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Afqlir is a brand name for Aflibercept. The medicine, its uses, side effects and dosage are the same regardless of brand.
Used for: Afqlir is indicated for adults for the treatment of • neovascular (wet) age-related macular degeneration (AMD) (see section 5.1), • visual impairment due to macular oedema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (branch RVO or central RVO) (see section 5.1), • visual impairment due to diabetic macular oedema (DME) (see…
Verbatim from this product's EMA label. Tap a section to expand.
Afqlir is for intravitreal injection only. Afqlir must only be administered by a qualified physician experienced in administering intravitreal injections. 05 ml. Afqlir treatment is initiated with one injection per month for three consecutive doses.
The treatment interval is then extended to two months. Based on the physician’s judgement of visual and/or anatomic outcomes, the treatment interval may be maintained at two months or further extended using a treat-and-extend dosing regimen, where injection intervals are increased in 2- or 4-weekly increments to maintain stable visual and/or anatomic outcomes.
If visual and/or anatomic outcomes deteriorate, the treatment interval should be shortened accordingly. There is no requirement for monitoring between injections. Based on the physician’s judgement the schedule of monitoring visits may be more frequent than the injection visits.
1). 05 ml. After the initial injection, treatment is given monthly. The interval between two doses should not be shorter than one month. If visual and anatomic outcomes indicate that the patient is not benefiting from continued treatment, Afqlir should be discontinued.
Monthly treatment continues until maximum visual acuity is achieved and/or there are no signs of disease activity. Three or more consecutive, monthly injections may be needed. Treatment may then be continued with a treat-and-extend regimen with gradually increased treatment intervals to maintain stable visual and/or anatomic outcomes, however there are insufficient data to conclude on the length of these intervals.
If visual and/or anatomic outcomes deteriorate, the treatment interval should be shortened accordingly. The monitoring and treatment schedule should be determined by the treating physician based on the individual patient’s response.
g. optical coherence tomography or fluorescein angiography). 05 ml. Afqlir treatment is initiated with one injection per month for five consecutive doses, followed by one injection every two months. Based on the physician’s judgement of visual and/or anatomic outcomes, the treatment interval may be maintained at 2 months or individualized, such as with a treat-and-extend dosing regimen, where the treatment intervals are usually increased by 2-week increments to maintain stable visual and/or anatomic outcomes.
Summary of the safety profile A total of 3 102 patients constituted the safety population in the eight phase III studies. Among those, 2 501 patients were treated with the recommended dose of 2 mg. 4). The most frequently observed adverse reactions (in at least 5% of patients treated with aflibercept) were conjunctival haemorrhage (25%), retinal haemorrhage (11%), visual acuity reduced (11%), eye pain (10%), cataract (8%), intraocular pressure increased (8%), vitreous detachment (7%), and vitreous floaters (7%).
Tabulated list of adverse reactions The safety data described below include all adverse reactions from the eight phase III studies in the indications wet AMD, CRVO, BRVO, DME and myopic CNV with a reasonable possibility of causality to the injection procedure or medicinal product.
The adverse reactions are listed by system organ class and frequency using the following convention: 8 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), not known (cannot be estimated from the available data).
Within each frequency grouping, adverse drug reactions are presented in order of decreasing seriousness.
Table 1:
All treatment-emergent adverse drug reactions reported in patients in phase III studies (pooled data of the phase III studies for the indications wet AMD, CRVO, BRVO, DME and myopic CNV) or during post-marketing surveillance System Organ Class Frequency Adverse reaction Immune system disorders Uncommon Hypersensitivity*** Eye disorders Very common Visual acuity reduced, Retinal haemorrhage, Conjunctival haemorrhage, Eye pain Common Retinal pigment epithelial tear*, Detachment of the retinal pigment epithelium, Retinal degeneration, Vitreous haemorrhage, Cataract, Cataract cortical, Cataract nuclear, Cataract subcapsular, Corneal erosion, Corneal abrasion, Intraocular pressure increased, Vision blurred, Vitreous floaters, Vitreous detachment, Injection site pain, Foreign body sensation in eyes, Lacrimation increased, Eyelid oedema, Injection site haemorrhage, Punctate keratitis, Conjunctival hyperaemia, Ocular hyperaemia Uncommon Endophthalmitis**, Retinal detachment, Retinal tear, Iritis, Uveitis, Iridocyclitis, Lenticular opacities, Corneal epithelium defect, Injection site irritation, Abnormal sensation in eye, Eyelid irritation, Anterior chamber flare, Corneal oedema Rare Blindness, Cataract traumatic, Vitritis, Hypopyon Not known Scleritis**** * Conditions known to be associated with wet AMD.
Traceability In order to improve the traceability of biological medicinal products, the name and the batch number of the administered product should be clearly recorded. 8). Proper aseptic injection techniques must always be used when administering Afqlir.
In addition, patients should be monitored during the week following the injection to permit early treatment if an infection occurs. Patients should be instructed to report any symptoms suggestive of endophthalmitis or any of the above mentioned events without delay.
05 ml). 6). 8). Special precaution is needed in patients with poorly controlled glaucoma (do not inject Afqlir while the intraocular pressure is ≥ 30 mmHg). In all cases, both the intraocular pressure and the perfusion of the optic nerve head must therefore be monitored and managed appropriately.
8). g. pain, photophobia, or redness, which may be a clinical sign attributable to hypersensitivity. Systemic effects Systemic adverse events including non-ocular haemorrhages and arterial thromboembolic events have been reported following intravitreal injection of VEGF inhibitors and there is a theoretical risk that these may relate to VEGF inhibition.
