CANCIDAS^® 50 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion

CANCIDAS^® 70 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion

CANCIDAS 50 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion:

Each vial contains 50 mg caspofungin (as acetate).

Excipients with known effect:

Each 50 mg vial contains 35.7 mg of sucrose.

CANCIDAS 70 mg powder for concentrate for solution for infusion:

Each vial contains 70 mg caspofungin (as acetate).

Excipients with known effect:

Each 70 mg vial contains 50.0 mg of sucrose.

For the full list of excipients, see section 6.1.

Powder for concentrate for solution for infusion.

Before reconstitution, the powder is a white to off-white compact, powder.

• Treatment of invasive candidiasis in adult or paediatric patients.

• Treatment of invasive aspergillosis in adult or paediatric patients who are refractory to or intolerant of amphotericin B, lipid formulations of amphotericin B and/or itraconazole. Refractoriness is defined as progression of infection or failure to improve after a minimum of 7 days of prior therapeutic doses of effective antifungal therapy.

• Empirical therapy for presumed fungal infections (such as Candida or Aspergillus) in febrile, neutropaenic adult or paediatric patients.

Caspofungin should be initiated by a physician experienced in the management of invasive fungal infections.

Posology

Adult patients

A single 70 mg loading dose should be administered on Day-1, followed by 50 mg daily thereafter. In patients weighing more than 80 kg, after the initial 70 mg loading dose, caspofungin 70 mg daily is recommended (see section 5.2). No dosage adjustment is necessary based on gender or race (see section 5.2).

Paediatric patients (12 months to 17 years)

In paediatric patients (12 months to 17 years of age), dosing should be based on the patient's body surface area (see Instructions for Use in Paediatric Patients, Mosteller¹ Formula). For all indications, a single 70-mg/m² loading dose (not to exceed an actual dose of 70 mg) should be administered on Day 1, followed by 50 mg/m² daily thereafter (not to exceed an actual dose of 70 mg daily). If the 50-mg/m² daily dose is well tolerated but does not provide an adequate clinical response, the daily dose can be increased to 70 mg/m² daily (not to exceed an actual daily dose of 70 mg).

The safety and efficacy of caspofungin have not been sufficiently studied in clinical trials involving neonates and infants below 12 months of age. Caution is advised when treating this age group. Limited data suggest that caspofungin at 25 mg/m² daily in neonates and infants (less than 3 months of age) and 50 mg/m² daily in young children (3 to 11 months of age) can be considered (see section 5.2).

Duration of treatment

Duration of empirical therapy should be based on the patient's clinical response. Therapy should be continued until up to 72 hours after resolution of neutropaenia (ANC≥ 500). Patients found to have a fungal infection should be treated for a minimum of 14 days and treatment should continue for at least 7 days after both neutropaenia and clinical symptoms are resolved.

Duration of treatment of invasive candidiasis should be based upon the patient's clinical and microbiological response. After signs and symptoms of invasive candidiasis have improved and cultures have become negative, a switch to oral antifungal therapy may be considered. In general, antifungal therapy should continue for at least 14 days after the last positive culture.

Duration of treatment of invasive aspergillosis is determined on a case by case basis and should be based upon the severity of the patient's underlying disease, recovery from immunosuppression, and clinical response. In general, treatment should continue for at least 7 days after resolution of symptoms.

The safety information on treatment durations longer than 4 weeks is limited. However, available data suggest that caspofungin continues to be well tolerated with longer courses of therapy (up to 162 days in adult patients and up to 87 days in paediatric patients).

Special populations

Elderly patients

In elderly patients (65 years of age or more), the area under the curve (AUC) is increased by approximately 30 %. However, no systematic dosage adjustment is required. There is limited treatment experience in patients 65 years of age and older (see section 5.2).

Renal impairment

No dosage adjustment is necessary based on renal impairment (see section 5.2).

