DARZALEX Concentrate for solution for infusion Ref.[8950] Active ingredients: Daratumumab

Infusion-related reactions

DARZALEX can cause serious infusion related reactions (IRRs), including anaphylactic reactions (see section 4.8).

All patients should be monitored throughout the infusion for IRRs. For patients that experience any Grade IRRs, continue monitoring post-infusion until symptoms resolve.

In clinical trials IRRs were reported in approximately half of all patients treated with DARZALEX.

The majority of IRRs occurred at the first infusion and were Grade 1-2 (see section 4.8). Four percent of all patients had an IRR at more than one infusion. Severe reactions have occurred, including bronchospasm, hypoxia, dyspnoea, hypertension, laryngeal oedema and pulmonary oedema. Symptoms predominantly included nasal congestion, cough, throat irritation, chills, vomiting and nausea. Less common symptoms were wheezing, allergic rhinitis, pyrexia, chest discomfort, pruritus and hypotension (see section 4.8).

Patients should be pre-medicated with antihistamines, antipyretics and corticosteroids to reduce the risk of IRRs prior to treatment with DARZALEX. DARZALEX infusion should be interrupted for IRRs of any severity and medical management/supportive treatment for IRRs should be instituted as needed. For patients with Grade 1, 2, or 3 IRRs, the infusion rate should be reduced when re-starting the infusion. If an anaphylactic reaction or life-threatening (Grade 4) infusion reaction occurs, appropriate emergency resuscitation should be initiated immediately. DARZALEX therapy should be discontinued immediately and permanently (see sections 4.2 and 4.3).

To reduce the risk of delayed IRRs, oral corticosteroids should be administered to all patients following DARZALEX infusions. Additionally the use of post-infusion medications (e.g. inhaled corticosteroids, short and long acting bronchodilators) should be considered for patients with a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to manage respiratory complications should they occur (see section 4.2).

Neutropenia/Thrombocytopenia

DARZALEX may increase neutropenia and thrombocytopenia induced by background therapy (see section 4.8).

Monitor complete blood cell counts periodically during treatment according to manufacturer’s prescribing information for background therapies. Monitor patients with neutropenia for signs of infection. DARZALEX delay may be required to allow recovery of blood cell counts. No dose reduction of DARZALEX is recommended. Consider supportive care with transfusions or growth factors.

Interference with Indirect Antiglobulin Test (Indirect Coombs Test)

Daratumumab binds to CD38 found at low levels on red blood cells (RBCs) and may result in a positive indirect Coombs test. Daratumumab-mediated positive indirect Coombs test may persist for up to 6 months after the last daratumumab infusion. It should be recognised that daratumumab bound to RBCs may mask detection of antibodies to minor antigens in the patient’s serum. The determination of a patient’s ABO and Rh blood type are not impacted.

Patients should be typed and screened prior to starting daratumumab treatment. Phenotyping may be considered prior to starting daratumumab treatment as per local practice. Red blood cell genotyping is not impacted by daratumumab and may be performed at any time.

In the event of a planned transfusion blood transfusion centres should be notified of this interference with indirect antiglobulin tests (see section 4.5). If an emergency transfusion is required, non-cross-matched ABO/RhD-compatible RBCs can be given per local blood bank practices.

Interference with determination of Complete Response

Daratumumab is a human IgG kappa monoclonal antibody that can be detected on both, the serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) and immunofixation (IFE) assays used for the clinical monitoring of endogenous M-protein (see section 4.5). This interference can impact the determination of complete response and of disease progression in some patients with IgG kappa myeloma protein.

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) Reactivation

Hepatitis B virus reactivation, in some cases fatal, has been reported in patients treated with DARZALEX. HBV screening should be performed in all patients before initiation of treatment with DARZALEX.

For patients with evidence of positive HBV serology, monitor for clinical and laboratory signs of HBV reactivation during, and for at least six months following the end of DARZALEX treatment. Manage patients according to current clinical guidelines. Consider consulting a hepatitis disease expert as clinically indicated.

In patients who develop reactivation of HBV while on DARZALEX, suspend treatment with DARZALEX and institute appropriate treatment. Resumption of DARZALEX treatment in patients whose HBV reactivation is adequately controlled should be discussed with physicians with expertise in managing HBV.

Excipients

Each 5 mL and 20 mL vial of DARZALEX contains 0.4 mmol and 1.6 mmol (9.3 mg and 37.3 mg) sodium, respectively. This corresponds to 0.46% and 1.86% of the WHO recommended maximum daily intake of 2 g sodium for an adult, respectively.

Traceability

In order to improve the traceability of biological medicinal products, the tradename and the batch number of the administered product should be clearly recorded.

