Zioptan Drug Information

ZIOPTAN® is indicated for reducing elevated intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. ZIOPTAN is a prostaglandin analog indicated for reducing elevated intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension.

Recommended Dosage

The recommended dosage is one drop in the conjunctival sac of the affected eye(s) once daily in the evening.

Administration Instructions

ZIOPTAN should not be administered more than once daily since it has been shown that more frequent administration of prostaglandin analogs may lessen the intraocular pressure (IOP) lowering effect. Reduction of the intraocular pressure starts approximately 2 to 4 hours after the first administration with the maximum effect reached after 12 hours. ZIOPTAN may be used concomitantly with other topical ophthalmic drug products to lower IOP. If more than one topical ophthalmic product is being used, each one should be administered at least 5 minutes apart.

The solution from one single-dose container is to be used immediately after opening for administration to one or both eyes. Since sterility cannot be maintained after the single-dose container is opened, discard the open single-dose container and the remaining contents immediately after administration.

Clinical Studies Experience

Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical studies 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. Preservative-containing or nonpreserved tafluprost 0.0015% was evaluated in 905 patients in five controlled clinical studies of up to 24-months duration. The most common adverse reaction observed in patients treated with tafluprost was conjunctival hyperemia which was reported in a range of 4% to 20% of patients.

Approximately 1% of patients discontinued therapy due to ocular adverse reactions. Ocular adverse reactions reported at an incidence of ≥ 2% in these clinical studies included ocular stinging/irritation (7%), ocular pruritus including allergic conjunctivitis (5%), cataract (3%), dry eye (3%), ocular pain (3%), eyelash darkening (2%), growth of eyelashes (2%) and vision blurred (2%). Nonocular adverse reactions reported at an incidence of 2% to 6% in these clinical studies in patients treated with tafluprost 0.0015% were headache (6%), common cold (4%), cough (3%) and urinary tract infection (2%).

Postmarketing Experience

The following adverse reactions have been identified during postapproval use of tafluprost. Because postapproval adverse 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. Respiratory disorders: exacerbation of asthma, dyspnea Eye disorders: iritis/uveitis In postmarketing use with prostaglandin analogs, periorbital and lid changes including deepening of the eyelid sulcus have been observed.

Pregnancy Risk Summary There are no adequate and well-controlled studies of ZIOPTAN administration in pregnant women to inform of drug-associated risks. In animal reproduction studies, intravenous administration of tafluprost to pregnant rabbits and rats throughout organogenesis resulted in embryofetal toxicities at exposures ≥5-times the human dose in rabbit and ≥2362-times the human dose in rat. (see Data). The estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage for the indicated population(s) is 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 embryo-fetal development studies, intravenous administration of tafluprost to pregnant rats and rabbits during organogenesis caused increases in post-implantation losses in both species and reductions in fetal body weights in rats (≥0.03 mcg/kg/day in rabbits, 5-times the maximum clinical exposure based on Cmax; ≥10 mcg/kg/day in rats, 2362-times the maximum clinical exposure based on Cmax). Tafluprost also increased the incidence of vertebral skeletal abnormalities in rats and the incidence of skull, brain and spine malformations in rabbits at these same doses. In rats, there were no adverse effects on embryo-fetal development at a dose of 3 mcg/kg/day corresponding to maternal plasma levels of tafluprost acid that were 343 times the maximum clinical exposure based on Cmax.

At the no-effect dose in rabbits (0.01 mcg/kg/day), maternal plasma levels of tafluprost acid were below the lower level of quantification (20 pg/mL). In a pre- and postnatal development study, intravenous administration of tafluprost to pregnant rats during organogenesis and through birth and lactation, caused increased mortality of newborns, decreased body weights and delayed pinna unfolding in offsprings. The no observed adverse effect level was at a tafluprost intravenous dose of 0.3 mcg/kg/day which is greater than 3 times the maximum recommended clinical dose based on body surface area comparison.

Pediatric Use Use in pediatric patients is not recommended because of potential safety concerns related to increased pigmentation following long-term chronic use.