NILEMDO Film-coated tablet Ref.[27925] Active ingredients: Bempedoic acid

Potential risk of myopathy with concomitant use of statins

Bempedoic acid increases plasma concentrations of statins (see section 4.5). Patients receiving Nilemdo as adjunctive therapy to a statin should be monitored for adverse reactions that are associated with the use of high doses of statins. Statins occasionally cause myopathy. In rare cases, myopathy may take the form of rhabdomyolysis with or without acute renal failure secondary to myoglobinuria, and can lead to fatality. All patients receiving Nilemdo in addition to a statin should be advised of the potential increased risk of myopathy and told to report promptly any unexplained muscle pain, tenderness, or weakness. If such symptoms occur while a patient is receiving treatment with Nilemdo and a statin, a lower maximum dose of the same statin or an alternative statin, or discontinuation of Nilemdo and initiation of an alternative lipid-lowering therapy should be considered under close monitoring of lipid levels and adverse reactions. If myopathy is confirmed by a creatine phosphokinase (CPK) level >10 × upper limit of normal (ULN), Nilemdo and any statin that the patient is taking concomitantly should be immediately discontinued.

Myositis with a CPK level >10 × ULN was rarely reported with bempedoic acid and background simvastatin 40 mg therapy. Doses of simvastatin >40 mg should not be used with Nilemdo (see sections 4.2 and 4.3).

Increased serum uric acid

Bempedoic acid may raise the serum uric acid level due to inhibition of renal tubular OAT2 and may cause or exacerbate hyperuricaemia and precipitate gout in patients with a medical history of gout or predisposed to gout (see section 4.8). Treatment with Nilemdo should be discontinued if hyperuricaemia accompanied with symptoms of gout appear.

Elevated liver enzymes

In clinical trials, elevations of >3 × ULN in the liver enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) have been reported with bempedoic acid. These elevations have been asymptomatic and not associated with elevations ≥2 × ULN in bilirubin or with cholestasis and have returned to baseline with continued treatment or after discontinuation of therapy. Liver function tests should be performed at initiation of therapy. Treatment with Nilemdo should be discontinued if an increase in transaminases of >3 × ULN persists (see section 4.8).

Renal impairment

There is limited experience with bempedoic acid in patients with severe renal impairment (defined as eGFR <30 mL/min/1.73 m²), and patients with ESRD on dialysis have not been studied (see section 5.2). Additional monitoring for adverse reactions may be warranted in these patients when Nilemdo is administered.

Hepatic impairment

Patients with severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh C) have not been studied (see section 5.2). Periodic liver function tests should be considered for patients with severe hepatic impairment.

Contraception

Women of childbearing potential must use effective contraception during treatment. Patients should be advised to stop taking Nilemdo before stopping contraceptive measures if they plan to become pregnant.

Excipients

Nilemdo contains lactose. Patients with rare hereditary problems of galactose intolerance, total lactase deficiency, or glucose-galactose malabsorption should not take this medicinal product.

This medicinal product contains less than 1 mmol sodium (23 mg) per 180 mg film-coated tablet (daily dose), i.e. essentially ‘sodium-free’.

Effects of other medicinal products on bempedoic acid

Transporter-mediated drug interactions

In vitro drug interaction studies suggest bempedoic acid, as well as its active metabolite and glucuronide form, are not substrates of commonly characterised drug transporters with the exception of bempedoic acid glucuronide, which is an OAT3 substrate.

Probenecid

Probenecid, an inhibitor of glucuronide conjugation, was studied to evaluate the potential effect of these inhibitors on the pharmacokinetics of bempedoic acid. Administration of bempedoic acid 180 mg with steady-state probenecid resulted in a 1.7-fold increase in bempedoic acid area under the curve (AUC) and a 1.9-fold increase in bempedoic acid active metabolite (ESP15228) AUC. These elevations are not clinically meaningful and do not impact dosing recommendations.

