Cleviprex

CLEVIPREX- clevidipine emulsion
Chiesi USA, Inc.

1 INDICATIONS AND USAGE

Cleviprex is indicated for the reduction of blood pressure when oral therapy is not feasible or not desirable.

2 DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION

2.1 Monitoring

Monitor blood pressure and heart rate continually during infusion, and then until vital signs are stable. Patients who receive prolonged Cleviprex infusions and are not transitioned to other antihypertensive therapies should be monitored for the possibility of rebound hypertension for at least 8 hours after the infusion is stopped. These patients may need follow-up adjustments in blood pressure control.

2.2 Recommended Dosing

Cleviprex is intended for intravenous use. Titrate drug to achieve the desired blood pressure reduction. Individualize dosage depending on the blood pressure to be obtained and the response of the patient.

Initial dose: Initiate the intravenous infusion of Cleviprex at 1-2 mg/hour.

Dose titration: The dose may be doubled at short (90 second) intervals initially. As the blood pressure approaches goal, the increase in doses should be less than doubling and the time between dose adjustments should be lengthened to every 5-10 minutes. An approximately 1-2 mg/hour increase will generally produce an additional 2-4 mmHg decrease in systolic pressure.

Maintenance dose: The desired therapeutic response for most patients occurs at doses of 4-6 mg/hour. Patients with severe hypertension may require doses up to 32 mg/hour, but there is limited experience at this dose rate.

Maximum dose: Most patients were treated with maximum doses of 16 mg/hour or less.There is limited short-term experience with doses up to 32 mg/hour. Because of lipid load restrictions, no more than 1000 mL or an average of 21 mg/hour of Cleviprex infusion is recommended per 24 hour period. In clinical trials, 55 hypertensive patients were treated with >500mL of Cleviprex infusion per 24 hour period. There is little experience with infusion durations beyond 72 hours at any dose.

Transition to an oral antihypertensive agent: Discontinue Cleviprex or titrate downward while appropriate oral therapy is established. When an oral antihypertensive agent is being instituted, consider the lag time of onset of the oral agent’s effect. Continue blood pressure monitoring until desired effect is achieved.

2.3 Instructions for Administration

Maintain aseptic technique while handling Cleviprex. Cleviprex is a single-use parenteral product. Do not use if contamination is suspected. Once the stopper is punctured, use within 12 hours and discard any unused portion.

Cleviprex is supplied in sterile, pre-mixed, ready-to-use 50 mL or 100 mL vials. Invert vial gently several times before use to ensure uniformity of the emulsion prior to administration. Inspect parenteral drug products for particulate matter and discoloration prior to administration whenever solution and container permit. Administer Cleviprex using an infusion device allowing calibrated infusion rates. Commercially available standard plastic cannulae may be used to administer the infusion. Administer Cleviprex by a central line or a peripheral line.

Cleviprex should not be administered in the same line as other medications.

Cleviprex should not be diluted, but it can be administered with the following:

• Water for Injection, USP
• Sodium Chloride (0.9%) Injection, USP
• Dextrose (5%) Injection, USP
• Dextrose (5%) in Sodium Chloride (0.9%) Injection, USP
• Dextrose (5%) in Ringers Lactate Injection, USP
• Lactated Ringers Injection, USP
• 10% amino acid

3 DOSAGE FORMS AND STRENGTHS

Cleviprex is a sterile, milky white injectable emulsion for intravenous use, available in the following configurations:

• 50 mL single use vial with 0.5 mg/mL clevidipine
• 100 mL single use vial with 0.5 mg/mL clevidipine

4 CONTRAINDICATIONS

4.1 Known Allergy

Cleviprex is contraindicated in patients with allergies to soybeans, soy products, eggs, or egg products.

4.2 Defective Lipid Metabolism

Cleviprex is contraindicated in patients with defective lipid metabolism such as pathologic hyperlipemia, lipoid nephrosis, or acute pancreatitis if it is accompanied by hyperlipidemia.

4.3 Severe Aortic Stenosis

Cleviprex is contraindicated in patients with severe aortic stenosis because afterload reduction can be expected to reduce myocardial oxygen delivery.

5 WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS

5.1 Need for Aseptic Technique

Use aseptic technique and discard any unused product within 12 hours of stopper puncture [see Dosage and Administration (2.3)].

5.2 Hypotension and Reflex Tachycardia

Cleviprex may produce systemic hypotension and reflex tachycardia. If either occurs, decrease the dose of Cleviprex. There is limited experience with short-duration therapy with beta-blockers as a treatment for Cleviprex-induced tachycardia. Beta-blocker use for this purpose is not recommended.

