n contraception provided, and reliable contraception is practised (see sections 4.3 and 4.6). Women should not become pregnant for 1 month after discontinuation of Opsumit. Monthly pregnancy tests during treatment with Opsumit are recommended to allow the early detection of pregnancy.
Concomitant use with strong CYP3A4 inducers
In the presence of strong CYP3A4 inducers reduced efficacy of macitentan could occur. The combination of macitentan with strong CYP3A4 inducers (e.g., rifampicin, St. John's wort, carbamazepine, and phenytoin) should be avoided (see section 4.5).
Concomitant use with strong CYP3A4 inhibitors
Caution should be exercised when macitentan is administered concomitantly with strong CYP3A4 inhibitors (e.g., itraconazole, ketoconazole, voriconazole, clarithromycin, telithromycin, nefazodone, ritonavir, and saquinavir) (see section 4.5).
Renal impairment
Patients with renal impairment may run a higher risk of experiencing hypotension and anaemia during treatment with macitentan. Therefore, monitoring of blood pressure and haemoglobin should be considered. There is no clinical experience with the use of macitentan in PAH patients with severe renal impairment. Caution is recommended in this population. There is no experience with the use of macitentan in patients undergoing dialysis, therefore Opsumit is not recommended in this population (see sections 4.2 and 5.2).
Elderly
There is limited clinical experience with macitentan in patients over the age of 75 years, therefore Opsumit should be used with caution in this population (see section 4.2).
Excipients
Opsumit tablets contain lactose. Patients with rare hereditary problems of galactose intolerance, Lapp lactase deficiency or glucose-galactose malabsorption should not take this medicine.
Opsumit tablets contain lecithin derived from soya. If a patient is hypersensitive to soya, Opsumit must not be used (see section 4.3).
4.5 Interaction with other medicinal products and other forms of interaction
In vitro studies
The cytochrome P450 enzymes CYP3A4, CYP2C8, CYP2C9, and CYP2C19 are involved in the metabolism of macitentan and formation of its metabolites (see section 5.2). Macitentan and its active metabolite do not have clinically relevant inhibitory or inducing effects on cytochrome P450 enzymes.
Macitentan and its active metabolite are not inhibitors of hepatic or renal uptake transporters at clinically relevant concentrations, including the organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATP1B1 and OATP1B3). Macitentan and its active metabolite are not relevant substrates of OATP1B1 and OATP1B3, but enter the liver by passive diffusion.
Macitentan and its active metabolite are not inhibitors of hepatic or renal efflux pumps at clinically relevant concentrations, including the multi-drug resistance protein (P-gp, MDR-1) and multidrug and toxin extrusion transporters (MATE1 and MATE2-K). Macitentan inhibits the breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP) at clinically relevant intestinal concentrations. Macitentan is not a substrate for P-gp/MDR-1.
At clinically relevant concentrations, macitentan and its active metabolite do not interact with proteins involved in hepatic bile salt transport, i.e., the bile salt export pump (BSEP) and the sodium-dependent taurocholate co-transporting polypeptide (NTCP).
In vivo studies
Interaction studies have only been performed in adults.
Warfarin: Macitentan given as multiple |
