Side effects of Gentonorm in details
Pediatric Patients With GHD
In a clinical study in which Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ® 0.053mg/kg/day (vs. the same dose of an active somatropin control) was administered to 98 children with GHD for 12 months, the following adverse events were seen most frequently (≥5.0% in either treatment group): headache, pyrexia, cough, respiratory tract infection, diarrhea, vomiting and pharyngitis. The incidence of all of these adverse events were similar in the 2 treatment groups, and these adverse events reflect very common pediatric illnesses.
Table 7
Adverse Events Observed In Children With GHD Treated with Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ® vs. Comparator for 12 Months
| Adverse events (Incidence ≥5.0% in either group) | Gentonorm® (n=98) | Comparator (n=49) |
| Headache | 10 (10.2%) | 8 (16.3%) |
| Pyrexia | 9 (9.2%) | 8 (16.3%) |
| Cough | 5 (5.1%) | 3 (6.1%) |
| Respiratory tract infection (NOS)* | 5 (5.1%) | 1 (2.0%) |
| Diarrhea | 3 (3.1%) | 4 (8.2%) |
| Vomiting | 4 (4.1%) | 4 (8.2%) |
| Pharyngitis | 3 (3.1%) | 4 (8.2%) |
| n = number of patients * NOS = not otherwise specified |
During this study, a very modest degree of glucose intolerance was observed in the 98 patients treated with Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ® for 12 months (which was comparable to that observed in the comparator group). No de novo cases of overt diabetes mellitus were diagnosed. See PRECAUTIONS, General regarding somatropin-induced glucose intolerance.
Out of 98 patients with pediatric GHD randomized to treatment with Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ® in the pivotal study described above, 26 (26.5%) had preexisting central hypothyroidism. Exacerbation of this preexisting central hypothyroidism appeared to be common. During 12 months of Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ® treatment, 18 out of these 26 patients (~69%) with preexisting central hypothyroidism (who were being treated with a thyroxine preparation prior to study entry) required up-titration of their thyroxine replacement dose (primarily based on declining levels of free T4). On the other hand, none of the 72 patients without preexisting central hypothyroidism manifested de novo central hypothyroidism while on-study. See PRECAUTIONS, DRUG INTERACTIONS.
The 1 patient with preexisting central hypoadrenalism enrolled in this study required a slight increase in her maintenance hydrocortisone replacement dose after treatment with Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ®, possibly compatible with somatropin-induced exacerbation of preexisting central hypoadrenalism. None of the remaining 97 patients without preexisting central hypoadrenalism manifested de novo central hypoadrenalism while on-study. See PRECAUTIONS, DRUG INTERACTIONS.
In addition, during the clinical trial described above, low titer anti-rhGH antibodies* were reported in 3 patients treated with Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ® (vs. 1 patient treated with the comparator), and low titer anti-host cell protein antibodies were observed in 2 patients treated with Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ®. These antibodies appeared after 6 months of treatment, disappeared after 12 months of treatment, and did not attenuate the growth response of these children.
*As with all protein pharmaceuticals, a small percentage of patients may develop antibodies to the protein. Anti-growth hormone antibodies with binding capacity lower than 2 mg/L have not been associated growth attenuation. In some patients, when binding capacity was greater than 2 mg/L, interference with growth response was observed in published data. Any patient with well documented pediatric GHD who fails to respond to Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ® therapy should be tested for neutralizing antibodies to rhGH and undergo a careful evaluation to rule out other causes of growth failure.
In published literature, leukemia has been reported in a small number of pediatric GHD patients treated with somatropin. It is uncertain whether this increased risk is related to the pathology of GHD itself, somatropin therapy, or other associated treatments such as radiation therapy for intracranial tumors. So far, epidemiological data have failed to confirm the hypothesis of a relationship between somatropin therapy and leukemia.