5.3 Lipid Intake

Cleviprex contains approximately 0.2 g of lipid per mL (2.0 kcal). Lipid intake restrictions may be necessary for patients with significant disorders of lipid metabolism. For these patients, a reduction in the quantity of concurrently administered lipids may be necessary to compensate for the amount of lipid infused as part of the Cleviprex formulation.

5.4 Negative Inotropy

Dihydropyridine calcium channel blockers can produce negative inotropic effects and exacerbate heart failure. Monitor heart failure patients carefully.

5.5 Beta-Blocker Withdrawal

Cleviprex is not a beta-blocker, does not reduce heart rate, and gives no protection against the effects of abrupt beta-blocker withdrawal. Withdraw beta-blockers only after a gradual reduction in dose.

5.6 Rebound Hypertension

Patients who receive prolonged Cleviprex infusions and are not transitioned to other antihypertensive therapies should be monitored for the possibility of rebound hypertension for at least 8 hours after the infusion is stopped.

5.7 Pheochromocytoma

There is no information to guide use of Cleviprex in treating hypertension associated with pheochromocytoma.

6 ADVERSE REACTIONS

The following risk is discussed elsewhere in the labeling:

• Hypotension and Reflex Tachycardia [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2)]

6.1 Clinical Trials Experience

Cleviprex clinical development included 19 studies, with 99 healthy subjects and 1307 hypertensive patients who received at least one dose of clevidipine (1406 total exposures). Clevidipine was evaluated in 15 studies in hypertensive patients: 1099 patients with perioperative hypertension, 126 with severe hypertension and 82 patients with essential hypertension.

The desired therapeutic response was achieved at doses of 4-6 mg/hour. Cleviprex was infused for <24 hours in the majority of patients (n=1199); it was infused as a continuous infusion in an additional 93 patients for durations between 24 and 72 hours.

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.

Use in Perioperative Hypertension

The placebo-controlled experience with Cleviprex in the perioperative setting was both small and brief (about 30 minutes). Table 1 shows treatment-emergent adverse reactions and the category of “any common adverse event” in ESCAPE-1 and ESCAPE-2 where the rate on Cleviprex exceeded the rate on placebo by at least 5% (common adverse reactions).

Table 1. Common adverse reactions in placebo-controlled perioperative studies.

	ESCAPE-1		ESCAPE-2
	CLVN=53(%)	PBON=51(%)	CLVN=61(%)	PBON=49(%)
Any common adverse event	27 (51%)	21 (41%)	32 (53%)	24 (49%)
Acute renal failure	5 (9%)	1 (2%)	—	—
Atrial fibrillation	—	—	13 (21%)	6 (12%)
Nausea	—	—	13 (21%)	6 (12%)

Three randomized, parallel, open-label studies called ECLIPSE, with longer exposure in cardiac surgery patients define the adverse reactions for patients with perioperative hypertension. Each ECLIPSE study compared Cleviprex (n=752) to an active comparator: nitroglycerin (NTG, n=278), sodium nitroprusside (SNP, n=283), or nicardipine (NIC, n=193). The pooled mean maximum dose in these studies was 10 mg/hour and the mean duration of treatment was 8 hours.

There were many adverse events associated with the operative procedure in the clinical studies of Cleviprex and relatively few plausibly related to the drugs used to lower blood pressure. Thus, the ability to differentiate the adverse event profile between treatments is limited. The adverse events observed within one hour of the end of the infusion were similar in patients who received Cleviprex and in those who received comparator agents. There was no adverse reaction that was more than 2% more common on Cleviprex than on the average of all comparators.

Serious Adverse Events and Discontinuation – Perioperative Hypertension Studies
The incidence of adverse events leading to study drug discontinuation in patients with perioperative hypertension receiving Cleviprex was 5.9% versus 3.2% for all active comparators. For patients receiving Cleviprex and all active comparators the incidence of serious adverse events within one hour of drug infusion discontinuation was similar.

Use in Severe Hypertension

The adverse events for patients with severe hypertension are based on an uncontrolled study in patients with severe hypertension (VELOCITY, n=126).

The common adverse reactions for Cleviprex in severe hypertension included headache (6.3%), nausea (4.8%), and vomiting (3.2%). The incidence of adverse events leading to study drug discontinuation for Cleviprex in severe hypertension was 4.8%.

Less Common Adverse Reactions in Patients with Severe or Essential Hypertension

Adverse reactions that were reported in <1% of patients with severe or essential hypertension included:
Cardiac: myocardial infarction, cardiac arrest
Nervous system: syncope
Respiratory: dyspnea