Adcirca Information
Adcirca (Tadalafil) Dosage Forms And Strengths
20 mg, orange, film-coated, almond-shaped tablets (not scored) debossed with “4467”.
Adcirca (Tadalafil) Warnings And Precautions
Discuss with patients the appropriate action to take in the event that they experience anginal chest pain requiring nitroglycerin following intake of Adcirca (Tadalafil) . At least 48 hours should elapse after the last dose of Adcirca (Tadalafil) before taking nitrates. If a patient has taken Adcirca (Tadalafil) within 48 hours, administer nitrates under close medical supervision with appropriate hemodynamic monitoring. Patients who experience anginal chest pain after taking Adcirca (Tadalafil) should seek immediate medical attention.
PDE5 inhibitors, including tadalafil, have mild systemic vasodilatory properties that may result in transient decreases in blood pressure. Prior to prescribing Adcirca (Tadalafil) , carefully consider whether patients with underlying cardiovascular disease could be affected adversely by such vasodilatory effects. Patients with severely impaired autonomic control of blood pressure or with left ventricular outflow obstruction, (e.g., aortic stenosis and idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis) may be particularly sensitive to the actions of vasodilators, including PDE5 inhibitors.
Pulmonary vasodilators may significantly worsen the cardiovascular status of patients with pulmonary veno-occlusive disease (PVOD). Since there are no clinical data on administration of Adcirca (Tadalafil) to patients with veno-occlusive disease, administration of Adcirca (Tadalafil) to such patients is not recommended. Should signs of pulmonary edema occur when Adcirca (Tadalafil) is administered, the possibility of associated PVOD should be considered.
There is a lack of data on safety and efficacy in the following groups who were specifically excluded from the PAH clinical trials:
Physicians should advise patients to seek immediate medical attention in the event of a sudden loss of vision in one or both eyes. Such an event may be a sign of non–arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a cause of decreased vision, including permanent loss of vision that has been reported rarely postmarketing in temporal association with the use of all PDE5 inhibitors. It is not possible to determine whether these events are related directly to the use of PDE5 inhibitors or other factors. Physicians should also discuss with patients the increased risk of NAION in individuals who have already experienced NAION in one eye, including whether such individuals could be adversely affected by use of vasodilators such as PDE5 inhibitors .
Patients with known hereditary degenerative retinal disorders, including retinitis pigmentosa, were not included in the clinical trials, and use in these patients is not recommended.
There have been rare reports of prolonged erections greater than 4 hours and priapism (painful erections greater than 6 hours in duration) for this class of compounds. Priapism, if not treated promptly, can result in irreversible damage to the erectile tissue. Patients who have an erection lasting greater than 4 hours, whether painful or not, should seek emergency medical attention.
Adcirca (Tadalafil) should be used with caution in patients who have conditions that might predispose them to priapism (such as sickle cell anemia, multiple myeloma, or leukemia), or in patients with anatomical deformation of the penis (such as angulation, cavernosal fibrosis, or Peyronie's disease).
Adcirca (Tadalafil) Adverse Reactions
The following serious adverse reactions are discussed elsewhere in the labeling:
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.
Tadalafil was administered to 398 patients with PAH during clinical trials worldwide. In trials of Adcirca (Tadalafil) , a total of 311 and 251 subjects have been treated for at least 182 days and 360 days, respectively. The overall rates of discontinuation because of an adverse event (AE) in the placebo-controlled trial were 9% for Adcirca (Tadalafil) 40 mg and 15% for placebo. The rates of discontinuation because of AEs, other than those related to worsening of PAH, in patients treated with Adcirca (Tadalafil) 40 mg was 4% compared to 5% in placebo-treated patients.
In the placebo-controlled study, the most common AEs were generally transient and mild to moderate in intensity. presents treatment-emergent adverse events reported by ≥9% of patients in the Adcirca (Tadalafil) 40 mg group and occurring more frequently than with placebo.
