Nitrolingual Drug Information

Nitrolingual Pumpspray is indicated for acute relief of an attack or prophylaxis of angina pectoris due to coronary artery disease. Nitrolingual Pumpspray is a nitrate vasodilator indicated for acute relief of an attack or prophylaxis of angina pectoris due to coronary artery disease.

Recommended Dosage Instruct the patient to administer one or two metered sprays

(400 mcg of nitroglycerin per spray) at the onset of an attack onto or under the tongue. A spray may be repeated approximately every five minutes as needed. No more than three metered sprays are recommended within a 15-minute period.

If the chest pain persists after a total of three sprays, advise prompt medical attention. Nitrolingual Pumpspray may be used prophylactically 5 to 10 minutes prior to engaging in activities that might precipitate an acute attack.

Priming

The pump must be primed prior to the first use. Each metered spray of Nitrolingual Pumpspray delivers 48 mg of solution containing 400 mcg of nitroglycerin after an initial priming of five sprays. It will remain adequately primed for 6 weeks.

If the product is not used within 6 weeks it can be adequately re-primed with one spray. If the product is not used within 3 months it can be adequately re-primed with up to five sprays. There are 60 or 200 metered sprays per bottle.

The total number of available doses is dependent, however, on the number of sprays per use (1 or 2 sprays), and the frequency of priming.

Administration Instruct patients that during administration, the patient should rest, ideally in

the sitting position. Hold the container vertically with the valve head uppermost and the spray orifice as close to the mouth as possible. Spray the dose preferably onto or under the tongue by pressing the grooved-button firmly and the mouth closed immediately after each dose.

THE SPRAY SHOULD NOT BE INHALED. The medication should not be expectorated or the mouth rinsed for 5 to 10 minutes following administration. Instruct patients to familiarize themselves with the position of the spray orifice, which can be identified by the finger rest on top of the valve, in order to facilitate orientation for administration at night. The amount of liquid remaining in the container should be checked periodically.

The transparent container can be used for continuous monitoring of the consumption. With the container upright and level, check to be sure the end of the center tube extends below the level of the liquid. Once fluid falls below the level of the center tube, remaining sprays will not deliver intended dose.

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 occurring at a frequency greater than 2 % and greater than placebo included: headache, dizziness, and paresthesia.

Postmarketing Experience

The following adverse reactions have been identified during post-approval use of Nitrolingual Pumpspray and other nitroglycerin drugs. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to estimate their frequency reliably or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. Neurologic: weakness, drowsiness Dermatologic: cutaneous vasodilation, flushing, drug rash, exfoliative dermatitits Gastrointestinal: nausea, vomiting Respiratory: transient hypoxemia Cardiovascular: tachycardia

• Antihypertensives: possible additive hypotensive effects.
• Ergotamine: increased bioavailability of ergotamine. Avoid concomitant use 7. 1 P DE -5- I nhibitors and sGC- S timulators Nitrolingual Pumpspray is contraindicated in patients who are using a selective inhibitor of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)-specific phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE-5). PDE-5-Inhibitors such as avanafil, sildenafil, vardenafil, and tadalafil have been shown to potentiate the hypotensive effects of organic nitrates. Nitrolingual Pumpspray is contraindicated in patients who are taking soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulators. Concomitant use can cause hypotension. The time course and dose dependence of these interactions have not been studied, and use within a few days of one another is not recommended. Appropriate supportive care for the severe hypotension has not been studied, but it seems reasonable to treat this as a nitrate overdose, with elevation of the extremities and with central volume expansion. 7. 2 Antihypertensives Patients receiving antihypertensive drugs, beta-adrenergic blockers, and nitrates should be observed for possible additive hypotensive effects. Marked orthostatic hypotension has been reported when calcium channel blockers and organic nitrates were used concomitantly. Beta-adrenergic blockers blunt the reflex tachycardia produced by nitroglycerin without preventing its hypotensive effects. If beta-blockers are used with nitroglycerin in patients with angina pectoris, additional hypotensive effects may occur. 7. 3 Ergotamine Oral administration of nitroglycerin markedly decreases the first-pass metabolism of dihydroergotamine and subsequently increases its oral bioavailability. Ergotamine is known to precipitate angina pectoris. Therefore, patients receiving sublingual nitroglycerin should avoid ergotamine and related drugs or be monitored for symptoms of ergotism if this is not possible.

