only) or a non-U.S.-approved filgrastim product were used as controls. Both GRANIX and the non-U.S.-approved filgrastim product were administered at 5 mcg/kg subcutaneously once daily beginning one day after chemotherapy for at least five days and continued to a maximum of 14 days or until an ANC of ≥10,000 x 10 6 /L after nadir was reached.

Bone pain was the most frequent treatment-emergent adverse reaction that occurred in at least 1% or greater in patients treated with GRANIX at the recommended dose and was numerically two times more frequent than in the placebo group. The overall incidence of bone pain in Cycle 1 of treatment was 3.4% (3.4% GRANIX, 1.4% placebo, 7.5% non-U.S.-approved filgrastim product). Leukocytosis In clinical studies, leukocytosis (WBC counts > 100,000 x 10 6 /L) was observed in less than 1% patients with non-myeloid malignancies receiving GRANIX. No complications attributable to leukocytosis were reported in clinical studies. Additional Adverse Reactions Other adverse reactions known to occur following administration of filgrastim products include myalgia, headache, vomiting, cutaneous vasculitis and thrombocytopenia.

Adverse Reactions in Pediatric Patients GRANIX clinical trials safety data in pediatric patients are based upon the results of one single-arm clinical trial in 50 pediatric patients who received myelosuppressive chemotherapy for treatment of solid tumors without marrow involvement . In this study, GRANIX was administered at 5 mcg/kg subcutaneously once daily beginning one day after chemotherapy. The most common (>5%) adverse reactions included thrombocytopenia (34%), pyrexia (8%), pain in extremity (6%), headache (6%) and diarrhea (6%).

Postmarketing Experience

The following adverse reactions have been identified during post-approval use of GRANIX. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. Sweet’s syndrome (acute febrile neutrophilic dermatosis), asthenia, diarrhea, and fatigue

Pregnancy Risk Summary The limited published data on filgrastim product use during pregnancy are insufficient to inform a drug-associated risk. In animal reproduction studies, administration of tbo-filgrastim to pregnant rabbits during organogenesis resulted in increased spontaneous abortion and fetal malformations at systemic exposures 50 to 90 times the human exposure expected at the recommended human dose (see Data). GRANIX should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus. The estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage for the indicated population(s) are unknown.

All pregnancies have a background risk of birth defect, loss, or other adverse outcomes. In the U.S. general population, the estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage in clinically recognized pregnancies is 2% to 4% and 15% to 20%, respectively. Data Animal Data In an embryofetal developmental study, pregnant rabbits were administered subcutaneous doses of tbo-filgrastim during the period of organogenesis at 1, 10 and 100 mcg/kg/day.

Increased abortions were evident in rabbits treated with tbo-filgrastim at 100 mcg/kg/day. This dose was maternally toxic as demonstrated by reduced body weight. Other embryofetal findings at this dose level consisted of post-implantation loss‚ decrease in mean live litter size and fetal weight, and fetal malformations such as malformed hind limbs and cleft palate.

The dose of 100 mcg/kg/day corresponds to a systemic exposure (AUC) of approximately 50 to 90 times the exposures observed in patients treated with the clinical tbo-filgrastim dose of 5 mcg/kg/day.

Pediatric Use The safety and effectiveness of GRANIX have been established for pediatric patients 1 month to < 17 years old (no data for the age group < 1 month old). Use of GRANIX in these age groups is supported by evidence from adequate and well-controlled studies of GRANIX in adults with additional safety and pharmacokinetics data from a single-arm trial of 50 pediatric patients with solid tumors treated with GRANIX for chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. The 50 pediatric patients had a median age of 9.2 years (range, 1.4 to 15.9 years); 2 were infants (1 month to < 2 years old), 30 were children (2 to < 12 years old), and 18 were adolescents (12 to < 17 years old). The pharmacokinetics and safety profile of GRANIX in the pediatric population were similar to those seen in adults .

is contraindicated in patients with a history of serious allergic reactions to filgrastim products or pegfilgrastim products. Patients with a history of serious allergic reactions to filgrastim products or pegfilgrastim products.