The following adverse reactions have been identified during post-approval use of tadalafil. These events have been chosen for inclusion either because of their seriousness, reporting frequency, lack of clear alternative causation, or a combination of these factors. Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to estimate reliably their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. The list does not include adverse events that are reported from clinical trials and that are listed elsewhere in this section.
Body as a whole
Nervous
Ophthalmologic
Non–arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION), a cause of decreased vision including permanent loss of vision, has been reported rarely postmarketing in temporal association with the use of PDE5 inhibitors, including tadalafil. Most, but not all, of these patients had underlying anatomic or vascular risk factors for development of NAION, including but not necessarily limited to: low cup to disc ratio (“crowded disc”), age over 50, diabetes, hypertension, coronary artery disease, hyperlipidemia, and smoking. It is not possible to determine whether these events are related directly to the use of PDE5 inhibitors, to the patient's underlying vascular risk factors or anatomical defects, to a combination of these factors, or to other factors .
Adcirca (Tadalafil) Use In Specific Populations
For patients with mild or moderate renal impairment, start Adcirca (Tadalafil) at 20 mg once daily. Increase the dose to 40 mg once daily based upon individual tolerability .
In patients with severe renal impairment, avoid use of Adcirca (Tadalafil) because of increased tadalafil exposure (AUC), limited clinical experience, and the lack of ability to influence clearance by dialysis .
Adcirca (Tadalafil) Overdosage
Single doses up to 500 mg have been given to healthy male subjects, and multiple daily doses up to 100 mg have been given to male patients with erectile dysfunction. Adverse reactions were similar to those seen at lower doses. Doses greater than 40 mg have not been studied in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension. In cases of overdose, standard supportive measures should be adopted as needed. Hemodialysis contributes negligibly to tadalafil elimination.
Adcirca (Tadalafil) Description
Adcirca (Tadalafil) (tadalafil), an oral treatment for pulmonary arterial hypertension, is a selective inhibitor of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP)–specific phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5). Tadalafil has the empirical formula CHNO representing a molecular weight of 389.41. The structural formula is:
The chemical designation is pyrazino[1´,2´:1,6]pyrido[3,4–b]indole-1,4-dione, 6-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-yl)-2,3,6,7,12,12a-hexahydro-2-methyl-, (6R,12aR)-. It is a crystalline solid that is practically insoluble in water and very slightly soluble in ethanol.
Adcirca (Tadalafil) is available as orange, film–coated, almond–shaped tablets for oral administration. Each tablet contains 20 mg of tadalafil and the following inactive ingredients: croscarmellose sodium, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hypromellose, iron oxide, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, sodium lauryl sulfate, talc, titanium dioxide, and triacetin.
Adcirca (Tadalafil) Clinical Pharmacology
Tadalafil is an inhibitor of phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5), the enzyme responsible for the degradation of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP). Pulmonary arterial hypertension is associated with impaired release of nitric oxide by the vascular endothelium and consequent reduction of cGMP concentrations in the pulmonary vascular smooth muscle. PDE5 is the predominant phosphodiesterase in the pulmonary vasculature. Inhibition of PDE5 by tadalafil increases the concentrations of cGMP resulting in relaxation of pulmonary vascular smooth muscle cells and vasodilation of the pulmonary vascular bed.
Studies have demonstrated that tadalafil is a selective inhibitor of PDE5. PDE5 is found in pulmonary vascular smooth muscle, visceral smooth muscle, corpus cavernosum, skeletal muscle, platelets, kidney, lung, cerebellum, and pancreas.
Adcirca (Tadalafil) Nonclinical Toxicology
Reproduction studies have been performed in rats and mice at exposures up to 17 times the MRHD of 40 mg and have revealed no evidence of impaired fertility or harm to the fetus because of tadalafil. In addition, there was no evidence of teratogenicity, embryotoxicity, or fetotoxicity when tadalafil was given to pregnant rats or mice at exposures up to 7 times the MRHD during the period of major organ development.