Pregnancy Risk summary Limited published data on the use of nitroglycerin are insufficient to determine a drug associated risk of major birth defects or miscarriage. In animal reproduction studies, there were no adverse developmental effects when nitroglycerin was administered intravenously to rabbits or intraperitoneally to rats during organogenesis at doses greater than 64-times the human dose. The estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage for the indicated population is unknown.

In the U.S. general population, the estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage in clinically recognized pregnancies is 2 - 4% and 15 - 20%, respectively. Data Animal Data No embryotoxic or postnatal development effects were observed with transdermal application in pregnant rabbits and rats at doses up to 240 mg/kg/day for 13 days, at intraperitoneal doses in pregnant rats up to 20 mg/kg/day for 11 days, and at intravenous doses in pregnant rabbits up to 4 mg/kg/day for 13 days.

Pediatric Use Safety and effectiveness of nitroglycerin in pediatric patients have not been established.

P DE-5 - I nhibitors and sGC- S timulators Do not use

Nitrolingual Pumpspray in patients who are taking PDE-5-Inhibitors, such as avanafil, sildenafil, tadalafil, or vardenafil. Concomitant use can cause severe hypotension, syncope, or myocardial ischemia. Do not use Nitrolingual Pumpspray in patients who are taking soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC) stimulators, such as riociguat.

Concomitant use can cause hypotension.

Severe Anemia Nitrolingual Pumpspray is contraindicated in patients with severe anemia (large

doses of nitroglycerin may cause oxidation of hemoglobin to methemoglobin and could exacerbate anemia).

Increased I ntracranial P ressure Nitrolingual Pumpspray may precipitate or aggravate increased

intracranial pressure and thus should not be used in patients with possible increased intracranial pressure (e. g. cerebral hemorrhage or traumatic brain injury).

Hypersensitivity Nitrolingual Pumpspray is contraindicated in patients who are allergic to nitroglycerin

other nitrates or nitrites or any excipient. 4. 5 Circulatory F ailure and S hock Nitrolingual Pumpspray is contraindicated in patients with acute circulatory failure or shock.

Signs and Symptoms, Methemoglobinemia Nitrate overdosage may result in: severe hypotension, persistent

throbbing headache, vertigo, palpitation, visual disturbance, flushing and perspiring skin (later becoming cold and cyanotic), nausea and vomiting (possibly with colic and even bloody diarrhea), syncope (especially in the upright posture), methemoglobinemia with cyanosis and anorexia, initial hyperpnea, dyspnea and slow breathing, slow pulse (dicrotic and intermittent), heart block, increased intracranial pressure with cerebral symptoms of confusion and moderate fever, paralysis and coma followed by clonic convulsions, and possibly death due to circulatory collapse. Case reports of clinically significant methemoglobinemia are rare at conventional doses of organic nitrates. The formation of methemoglobin is dose-related and in the case of genetic abnormalities of hemoglobin that favor methemoglobin formation, even conventional doses of organic nitrates could produce harmful concentrations of methemoglobin.

Treatment of Overdosage As hypotension associated with nitroglycerin overdose is the result

of venodilatation and arterial hypovolemia, prudent therapy in this situation should be directed toward increase in central fluid volume. No specific antagonist to the vasodilator effects of nitroglycerin is known. Keep the patient recumbent in a shock position and comfortably warm.

Passive movement of the extremities may aid venous return. Intravenous infusion of normal saline or similar fluid may also be necessary. Administer oxygen and artificial ventilation, if necessary.

If methemoglobinemia is present, administration of methylene blue (1 % solution), 1 – 2 mg per kilogram of body weight intravenously, may be required unless the patient is known to have G-6-PD deficiency. If an excessive quantity of Nitrolingual Pumpspray has been recently swallowed gastric lavage may be of use. As epinephrine is ineffective in reversing the severe hypotensive events associated with overdosage, it is not recommended for resuscitation.