Lotrel

Lotrel is a combination capsule of amlodipine, a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker (DHP CCB) and benazepril, an angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor. Lotrel is indicated for the treatment of hypertension in patients not adequately controlled on monotherapy with either agent.

1.1Hypertension Lotrel

is indicated for the treatment of hypertension in patients not adequately controlled on monotherapy with either agent.

2 DOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION • Usual starting dose is 2.5/10 mg. • May be used as add-on therapy for patients not adequately controlled with either a dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker or an ACE inhibitor • Patients who experience edema with amlodipine may be switched to Lotrel containing a lower dose of amlodipine.

2.1General Considerations The

recommended initial dose is amlodipine 2.5 mg/benazepril 10 mg orally once-daily. Begin therapy with Lotrel only after a patient has either (a) failed to achieve the desired antihypertensive effect with amlodipine or benazepril monotherapy, or (b) demonstrated inability to achieve adequate antihypertensive effect with amlodipine therapy without developing edema. The antihypertensive effect of Lotrel is largely attained within 2 weeks.

If blood pressure remains uncontrolled, the dose may be titrated up to amlodipine 10 mg/benazepril 40 mg once-daily. The dosing should be individualized and adjusted according to the patient’s clinical response. In clinical trials of amlodipine/benazepril combination therapy using amlodipine doses of 2.5 to 10 mg and benazepril doses of 10 to 40 mg, the antihypertensive effects increased with increasing dose of amlodipine in all patient groups, and the effects increased with increasing dose of benazepril in nonblack groups.

2.2Replacement Therapy Lotrel

may be substituted for the titrated components.

5 WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS • Anaphylactoid reactions, including angioedema • Myocardial infarction or increased angina in patients with obstructive coronary artery disease. • Assess for hypotension and hyperkalemia. ( 5.4 , 5.6 ) • Titrate slowly in patients with impaired hepatic or severely impaired renal function. ( 5.5 , 5.7 )

5.1Fetal Toxicity Lotrel

can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Use of drugs that act on the renin-angiotensin system during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy reduces fetal renal function and increases fetal and neonatal morbidity and death. Resulting oligohydramnios can be associated with fetal lung hypoplasia and skeletal deformations.

Potential neonatal adverse effects include skull hypoplasia, anuria, hypotension, renal failure, and death. When pregnancy is detected, discontinue Lotrel as soon as possible .

5.2Angioedema and Anaphylactoid Reactions Head and Neck

Angioedema: Angioedema of the face, extremities, lips, tongue, glottis, and larynx has been reported in patients treated with benazepril. This may occur at any time during treatment. Angioedema associated with edema of the larynx, tongue, or glottis can compromise the airway and be fatal.

If laryngeal stridor or angioedema of the face, tongue, or glottis occurs, discontinue treatment with Lotrel and treat immediately. When involvement of the tongue, glottis, or larynx appears likely to cause airway obstruction, appropriate therapy, e.g., administer subcutaneous epinephrine injection 1:1000 (0.3 to 0.5 mL), promptly . Patients with a history of angioedema may be at increased risk for angioedema while receiving Lotrel. Black patients receiving ACE inhibitors have a higher incidence of angioedema compared to nonblacks.

Patients receiving coadministration of ACE inhibitor and mTOR (mammalian target of rapamycin) inhibitor (e.g., temsirolimus, sirolimus, everolimus) therapy or a neprilysin inhibitor may be at increased risk for angioedema . Intestinal Angioedema: Intestinal angioedema has been reported in patients treated with ACE inhibitors. These patients presented with abdominal pain (with or without nausea or vomiting); in some cases there was no prior history of facial angioedema and C-1 esterase levels were normal. The angioedema was diagnosed by procedures including abdominal CT scan or ultrasound, or at surgery, and symptoms resolved after stopping the ACE inhibitor.

Intestinal angioedema should be included in the differential diagnosis of patients on ACE inhibitors presenting with abdominal pain. Anaphylactoid Reactions During Desensitization: Two patients undergoing desensitizing treatment with hymenoptera (wasp sting) venom while receiving ACE inhibitors sustained life-threatening anaphylactoid reactions. Anaphylactoid Reactions During Membrane Exposure: Anaphylactoid reactions have been reported in patients dialyzed with high-flux membranes and treated concomitantly with an ACE inhibitor.

Anaphylactoid reactions have also been reported in patients undergoing low-density lipoprotein apheresis with dextran sulfate absorption.

5.3Increased Angina

and/or Myocardial Infarction Worsening angina and acute myocardial infarction can develop after starting or increasing the dose of amlodipine, particularly in patients with severe obstructive coronary artery disease.