Effects of bempedoic acid on other medicinal products

Statins

The pharmacokinetic interactions between bempedoic acid 180 mg and simvastatin 40 mg, atorvastatin 80 mg, pravastatin 80 mg, and rosuvastatin 40 mg were evaluated in clinical trials. Administration of a single dose of simvastatin 40 mg with steady-state bempedoic acid 180 mg resulted in a 2-fold increase in simvastatin acid exposure. Elevations of 1.4-fold to 1.5-fold in AUC of atorvastatin, pravastatin, and rosuvastatin (administered as single doses) and/or their major metabolites were observed when coadministered with bempedoic acid 180 mg. Higher elevations have been observed when these statins were coadministered with a supratherapeutic 240 mg dose of bempedoic acid (see section 4.4).

Transporter-mediated drug interactions

Bempedoic acid and its glucuronide weakly inhibit OATP1B1 and OATP1B3 at clinically relevant concentrations. Coadministration of bempedoic acid with medicinal products that are substrates of OATP1B1 or OATP1B3 (i.e., bosentan, fimasartan, asunaprevir, glecaprevir, grazoprevir, voxilaprevir, and statins such as atorvastatin, pravastatin, fluvastatin, pitavastatin, rosuvastatin, and simvastatin [see section 4.4]) may result in increased plasma concentrations of these medicinal products.

Bempedoic acid inhibits OAT2 in vitro, which may be the mechanism responsible for minor elevations in serum creatinine and uric acid (see section 4.8). Inhibition of OAT2 by bempedoic acid may also potentially increase plasma concentrations of medicinal products that are substrates of OAT2. Bempedoic acid may also weakly inhibit OAT3 at clinically relevant concentrations.

Ezetimibe

Total ezetimibe (ezetimibe and its glucuronide form) and ezetimibe glucuronide AUC and C_max increased approximately 1.6- and 1.8-fold, respectively, when a single dose of ezetimibe was taken with steady-state bempedoic acid. This increase is likely due to inhibition of OATP1B1 by bempedoic acid, which results in decreased hepatic uptake and subsequently decreased elimination of ezetimibe-glucuronide. Increases in AUC and C_max for ezetimibe were less than 20%. These elevations are not clinically meaningful and do not impact dosing recommendations.

Other interactions studied

Bempedoic acid had no effect on the pharmacokinetics or pharmacodynamics of metformin or the pharmacokinetics of oral contraceptive norethindrone/ethinyl estradiol.

Pregnancy

Nilemdo is contraindicated during pregnancy (see section 4.3).

There are no or limited amount of data from the use of bempedoic acid in pregnant women. Studies in animals with bempedoic acid have shown reproductive toxicity (see section 5.3).

Because bempedoic acid decreases cholesterol synthesis and possibly the synthesis of other cholesterol derivatives needed for normal foetal development, Nilemdo may cause foetal harm when administered to pregnant women. Nilemdo should be discontinued prior to conception or as soon as pregnancy is recognized (see section 4.3).

Women of childbearing potential

Women of childbearing potential should use effective contraception during treatment (see section 4.4).

Breast-feeding

It is unknown whether bempedoic acid/metabolites are excreted in human milk. Because of the potential for serious adverse reactions, women taking Nilemdo should not breast-feed their infants. Nilemdo is contraindicated during breast-feeding (see section 4.3).

Fertility

No data on the effect of Nilemdo on human fertility are available. Based on animal studies, no effect on reproduction or fertility is expected with Nilemdo (see section 5.3).

Nilemdo has no or negligible influence on the ability to drive and use machines.

Summary of the safety profile

The safety profile of bempedoic acid has been studied in 4 controlled phase 3 clinical studies (N=3,621) including patients with hypercholesterolemia on maximum tolerated statin dose (2 studies; n=3008) and patients on no or low dose statins (2 studies; n=613). The most commonly reported adverse reactions with bempedoic acid during pivotal trials were hyperuricaemia (3.8%), pain in extremity (3.1%), and anaemia (2.5%). More patients on bempedoic acid compared to placebo discontinued treatment due to muscle spasms (0.7% versus 0.3%), diarrhoea (0.5% versus <0.1%), pain in extremity (0.4% versus 0), and nausea (0.3% versus 0.2%), although differences between bempedoic acid and placebo were not significant.