Pediatric Patients With Turner Syndrome
TS children with short stature were treated with 0.37 mg/kg/week of Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ® (5 mg = 15 IU formulation) (n=30) and 0.33 mg/kg/week of Eutropin™ INJ (1.33 mg = 4 IU formulation qualitatively identical to Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ®) (n=60) during Study 1 and Study 2, respectively. Adverse events were reported by 10 (33.3%) children during Study 1. Most of these adverse events reflect very common pediatric illnesses. The most frequently (≥1.0%) reported adverse events were respiratory tract infections and ear infections. Turner syndrome patients are more prone to ear disorders and treatment with somatropin may increase the occurrence of these problems. One patient developed low titer antibodies to rhGH, and one other patient developed low titer anti-yeast antibodies which proved to be transient. During Study 2, a similar pattern of adverse events was observed (data not shown). Two patients developed low titer anti-rhGH antibodies at Month 12. Of interest, there were no reports in either study of benign intracranial hypertension, aggravation of preexisting scoliosis, slipped capital femoral epiphysis and hypertension. Somatropin-induced glucose intolerance will be discussed separately in the next paragraph. All patients with reported adverse events recovered during continued treatment.
Table 8
Adverse Events Observed In Children
With Turner Syndrome Treated with Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ® for 12 Months
| Adverse Events (Incidence ≥1.0%) | Gentonorm® (n=30) | |
| n | % | |
| Respiratory tract infection (NOS)* | 4 | 13.3 |
| Ear infection (NOS) | 2 | 6.7 |
| Otitis media (NOS) | 1 | 3.3 |
| Anti-rhGH antibody positive | 1 | 3.3 |
| Anti-yeast antibody positive | 1 | 3.3 |
| Edema peripheral | 1 | 3.3 |
| Respiratory tract infection viral (NOS)* | 1 | 3.3 |
| Rhinitis NOS* | 1 | 3.3 |
| Sinusitis NOS* | 1 | 3.3 |
| Influenza | 1 | 3.3 |
| Injection site pain | 1 | 3.3 |
| Pyrexia | 1 | 3.3 |
| n = number of patients *NOS = not otherwise specified |
During Study 1, a modest degree of glucose intolerance was observed in the 30 patients treated with Eutropin™ INJ for 12 months. No de novo cases of overt diabetes mellitus were diagnosed.
On the other hand, during Study 2, a much greater amount of glucose intolerance was observed: a) 3 patients (with normal fasting blood glucose [FBG] values at baseline [<100 mg/dL]) had FBG values between 130 and 145 mg/dL at Month 12 as well as at other study time points and (given the absence of follow-up data after study termination) may have developed somatropin-induced de novo diabetes mellitus; and b) 16 out of 41 patients (with normal FBG values at baseline) had FBG values between 100-126 mg/dL at Month 12 (and 3 of these 16 patients had FBG values >126 mg/dL transiently during the study). Since the amount of somatropin administered in Study 2 (0.33 mg/kg/week) was slightly less than the amount administered in Study 1 (0.37 mg/kg/week), these findings are difficult to interpret. It is possible that some of these patients were not actually fasting when blood samples were taken. See PRECAUTIONS (General) regarding the well known potential of somatropin drug products to cause or unmask glucose intolerance, especially in patients at greater inherent risk for diabetes mellitus, i.e. patients with Turner syndrome.
Adult Patients With GHD
Adult GHD patients were treated with Eutropin™ INJ (1.33 mg = 4 IU formulation; qualitatively identical to Gentonorm (somatropin injection) ®, a 5 mg = 15 IU formulation) vs. placebo during the pivotal clinical study. Ninety two patients received at least 3 months of treatment with Eutropin™ INJ (31 of these patients were treated with Eutropin™ INJ for an additional 3 months), and 61 patients received 3 months of treatment with placebo. Adverse events with an incidence of ≥5.0% are presented in Table 9.
The most frequent adverse event during treatment with Eutropin™ INJ was edema, which was reported more frequently than during placebo treatment. In some of these patients, edema resulted in down-titration of the dose of Eutropin™ INJ as per protocol. Myalgia was reported by 2 patients receiving Eutropin™ INJ and 2 patients treated with placebo. Arthralgia was reported by 2 patients receiving Eutropin™ INJ. There were no reports of carpal tunnel syndrome. These types of adverse events are thought to be related to the fluid accumulating effects of somatropin. Most adverse events reported during the study were mild in severity.