5.4Hypotension Lotrel

can cause symptomatic hypotension, sometimes complicated by oliguria, progressive azotemia, acute renal failure, or death. Symptomatic hypotension is most likely to occur in patients who have heart failure, severe aortic or mitral stenosis, obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy or have been volume or salt depleted as a result of diuretic therapy, dietary salt restriction, dialysis, diarrhea, or vomiting. Correct volume and salt depletion before starting therapy with benazepril.

If hypotension occurs, place the patient in the supine position and give physiological saline intravenously if needed. Continue treatment with benazepril once blood pressure and volume have returned to normal. In patients with congestive heart failure, start Lotrel therapy under close medical supervision; follow closely for the first 2 weeks of treatment and whenever the dose of the benazepril component is increased or a diuretic is added or its dose increased.

In patients undergoing surgery or during anesthesia with agents that produce hypotension, benazepril will block the angiotensin II formation that could otherwise occur secondary to compensatory renin release. Hypotension that occurs as a result of this mechanism can be corrected by volume expansion.

5.5Impaired Renal Function Monitor

renal function periodically in patients treated with Lotrel. Changes in renal function, including acute renal failure, can be caused by drugs that affect the RAS. Patients whose renal function may depend in part on the activity of the RAS (e.g., patients with renal artery stenosis, severe heart failure, post-myocardial infarction or volume depletion) or who are on Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDS) or ARBs may be at particular risk of developing acute renal failure on Lotrel. Consider withholding or discontinuing therapy in patients who develop a clinically significant decrease in renal function on Lotrel.

5.6Hyperkalemia Monitor

serum potassium periodically in patients receiving Lotrel. Drugs that affect the RAS can cause hyperkalemia. Risk factors for the development of hyperkalemia include renal insufficiency, diabetes mellitus, and the concomitant use of potassium-sparing diuretics, potassium supplements, and/or potassium-containing salt substitutes.

In U.S. placebo-controlled trials of Lotrel, hyperkalemia [serum potassium at least 0.5 mEq/L greater than the upper limit of normal (ULN)] not present at baseline occurred in approximately 1.5% of hypertensive patients receiving Lotrel. Increases in serum potassium were generally reversible.

5.7Hepatitis and Hepatic Failure There

have been rare reports of predominantly cholestatic hepatitis and isolated cases of acute liver failure, some of them fatal, in patients on ACE inhibitors. The mechanism is not understood. Patients receiving ACE inhibitors who develop jaundice or marked elevation of hepatic enzymes should discontinue the ACE inhibitor and be kept under medical surveillance.

4 CONTRAINDICATIONS 1. Do not coadminister aliskiren with angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors, including Lotrel in patients with diabetes. 2. Lotrel is contraindicated in patients with a history of angioedema, with or without previous ACE inhibitor treatment, or patients who are hypersensitive to benazepril, to any other ACE inhibitor, to amlodipine, or to any of the excipients of Lotrel. 3.

Lotrel is contraindicated in combination with a neprilysin inhibitor (e.g., sacubitril). Do not administer Lotrel within 36 hours of switching to or from a neprilysin inhibitor, e.g., sacubitril/valsartan . 4. Do not coadminister aliskiren with ACE inhibitors, including Lotrel, in patients with diabetes. 5.

Lotrel is contraindicated in patients with a history of angioedema or patients who are hypersensitive to benazepril or to amlodipine. 6. Lotrel is contraindicated in combination with a neprilysin inhibitor (e.g., sacubitril). Do not administer Lotrel within 36 hours of switching to or from a neprilysin inhibitor, e.g., sacubitril/valsartan.

8.1Pregnancy Risk Summary Lotrel

can cause fetal harm when administered to a pregnant woman. Use of drugs that act on the RAS during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy reduces fetal renal function and increases fetal and neonatal morbidity and death. Most epidemiologic studies examining fetal abnormalities after exposure to antihypertensive use in the first trimester have not distinguished drugs affecting the RAS from other antihypertensive agents.

When pregnancy is detected, discontinue Lotrel as soon as possible. The estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage for the indicated population is unknown. All pregnancies have a background risk of birth defect, loss, or other adverse outcomes. In the U.S. general population, the estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage in clinically recognized pregnancies is 2-4% and 15-20%, respectively.

Clinical Considerations Disease-Associated Maternal and/or Embryo/Fetal Risk Hypertension in pregnancy increases the maternal risk for pre-eclampsia, gestational diabetes, premature delivery, and delivery complications (e.g., need for cesarean section, and post-partum hemorrhage). Hypertension increases the fetal risk for intrauterine growth restriction and intrauterine death. Pregnant women with hypertension should be carefully monitored and managed accordingly.