Tabulated list of adverse reactions

Adverse reactions reported with bempedoic acid are displayed by system organ class and frequency in table 1.

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); very rare (<1/10,000); and not known (cannot be estimated from the available data).

Table 1. Adverse reactions:

^a Hyperuricaemia includes hyperuricaemia and blood uric acid increased

Description of selected adverse reactions

Hepatic enzyme elevations

Increases in serum transaminases (AST and/or ALT) have been reported with bempedoic acid. In controlled clinical studies, the incidence of elevations (≥3 × ULN) in hepatic transaminase levels was 0.7% for patients treated with bempedoic acid and 0.3% for placebo. These elevations in transaminases were not associated with other evidence of liver dysfunction (see section 4.4).

Increased serum uric acid

Increases in serum uric acid were observed in clinical trials with bempedoic acid possibly related to inhibition of renal tubular OAT2 (see section 4.5). In the pooled placebo-controlled trials, a mean increase of 0.8 mg/dL (47.6 micromole/L) in uric acid compared to baseline was observed with bempedoic acid at week 12. The elevations in serum uric acid usually occurred within the first 4 weeks of treatment and returned to baseline following discontinuation of treatment. Gout was reported in 1.4% of patients treated with bempedoic acid and 0.4% of patients treated with placebo (see section 4.4). In both treatment groups, patients who reported gout were more likely to have a medical history of gout and/or baseline levels of uric acid above the ULN.

Effects on serum creatinine and blood urea nitrogen

Bempedoic acid has been shown to increase serum creatinine and BUN. In the pooled placebo-controlled trials, a mean increase of 0.05 mg/dL (4.4 micromole/L) in serum creatinine and a mean increase of 1.7 mg/dL (0.61 mmol/L) in BUN compared to baseline was observed with bempedoic acid at week 12. The elevations in serum creatinine and BUN usually occurred within the first 4 weeks of treatment, remained stable, and returned to baseline following discontinuation of treatment.

The observed elevations in serum creatinine may be associated with bempedoic acid inhibition of OAT2-dependent renal tubular secretion of creatinine (see section 4.5), representing a drug-endogenous substrate interaction and does not appear to indicate worsening renal function. This effect should be considered when interpreting changes in estimated creatinine clearance in patients on Nilemdo therapy, particularly in patients with medical conditions or receiving medicinal products that require monitoring of estimated creatinine clearance.

Decreased haemoglobin

Decreases in haemoglobin were observed in clinical trials with bempedoic acid. In the pooled placebo-controlled trials, a decrease in haemoglobin from baseline of ≥20 g/L and < lower limit of normal (LLN) was observed in 4.6% of patients in the bempedoic acid group compared with 1.9% of patients on placebo. Greater than 50 g/L and < LLN decreases in haemoglobin were reported at similar rates in bempedoic acid and placebo groups (0.2% versus 0.2%, respectively). The decreases in haemoglobin usually occurred within the first 4 weeks of treatment and returned to baseline following discontinuation of treatment. Among patients who had normal haemoglobin values at baseline, 1.4% in the bempedoic acid group and 0.4% in the placebo group experienced haemoglobin values below LLN while on treatment. Anaemia was reported in 2.5% of patients treated with bempedoic acid and 1.6% of patients treated with placebo.

Elderly population

Of the 3,621 patients treated with bempedoic acid in the placebo-controlled studies, 2,098 (58%) were >65 years old. No overall difference in safety was observed between elderly and the younger population.

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 Yellow Card Scheme Website: www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard or search for MHRA Yellow Card in the Google Play or Apple App Store.

In the absence of compatibility studies, this medicinal product must not be mixed with other medicinal products.