No interaction studies have been performed.

As an IgG1қ monoclonal antibody, renal excretion and hepatic enzyme-mediated metabolism of intact daratumumab are unlikely to represent major elimination routes. As such, variations in drug-metabolising enzymes are not expected to affect the elimination of daratumumab. Due to the high affinity to a unique epitope on CD38, daratumumab is not anticipated to alter drug-metabolising enzymes.

Clinical pharmacokinetic assessments of daratumumab in combination with lenalidomide, pomalidomide, thalidomide, bortezomib and dexamethasone indicated no clinically-relevant drug-drug interaction between daratumumab and these small molecule medicinal products.

Interference with Indirect Antiglobulin Test (Indirect Coombs Test)

Daratumumab binds to CD38 on RBCs and interferes with compatibility testing, including antibody screening and cross matching (see section 4.4). Daratumumab interference mitigation methods include treating reagent RBCs with dithiothreitol (DTT) to disrupt daratumumab binding or other locally validated methods. Since the Kell blood group system is also sensitive to DTT treatment, Kell-negative units should be supplied after ruling out or identifying alloantibodies using DTT-treated RBCs. Alternatively, phenotyping or genotyping may also be considered (see section 4.4).

Interference with Serum Protein Electrophoresis and Immunofixation Tests

Daratumumab may be detected on serum protein electrophoresis (SPE) and immunofixation (IFE) assays used for monitoring disease monoclonal immunoglobulins (M protein). This can lead to false positive SPE and IFE assay results for patients with IgG kappa myeloma protein impacting initial assessment of complete responses by International Myeloma Working Group (IMWG) criteria. In patients with persistent very good partial response, where daratumumab interference is suspected, consider using a validated daratumumab-specific IFE assay to distinguish daratumumab from any remaining endogenous M protein in the patient’s serum, to facilitate determination of a complete response.

Women of child-bearing potential/Contraception

Women of child-bearing potential should use effective contraception during, and for 3 months after cessation of daratumumab treatment.

Pregnancy

There are no human or animal data to assess the risk of daratumumab use during pregnancy. IgG1 monoclonal antibodies are known to cross the placenta after the first trimester of pregnancy. Therefore daratumumab should not be used during pregnancy unless the benefit of treatment to the woman is considered to outweigh the potential risks to the fetus. If the patient becomes pregnant while taking this medicine, the patient should be informed of the potential risk to the fetus.

Breast-feeding

It is not known whether daratumumab is excreted into human or animal milk. Maternal IgG is excreted in human milk, but does not enter the neonatal and infant circulations in substantial amounts as they are degraded in the gastrointestinal tract and not absorbed.

The effect of daratumumab on newborns/infants is unknown. A decision should be made whether to discontinue breast-feeding or to discontinue DARZALEX therapy taking into account the benefit of breast feeding for the child and the benefit of therapy for the woman.

Fertility

No data are available to determine potential effects of daratumumab on fertility in males or females (see section 5.3).

DARZALEX has no or negligible influence on the ability to drive and use machines. However, fatigue has been reported in patients taking daratumumab and this should be taken into account when driving or using machines.

Summary of the safety profile

The most frequent adverse reactions (≥20%) were infusion reactions, fatigue, nausea, diarrhoea, constipation, pyrexia, dyspnoea, cough, neutropenia, thrombocytopenia, anaemia, oedema peripheral, asthenia, peripheral sensory neuropathy and upper respiratory tract infection. Serious adverse reactions were pneumonia, bronchitis, upper respiratory tract infection, pulmonary oedema, influenza, pyrexia, dehydration, diarrhoea and atrial fibrillation.

Tabulated list of adverse reactions

Table 6 summarises the adverse drug reactions that occurred in patients receiving DARZALEX. The data reflects exposure to DARZALEX (16 mg/kg) in 2066 patients with multiple myeloma including 1910 patients who received DARZALEX in combination with background regimens and 156 patients who received DARZALEX as monotherapy. Post-marketing adverse reactions are also included.

In Study MMY3006, the number of CD34+ cell yield was numerically lower in the D-VTd arm compared with the VTd arm (Median: D-VTd: 6.3 × 10⁶/kg; VTd 8.9 × 10⁶/kg) and among those who completed mobilization, more patients in the D-VTd group received plerixafor compared to those in the VTd arm (D-VTd: 21.7%; VTd: 7.9%). The rates of engraftment and haematopoietic reconstitution was similar among the transplanted subjects in the D-VTd and VTd arms (D-VTd: 99.8%; VTd: 99.6%; as measured by the recovery of neutrophils >0.5 × 10⁹/L, leukocytes >1.0 × 10⁹/L, and platelets >50 × 10⁹/L without transfusion).

