Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in clinical trials of posaconazole cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.
Clinical Trial Experience with Posaconazole Injection and Noxafil Delayed-Release Tablets for the Treatment of Invasive Aspergillosis
The safety of posaconazole injection and Noxafil delayed-release tablet was assessed in a randomized, double-blind, active-controlled clinical study of posaconazole injection and Noxafil delayed-release tablets versus voriconazole for treatment of invasive aspergillosis (Aspergillosis Treatment Study). A total of 575 (288 in posaconazole arm, 287 in voriconazole arm) adult and pediatric patients 13 years of age and older with proven, probable or possible invasive aspergillosis were included. The median duration of treatment was 67 days for posaconazole injection or Noxafil delayed-release tablet and 64 days for voriconazole, with 55% to 60% of subjects starting treatment with the IV formulation of either drug. The median duration of the first instance of IV treatment (before switching to oral treatment or discontinuing or completing study treatment) was 9 days for both groups. Table 7 presents adverse reactions reported at an incidence of ≥10% in either one of the groups in Aspergillosis Treatment Study.
Adverse reactions leading to treatment discontinuation were reported for 33.9% of subjects. The most commonly reported adverse reactions (>2% of subjects) leading to treatment discontinuation were septic shock, respiratory failure, and bronchopulmonary aspergillosis in the posaconazole arm, and septic shock and acute myeloid leukemia in the voriconazole arm.
The most frequently reported adverse reactions in the posaconazole-treated group were pyrexia (28%), hypokalemia (28%), and nausea (23%).
Clinical Trial Experience with Posaconazole Injection for Prophylaxis
Multiple doses of posaconazole injection administered via a peripheral venous catheter were associated with thrombophlebitis (60% incidence). Therefore, in subsequent studies, posaconazole injection was administered via central venous catheter.
The safety of posaconazole injection has been assessed in 268 patients in a clinical trial. Patients were enrolled in a non-comparative pharmacokinetic and safety trial of posaconazole injection when given as antifungal prophylaxis (Posaconazole Injection Study). Patients were immunocompromised with underlying conditions including hematological malignancy, neutropenia post-chemotherapy, GVHD, and post HSCT. This patient population was 55% male, had a mean age of 51 years (range 18 to 82 years, 19% of patients were ≥65 years of age), and were 95% white and 8% Hispanic. Ten patients received a single dose of 200 mg posaconazole injection, 21 patients received 200 mg daily dose for a median of 14 days, and 237 patients received 300 mg daily dose for a median of 9 days.
Table 8 presents adverse reactions observed in patients treated with posaconazole injection 300 mg daily dose in the Posaconazole Injection Study. Each patient received a loading dose, 300 mg twice on Day 1. Following posaconazole intravenous therapy, patients received Noxafil oral suspension to complete 28 days of total posaconazole therapy.
The most frequently reported adverse reactions with an onset during the posaconazole intravenous phase of dosing with 300 mg once daily were diarrhea (32%), hypokalemia (22%), pyrexia (21%), and nausea (19%). These adverse reactions were consistent with those seen in studies with Noxafil oral suspension.
Other clinically significant adverse reactions reported in less than 5% of patients in clinical trials of posaconazole are listed below:
Clinical Laboratory Values: In healthy volunteers and patients, elevation of liver test values did not appear to be associated with higher plasma concentrations of posaconazole.
The number of patients treated for invasive aspergillosis with clinically significant liver test abnormalities at any time during the Aspergillosis Treatment Study is provided in Table 14. Liver test abnormalities present prior to the initiation of study drug included ALT (22%), AST (13%), and bilirubin (13%).