Hepatic impairment

For adult patients with mild hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh score 5 to 6), no dosage adjustment is needed. For adult patients with moderate hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh score 7 to 9), caspofungin 35 mg daily is recommended based upon pharmacokinetic data. An initial 70 mg loading dose should be administered on Day-1. There is no clinical experience in adult patients with severe hepatic impairment (Child-Pugh score greater than 9) and in paediatric patients with any degree of hepatic impairment (see section 4.4).

Co-administration with inducers of metabolic enzymes

Limited data suggest that an increase in the daily dose of caspofungin to 70 mg, following the 70 mg loading dose, should be considered when co-administering caspofungin in adult patients with certain inducers of metabolic enzymes (see section 4.5). When caspofungin is co-administered to paediatric patients (12 months to 17 years of age) with these same inducers of metabolic enzymes (see section 4.5), a caspofungin dose of 70-mg/m² daily (not to exceed an actual daily dose of 70 mg) should be considered.

Method of administration

After reconstitution and dilution, the solution should be administered by slow intravenous infusion over approximately 1 hour. For reconstitution directions see section 6.6.

Both 70 mg and 50 mg vials are available.

Caspofungin should be given as a single daily infusion.

¹ Mosteller RD: Simplified Calculation of Body Surface Area. N Engl J Med 1987 Oct 22;317(17):1098 (letter)

Hypersensitivity to the active substance or to any of the excipients listed in section 6.1.

Anaphylaxis has been reported during administration of caspofungin. If this occurs, caspofungin should be discontinued and appropriate treatment administered. Possibly histamine-mediated adverse reactions, including rash, facial swelling, angioedema, pruritus, sensation of warmth, or bronchospasm have been reported and may require discontinuation and/or administration of appropriate treatment.

Limited data suggest that less common non-Candida yeasts and non-Aspergillus moulds are not covered by caspofungin. The efficacy of caspofungin against these fungal pathogens has not been established.

Concomitant use of caspofungin with ciclosporin has been eva luated in healthy adult volunteers and in adult patients. Some healthy adult volunteers who received two 3 mg/kg doses of ciclosporin with caspofungin showed transient increases in alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST) of less than or equal to 3-fold the upper limit of normal (ULN) that resolved with discontinuation of the treatment. In a retrospective study of 40 patients treated during marketed use with caspofungin and ciclosporin for 1 to 290 days (median 17.5 days), no serious hepatic adverse reactions were noted. These data suggest that caspofungin can be used in patients receiving ciclosporin when the potential benefit outweighs the potential risk. Close monitoring of liver enzymes should be considered if caspofungin and ciclosporin are used concomitantly.

In adult patients with mild and moderate hepatic impairment, the AUC is increased about 20% and 75 %, respectively. A reduction of the daily dose to 35 mg is recommended for adults with moderate hepatic impairment. There is no clinical experience in adults with severe hepatic impairment or in paediatric patients with any degree of hepatic impairment. A higher exposure than in moderate hepatic impairment is expected and caspofungin should be used with caution in these patients (see sections 4.2 and 5.2).

Laboratory abnormalities in liver function tests have been seen in healthy volunteers and adult and paediatric patients treated with caspofungin. In some adult and paediatric patients with serious underlying conditions who were receiving multiple concomitant medications with caspofungin, cases of clinically significant hepatic dysfunction, hepatitis and hepatic failure have been reported; a causal relationship to caspofungin has not been established. Patients who develop abnormal liver function tests during caspofungin therapy should be monitored for evidence of worsening hepatic function and the risk/benefit of continuing caspofungin therapy should be re-eva luated.

This medicinal product contains sucrose. Patients with rare hereditary problems of fructose intolerance or sucrase-isomaltase insufficiency should not take this medicinal product (see section 2).

Cases of Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and toxic epidermal necrolysis (TEN) have been reported after post-marketing use of caspofungin. Caution should apply in patients with history of allergic skin reaction (see section 4.8).