Frequencies are defined as very common (≥1/10), common (≥1/100 to <1/10), uncommon (≥1/1,000 to <1/100), rare (≥1/10,000 to <1/1,000) and very rare (<1/10,000). Within each frequency grouping, where relevant, adverse reactions are presented in order of decreasing seriousness.

Table 6. Adverse reactions in multiple myeloma patients treated with DARZALEX 16 mg/kg:

* No Grade 4
^a Indicates grouping of terms
^b Post-marketing adverse reaction
^c Infusion-related reaction includes terms determined by investigators to be related to infusion, see below

Infusion-related reactions

In clinical trials (monotherapy and combination treatments; N=2066) the incidence of any grade infusion-related reactions was 37% with the first (16 mg/kg, Week 1) infusion of DARZALEX, 2% with the Week 2 infusion, and cumulatively 6% with subsequent infusions. Less than 1% of patients had a Grade ¾ infusion-related reaction with the Week 2 or subsequent infusions. The median time to onset of a reaction was 1.5 hours (range: 0 to 72.8 hours). The incidence of infusion modifications due to reactions was 36%. Median durations of 16 mg/kg infusions for the 1 st Week, 2 nd Week and subsequent infusions were approximately 7, 4 and 3 hours respectively. Severe infusion-related reactions included bronchospasm, dyspnoea, laryngeal oedema, pulmonary oedema, hypoxia, and hypertension. Other adverse infusion-related reactions included nasal congestion, cough, chills, throat irritation, vomiting and nausea (see section 4.4).

When DARZALEX dosing was interrupted in the setting of ASCT (Study MMY3006) for a median of 3.75 (range: 2.4; 6.9) months, upon re-initiation of DARZALEX the incidence of IRRs was 11% at first infusion following ASCT. Infusion rate/dilution volume used upon re-initiation was that used for the last DARZALEX infusion prior to interruption due to ASCT. IRRs occurring at re-initiation of DARZALEX following ASCT were consistent in terms of symptoms and severity (Grade 3/4: <1%) with those reported in previous studies at Week 2 or subsequent infusions.

In Study MMY1001, patients receiving daratumumab combination treatment (n=97) were administered the first 16 mg/kg daratumumab dose at Week 1 split over two days i.e. 8 mg/kg on Day 1 and Day 2 respectively. The incidence of any grade infusion-related reactions was 42%, with 36% of patients experiencing infusion-related reactions on Day 1 of Week 1, 4% on Day 2 of Week 1, and 8% with subsequent infusions. The median time to onset of a reaction was 1.8 hours (range: 0.1 to 5.4 hours). The incidence of infusion interruptions due to reactions was 30%. Median durations of infusions were 4.2 h for Week 1-Day 1, 4.2 h for Week 1-Day 2, and 3.4 hours for the subsequent infusions.

Infections

In patients receiving DARZALEX combination therapy, Grade 3 or 4 infections were reported as follows:

Relapsed/refractory patient studies: DVd: 21%, Vd: 19%; DRd: 27%, Rd: 23%; DPd: 28%

Newly diagnosed patient studies: D-VMP: 23%, VMP: 15%; DRd: 32%, Rd: 23%; D-VTd: 22%, VTd: 20%.

Pneumonia was the most commonly reported severe (Grade 3 or 4) infection across studies. In the active controlled studies, discontinuations from treatment due to infections (1-4%) and fatal infections were generally infrequent and balanced between the DARZALEX containing regimens and active control arms. Fatal infections were primarily due to pneumonia and sepsis.

Key: D = daratumumab; Vd = bortezomib-dexamethasone; Rd = lenalidomide-dexamethasone; Pd = pomalidomide-dexamethasone; VMP = bortezomib-melphalan-prednisone; VTd = bortezomib-thalidomide-dexamethasone.

Haemolysis

There is a theoretical risk of haemolysis. Continuous monitoring for this safety signal will be performed in clinical studies and post-marketing safety data.

Other special populations

In the Phase III study MMY3007, which compared treatment with D-VMP to treatment with VMP in patients with newly diagnosed multiple myeloma who are ineligible for autologous stem cell transplant, safety analysis of the subgroup of patients with an ECOG performance score of 2 (D-VMP: n=89, VMP: n=84), was consistent with the overall population (see section 5.1).

Reporting of suspected adverse reactions

Reporting suspected adverse reactions after authorisation of the medicinal product is important. It allows continued monitoring of the benefit/risk balance of the medicinal product. Healthcare professionals are asked to report any suspected adverse reactions via the national reporting system listed in Appendix V.

This medicinal product must not be mixed with other medicinal products except those mentioned in section 6.6.