In a rat prenatal and postnatal development study at doses of 60, 200, and 1000 mg/kg, a reduction in postnatal survival of pups was observed. The no-observed-effect-level (NOEL) for maternal toxicity was 200 mg/kg/day and for developmental toxicity was 30 mg/kg/day. This gives approximately 8- and 5-fold exposure multiples, respectively, of the human AUC for the MRHD of 40 mg. Tadalafil and/or its metabolites cross the placenta, resulting in fetal exposure in rats.
Tadalafil and/or its metabolites were secreted into the milk in lactating rats at concentrations approximately 2.4–fold greater than found in the plasma.
Adcirca (Tadalafil) Clinical Studies
A randomized, double-blind, 16 week placebo-controlled study was conducted in 405 patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension, defined as a resting mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) ≥25 mm Hg, pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) ≤15 mm Hg, and pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) ≥3 Wood units via right heart catheterization. Allowed background therapy included bosentan (maintenance dosing up to 125 mg twice daily) and chronic anticoagulation. The use of prostacyclin or analogue, L-arginine, phosphodiesterase inhibitor, or other chronic PAH medications were not permitted.
Subjects were randomly assigned to 1 of 5 treatment groups (tadalafil 2.5, 10, 20, 40 mg, or placebo) in a 1:1:1:1:1 ratio. Subjects had to be at least 12 years of age and had a diagnosis of PAH that was idiopathic, heritable, related to connective tissue disease, anorexigen use, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, associated with an atrial-septal defect, or associated with surgical repair of a congenital systemic-to-pulmonary shunt of least 1 year in duration (for example, ventricular septal defect, patent ductus arteriosus). Patients with a history of left-sided heart disease, severe renal insufficiency, or pulmonary hypertension related to conditions other than specified in the inclusion criteria were not eligible for enrollment.
The mean age of all subjects was 54 years (range 14 - 90 years) with the majority of subjects being Caucasian (81%) and female (78%). PAH etiologies were predominantly idiopathic or heritable PAH (61%) and related to connective tissue disease (23%). More than half (53%) of the subjects in the study were receiving concomitant bosentan therapy. The majority of subjects had a World Health Organization (WHO) Functional Class III (65%) or II (32%). The mean baseline 6-minute walk distance (6-MWD) was 343 meters. Of the 405 subjects, 341 completed the study.
The primary efficacy endpoint was the change from baseline at week 16 in 6-MWD (
). In the Adcirca (Tadalafil) 40 mg treatment group, the placebo-adjusted mean change increase in 6-MWD was 33 meters (95% C.I. 15-50 meters; p=0.0004). The improvement in 6-MWD was apparent at 8 weeks of treatment and then maintained at week 12 and week 16.
Placebo-adjusted changes in 6-MWD at 16 weeks were evaluated in subgroups (
). In patients taking only Adcirca (Tadalafil) 40 mg (i.e., without concomitant bosentan), the placebo-adjusted mean change in 6-MWD was 44 meters. In patients taking Adcirca (Tadalafil) 40 mg and concomitant bosentan therapy, the placebo adjusted mean change in 6-MWD was 23 meters.
There was less clinical worsening (defined as death, lung transplantation, atrial septostomy, hospitalization because of worsening PAH, initiation of new PAH therapy [prostacyclin or analog, endothelin receptor antagonist, PDE5 inhibitor], or worsening WHO functional class) in the Adcirca (Tadalafil) 40 mg group compared to the placebo group and the groups that used lower doses of Adcirca (Tadalafil) .
The Kaplan-Meier plot of times to clinical worsening is shown below in .
Adcirca (Tadalafil) How Supplied/storage And Handling
Adcirca (Tadalafil) is supplied as follows:
20 mg orange, film–coated, almond–shaped tablets (not scored), debossed with “4467”
Bottles of 60 NDC 66302-467-60
Store at 25°C (77°F): excursions permitted to 15–30°C (59–86°F) [see USP Controlled Room Temperature].
Keep out of reach of children.
Adcirca (Tadalafil) Patient Counseling Information
See FDA-Approved Patient Labeling
Adcirca (Tadalafil)
Adcirca (Tadalafil)
Adcirca (Tadalafil)