Table 9
Adverse Events Observed In Adults With GHD Treated
With Eutropin™ INJ vs. Placebo
| Adverse events (Incidence ≥5.0% in either group) n = number of patients | Eutropin™ INJ (n = 92) | Placebo (n = 61) | ||
| n | % | n | % | |
| Edema | 11 | 12.0 | 5 | 8.2 |
| Upper respiratory tract infection | 6 | 6.5 | 1 | 1.6 |
| Urticaria | 2 | 2.2 | 4 | 6.6 |
During the pivotal study in adult GHD patients, a modest degree of glucose intolerance was observed in the 92 patients treated with Eutropin™ INJ for at least 3 months (31 of whom were treated for an additional 3 months). Of note, however, is the fact that 2 of the 26 patients in Group C with normal FBG values at baseline (who were treated with Eutropin™ INJ for 3 months from Month 4 through the end of Month 6 after being crossed over from placebo) had FBG values at Month 6 of 251 and 132 mg/dL. Absent follow-up data after study termination, these patients may have developed somatropin-induced de novo diabetes mellitus. In addition, 4 of these 26 patients had FBG values between 100-126 at Month 6. See PRECAUTIONS (General) regarding the well known potential of somatropin drug products to cause or unmask glucose intolerance.
Eight of the 92 patients in this study were enrolled (as per protocol) with a preexisting diagnosis of diabetes mellitus (3 of these 8 patients in fact were being treated with oral agent combination therapy and the remaining 5 patients were without drug therapy). In general, these diabetic patients tolerated treatment with Eutropin™ INJ reasonably well, i.e. no post-treatment FBG values exceeded 164 mg/dL on-study.
Seventy five out of the 92 adult GHD patients in the pivotal study (~81%) had preexisting central hypothyroidism and most of them were being treated with thyroxine replacement therapy - usually in conjunction with panhypopituitarism. None of these patients manifested clinical signs/symptoms of an exacerbation of preexisting central hypothyroidism (serial thyroid function tests were not obtained per protocol) during treatment with Eutropin™ INJ, i.e. there were no changes in maintenance thyroxine dose nor adverse events related to the thyroid during Eutropin™ INJ therapy. Furthermore, none of the remaining 17 patients enrolled in this study manifested clinical evidence of de novo central hypothyroidism. See PRECAUTIONS, DRUG INTERACTIONS.
Seventy five out of the 92 adult GHD patients in the pivotal study (~81%) also had preexisting central hypoadrenalism and most of them were being treated with glucocorticoid replacement therapy. None of these patients demonstrated convincing clinical evidence of an exacerbation of preexisting central hypoadrenalism; 2 patients required an increase in hydrocortisone replacement dosages while they were taking placebo approximately 2 months removed from treatment with Eutropin™ INJ. Furthermore, none of the remaining 17 patients enrolled in this study manifested clinical evidence of de novo central hypoadrenalism. See PRECAUTIONS, DRUG INTERACTIONS.
Gentonorm contraindications
Hypersensitivity to somatropin (biosynthetic human growth hormone) or to any of the excipients of Gentonorm.
Somatropin must not be used when there is any evidence of activity of a tumour. Intracranial tumours must be inactive and antitumour therapy must be completed prior to starting growth hormone therapy. Treatment should be discontinued if there is evidence of tumour growth.
Somatropin should not be used for longitudinal growth promotion in children with closed epiphyses.
Patients with acute critical illness suffering complications following open heart surgery, abdominal surgery, multiple accidental trauma, acute respiratory failure or similar conditions should not be treated with Gentonorm.
For children with chronic renal disease, treatment with Gentonorm should be discontinued at renal transplantation.
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Information checked by Dr. Sachin Kumar, MD Pharmacology
