Complete adverse effect profile including incidence rates and management
Important Safety Information
This is not a complete list of all possible side effects. Contact your healthcare provider if you experience any unexpected symptoms. For serious or life-threatening side effects, seek emergency medical attention immediately.
6 ADVERSE REACTIONS Most common adverse reaction (>2%) was bleeding.
( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Sandoz Inc.
at 1-800-525-8747 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.
6.1 Clinical Trials Experience 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.
In the BAT trials, 79 of the 2161 (3.7%) patients undergoing PCI for treatment of unstable angina and randomized to bivalirudin experienced major bleeding events, which consisted of intracranial bleeding, retroperitoneal bleeding, and clinically overt bleeding with a decrease in hemoglobin greater than 3 g/dL or leading to a transfusion of greater than 2 units of blood.
6.2 Immunogenicity As with all peptides, there is potential for immunogenicity.
The detection of antibody formation is highly dependent on the sensitivity and specificity of the assay.
Additionally, the observed incidence of antibody (including neutralizing antibody) positivity in an assay may be influenced by several factors including assay methodology, sample handling, timing of sample collection, concomitant medications, and underlying disease.
For these reasons, comparison of the incidence of antibodies to bivalirudin in the studies described below with the incidence of antibodies in other studies or to other products may be misleading.
In in vitro studies, bivalirudin exhibited no platelet aggregation response against sera from patients with a history of HIT/HITTS.
5 WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS • Bleeding Events: Bivalirudin increases the risk of bleeding.
( 5.1 , 6.1 , 12.2 ) • Acute Stent Thrombosis: Increased incidence of acute stent thrombosis in STEMI patients undergoing primary PCI.
( 2.1 , 5.2 ) • Thrombotic Risk with Coronary Artery Brachytherapy: An increased risk of thrombus formation, including fatal outcomes, in gamma brachytherapy.
( 5.3 ) 5.1 Bleeding Events Bivalirudin increases the risk of bleeding [see Adverse Reactions ( 6.1 )] .
An unexplained fall in blood pressure or hematocrit should lead to serious consideration of a hemorrhagic event and cessation of bivalirudin administration.
Like all medications, Bivalirudin can cause side effects. However, not everyone who takes this medication will experience them. Many side effects are dose-dependent and may improve as your body adjusts to the medication. Others may require dose adjustment or medical attention.
Contact your healthcare provider promptly if you experience:
Seek immediate emergency medical care if you experience signs of: