Victoza PI Flashcards
Victoza carries a boxed warning for what?
risk of thyroid c-cell tumors
What is Victoza’s official indication?
Victoza is indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.
Does Victoza have any contraindications?
Yes, Victoza is contraindicated in: - patients with a personal or family history of MTC (medullary thyroid carcinoma) - patients with Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome 2 (MEN 2)
What does MTC in the Victoza PI stand for?
Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma
What does MEN 2 stand for in the Victoza PI?
Multiple Endocrine Neoplasia syndrome type 2
Victoza has 4 important limitations of use. What are they?
- Not recommended as first-line therapy for patients inadequately controlled on diet and exercise
- Limited data in patients with a history of pancreatitis
- Not for treatment of type 1 DM or DKA
- Has not been studied with prandial insulin.
When is Victoza dosed?
once a day, any time of day, independent of meals
Where can Victoza be injected?
subcutaneously in the abdomen, thigh, or upper arm
What dosage should therapy be initiated with Victoza?
Initiate at 0.6mg per day for one week. After one week, increase dose to 1.2 mg. If 1.2 is inadequate, increase to 1.8 mg.
Name the 6 Warnings & Precautions in the Victoza PI
- Thyroid C-cell rumors in animals
- Pancreatitis
- Serious hypoglycemia (when used with SFU or insulin)
- Renal impairment
- Hypersensitivity
- Macrovascular outcomes: no studies
What were the 4 common adverse reactions that were reported in >5% of treatment patients and more common than placebo?
- Headache
- Nausea
- Diarrhea
- Anti-liraglutide antibody formation
What were the rates of immunogenicity-related events, including urticaria, in Victoza-treated patients versus comparator patients?
0.8% (Victoza) versus 0.4% (comparator)
What is the exact wording of the boxed warning regarding thyroid c-cell rumors?
Liraglutide causes dose-dependent and treatment-duration dependent thyroid c-cell rumors at clinically relevant exposures in both genders of rats and mice. It is unknown whether Victoza causes c-cell tumors, including MTC in humans, as human relevance could not be rules out by clinic or non clinical studies.
What is the function of the thyroid?
to regulate the body’s metabolism.
What percentage of new cases of cancers in the US are thyroid cancers?
2.5%
What percentage of cancer deaths in the US in 2009 was due to thyroid cancer?
0.3%
According to data from Surveillance Epidemiology and End Results (SEER), how many estimated cases of medullary thyroid cancer are represented per year?
600 cases per year
What are the 3 types of thyroid cancer?
- Differentiated (94%)
- Medullary (4%)
- Anaplastic (2%)
What is the 10-year survival rate of patients treated for MTC?
70-90%
According to Victoza’s indication, can it be used as monotherapy?
Yes, Victoza can be used as monotherapy. Although, a limitation of use is in the PI that says that it should not be used as first-line therapy.
Victoza has been studied with other diabetes medications in 5 different combinations. What are they?
- Victoza + metformin
- Victoza + SFU
- Victoza + met + SFU
- Victoza + met + insulin
- Victoza + met + TZD
Has Victoza been studied in combination with prandial insulin?
No
Should Victoza be used in patients with type 1 diabetes? Why or Why not?
No, because Victoza requires functioning beta cells to be effective.
Based on elimination half-life, patients should be advised to reinitiate Victoza at 0.6 mg if more than ________ days have elapsed since the last Victoza dose.
3 days. Upon reinitiation, Victoza should be titrated at the discretion of the prescribing HCP.
What should a patient do if they miss their scheduled Victoza dose?
a patient should just wait until their next schedule dose and take it as scheduled.
Each Victoza pen comes in a pre-filled pen that contains a total of ________ of liraglutide in solution.
18 mg
How many days worth of medicine is in one Victoza pen if the patient is on 1.2 mg daily?
15 days
How many days worth of medicine is in a Victoza pen if the patient is on 1.8 mg daily?
10 days
In clinical trials of Victoza, malignant C-cell carcinomas were detected in rats and mice. How much greater was the clinical exposure to these rats compared to controls?
A statistically significant increase in cancer was observed in rats receiving Victoza at 8-TIMES clinical exposure compared to controls.
In clinical trials of Victoza, how many reported cases of thyroid C-cell hyperplasia were there in the Victoza arm compared to the comparator-treated patients?
6 cases in Victoza patients compared to 2 in the comparator-treated arm (equals 1.3 vs. 1.0 cases per 1000 patient-years)
Of the 6 Victoza-treated patients who developed thyroid C-cell hyperplasia, how many had elevated calcitonin levels at baseline and throughout the trial?
5 out of 6
What is considered to be a biological marker for MTC?
calcitonin
True or False: At Weeks 26 and 52 in the Victoza clinical trials, adjusted mean serum calcitonin concentrations were higher in Victoza-treated patients compared to placebo-treated patients but not compared to patients receiving active comparator.
True
True or False: No cases of MTC have been reported in patients taking Victoza in the clinical trial, although 1 case was reported in a comparator group.
True.
What are the symptoms associated with thyroid tumors?
- mass in the neck
- trouble swallowing (dysphagia)
- shortness of breath (dyspnea)
- persistent hoarseness
In clinical trials of Victoza, how many cases of pancreatitis were reported in the Victoza-treated arm?
13 cases of pancreatitis were reported in Victoza-treated patients (compared to 1 in comparator-treated patients)
Of the 13 reported cases of pancreatitis in Victoza-treated patients, how many were acute pancreatitis versus chronic pancreatitis?
9 acute pancreatitis, 4 chronic pancreatitis
How many Victoza-treated patients had pancreatitis with necrosis, resulting in death, in the clinical trials?
1 patient, although clinical causality could not be established
What is the definition of pancreatitis?
inflammation of the pancreas
What is acute pancreatitis?
Acute pancreatitis is an inflammation of the pancreas that occurs suddenly. It usually resolves in a few days with treatment. It can be life-threatening illness with severe complications.
What are some of the causes of pancreatitis?
- Gallstones, which obstruct the ducts that carry bile or pancreatic secretions
- Chronic, heavy alcohol use
- Abdominal trauma
- Medications
- Infections
- Tumors
- Severe elevations of triglycerides
- Hyperglycemia
- Genetic abnormalities of the pancreas
What is chronic pancreatitis and what are its characteristics?
Chronic pancreatitis is inflammation of the pancreas that does not heal or improve. - it worsens over time and leads to permanent damage
What are some of the causes of chronic pancreatitis?
- heavy alcohol use (most common cause)
- hereditary disorders of the pancreas
- cystic fibrosis
- hyperglycemia
- hyperlipidemia
- hypertriglyceridemia
- Some medications
- Certain autoimmune conditions
True or False: the rate of pancreatitis in Victoza-treated patients is lower than in the general population of patients with type 2 diabetes.
True
Has Victoza been found to be directly nephrotoxic in either animal studies or clinical trials?
No, but there have been postmarketing reports of acute renal failure and worsening of chronic renal failure.
Is dose adjustment required in patients with renal impairment?
No, but initiation and dose escalation should be done with caution in these patients.
True or False: Patients have reported anaphylactic reactions and angioedema in postmarketing use of Victoza.
True.
The safety of Victoza has been evaluated in ____ clinical trials.
8
Of the 8 Victoza clinical trials, what was the length of each trial?
There was one 52-week monotherapy trial, and seven 26-week add-on therapy trials.
The incidence of withdrawals due to adverse events was _____ % for Victoza-treated patients and _____% for comparator-treated patients in the 5 double-blind trials of 26 weeks or longer.
7.8% (Victoza), 3.4% (comparator)