There are limited data on safety in the treatment of patients with CRVO, BRVO, DME or myopic CNV with a history of stroke or transient ischaemic attacks or myocardial infarction within the last 6 months. Caution should be exercised when treating such patients.
1). If bilateral treatment is performed at the same time this could lead to an increased systemic exposure, which could increase the risk of systemic adverse events. • Concomitant use of other anti-VEGF (vascular endothelial growth factor) There is no data available on the concomitant use of aflibercept with other anti-VEGF medicinal products (systemic or ocular).
• Risk factors associated with the development of a retinal pigment epithelial tear after anti- VEGF therapy for wet AMD, include a large and/or high pigment epithelial retinal detachment. When initiating Afqlir therapy, caution should be used in patients with these risk factors for retinal pigment epithelial tears.
1. Active or suspected ocular or periocular infection. Active severe intraocular inflammation.
Not medical advice. Always read the patient information leaflet and follow your prescriber or pharmacist.
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There are limited data for treatment intervals longer than 4 months. If visual and/or anatomic outcomes deteriorate, the treatment interval should be shortened accordingly. 1). The schedule for monitoring should be determined by the treating physician.
If visual and anatomic outcomes indicate that the patient is not benefiting from continued treatment, Afqlir should be discontinued. 05 ml. Additional doses may be administered if visual and/or anatomic outcomes indicate that the disease persists.
Recurrences should be treated as a new manifestation of the disease. The schedule for monitoring should be determined by the treating physician. The interval between two doses should not be shorter than one month. Special populations Hepatic and/or renal impairment No specific studies in patients with hepatic and/or renal impairment have been conducted with aflibercept.
2). Elderly population No special considerations are needed. There is limited experience in patients older than 75 years with DME. Paediatric population The safety and efficacy of Afqlir in children and adolescents below 18 years of age have not been established.
There is no relevant use of aflibercept in the paediatric population for the indications of wet AMD, CRVO, BRVO, DME and myopic CNV. Method of administration Intravitreal injections must be carried out according to medical standards and applicable guidelines by a qualified physician experienced in administering intravitreal injections.
g. povidone iodine applied to the periocular skin, eyelid and ocular surface), have to be ensured. Surgical hand disinfection, sterile gloves, a sterile drape, and a sterile eyelid speculum (or equivalent) are recommended. Immediately following the intravitreal injection, patients should be monitored for elevation in intraocular pressure.
Appropriate monitoring may consist of a check for perfusion of the optic nerve head or tonometry. If required, sterile equipment for paracentesis should be available. g. eye pain, redness of the eye, photophobia, blurring of vision) without delay.
Each pre-filled syringe should only be used for the treatment of a single eye. Extraction of multiple doses from a pre-filled syringe may increase the risk of contamination and subsequent infection. 05 ml solution for injection). 165 ml and is not to be used in total.
6). […]
Observed in the wet AMD studies only. ** Culture positive and culture negative endophthalmitis *** During the post-marketing period, reports of hypersensitivity included rash, pruritus, urticaria, and isolated cases of severe anaphylactic/anaphylactoid reactions.
**** From post marketing reporting. Description of selected adverse reactions In the wet AMD phase III studies, there was an increased incidence of conjunctival haemorrhage in patients receiving anti-thrombotic agents. This increased incidence was comparable between patients treated with ranibizumab and aflibercept.
Arterial thromboembolic events (ATEs) are adverse events potentially related to systemic VEGF inhibition. There is a theoretical risk of arterial thromboembolic events, including stroke and myocardial infarction, following intravitreal use of VEGF inhibitors.
A low incidence rate of arterial thromboembolic events was observed in the aflibercept clinical trials in patients with AMD, DME, RVO and myopic CNV and ROP. Across indications no notable difference between the groups treated with aflibercept and the respective comparator groups were observed.
As with all therapeutic proteins, there is a potential for immunogenicity with Afqlir. 9 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.
• Treatment should be withheld in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment or stage 3 or 4 macular holes. • In the event of a retinal break the dose should be withheld and treatment should not be resumed until the break is adequately repaired.
• The dose should be withheld and treatment should not be resumed earlier than the next scheduled treatment in the event of: o a decrease in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of ≥30 letters compared with the last assessment of visual acuity; o a subretinal haemorrhage involving the centre of the fovea, or, if the size of the haemorrhage is ≥50%, of the total lesion area.
• The dose should be withheld within the previous or next 28 days in the event of a performed or planned intraocular surgery. 6). 6). • There is limited experience with treatment of patients with ischaemic CRVO and BRVO. In patients presenting with clinical signs of irreversible ischaemic visual function loss, the treatment is not recommended.
Populations with limited data There is only limited experience in the treatment of subjects with DME due to type I diabetes or in diabetic patients with an HbA1c over 12% or with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Aflibercept has not been studied in patients with active systemic infections or in patients with concurrent eye conditions such as retinal detachment or macular hole.
There is also no experience of treatment with aflibercept in diabetic patients with uncontrolled hypertension. This lack of information should be considered by the physician when treating such patients. In myopic CNV there is no experience with aflibercept in the treatment of non-Asian patients, patients who have previously undergone treatment for myopic CNV, and patients with extrafoveal lesions.
Information about excipients This medicine contains less than 1 mmol sodium (23 mg) per dosage unit, that is to say essentially ‘sodium-free’. 05 mL (50 microliters) of solution. Polysorbates may cause allergic reactions. Ask your patient if they have any known allergies.