Fetal/Neonatal Adverse Reactions Oligohydramnios in pregnant women who use drugs affecting the renin-angiotensin system in the second and third trimesters of pregnancy can result in the following: reduced fetal renal function leading to anuria and renal failure, fetal lung hypoplasia, skeletal deformations, including skull hypoplasia, hypotension and death. Perform serial ultrasound examinations to assess the intra-amniotic environment. Fetal testing may be appropriate, based on the week of gestation.

Patients and physicians should be aware, however, that oligohydramnios may not appear until after the fetus has sustained irreversible injury. If oligohydramnios is observed, consider alternative drug treatment. Closely observe neonates with histories of in utero exposure to Lotrel for hypotension, oliguria, and hyperkalemia.

In neonates with a history of in utero exposure to Lotrel, if oliguria or hypotension occurs, support blood pressure and renal perfusion. Exchange transfusions or dialysis may be required as a means of reversing hypotension and replacing renal function. Data Animal Data Benazepril and Amlodipine: When rats received benazepril:amlodipine at doses ranging from 5:2.5 to 50:25 mg/kg/day, dystocia was observed at an increasing dose-related incidence at all doses tested.

On a body surface area basis, the 2.5 mg/kg/day dose of amlodipine is twice the amlodipine dose delivered when the maximum recommended dose of Lotrel is given to a 60 kg patient. Similarly, the 5 mg/kg/day dose of benazepril is approximately equivalent with the benazepril dose delivered when the maximum recommended dose of Lotrel is given to a 60 kg patient. No teratogenic effects were seen when benazepril and amlodipine were administered in combination to pregnant rats or rabbits.

Rats received doses of up to 50:25 mg (benazepril:amlodipine)/kg/day (12 times the MRHD on a body surface area basis, assuming a 60 kg patient). Rabbits received doses of up to 1.5:0.75 mg/kg/day (equivalent to the maximum recommended dose of Lotrel given to a 60 kg patient).

Discontinuation because of adverse reactions occurred in 4% of Lotrel-treated patients and 3% of placebo-treated patients. The most common reasons for discontinuation of therapy with Lotrel were cough and edema. To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation at 1-888-669-6682 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch .

6.1Clinical 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. The adverse reaction information from clinical trials does, however, provide a basis for identifying the adverse events that appear to be related to drug use and for approximating rates. Lotrel has been evaluated for safety in over 2,991 patients with hypertension; over 500 of these patients were treated for at least 6 months, and over 400 were treated for more than 1 year.

In a pooled analysis of 5 placebo-controlled trials involving Lotrel doses up to 5/20, the reported side effects were generally mild and transient, and there was no relationship between side effects and age, sex, race, or duration of therapy. Discontinuation of therapy due to side effects was required in approximately 4% of patients treated with Lotrel and in 3% of patients treated with placebo. The most common reasons for discontinuation of therapy with Lotrel in these studies were cough and edema (including angioedema).

The peripheral edema associated with amlodipine use is dose-dependent. When benazepril is added to a regimen of amlodipine, the incidence of edema is substantially reduced. The addition of benazepril to a regimen of amlodipine should not be expected to provide additional antihypertensive effect in African-Americans.

However, all patient groups benefit from the reduction in amlodipine-induced edema. The side effects considered possibly or probably related to study drug that occurred in these trials in more than 1% of patients treated with Lotrel are shown in the table below. Cough was the only adverse event with at least possible relationship to treatment that was more common on Lotrel (3.3%) than on placebo (0.2%).

Percent Incidence in U. S. Placebo-controlled Trials *Edema refers to all edema, such as dependent edema, angioedema, facial edema. Benazepril/Amlodipine Benazepril Amlodipine Placebo N = 760 N = 554 N = 475 N = 408 Cough 3.3 1.8 0.4

0.2Headache

2.2 3.8 2.9

5.6Dizziness

1.3 1.6 2.3

1.5Edema*

2.1 0.9 5.1

2.2The

incidence of edema was greater in patients treated with amlodipine monotherapy (5.1%) than in patients treated with Lotrel (2.1%) or placebo (2.2%). Other side effects considered possibly or probably related to study drug that occurred in U.S. placebo-controlled trials of patients treated with Lotrel or in postmarketing experience were the following: Body as a Whole: Asthenia and fatigue. CNS: Insomnia, nervousness, anxiety, tremor, and decreased libido.

Dermatologic: Flushing, hot flashes, rash, skin nodule, and dermatitis. Digestive: Dry mouth, nausea, abdominal pain, dyspepsia, and esophagitis. Hematologic: Neutropenia Musculoskeletal: cramps, and muscle cramps. Urogenital: Sexual problems, such as impotence, and polyuria. Monotherapies of benazepril and amlodipine have been evaluated for safety in clinical trials in over 6,000 and 11,000 patients, respectively.

The observed adverse reactions to the monotherapies in these trials were similar to those seen in trials of Lotrel.

6.2Postmarketing Experience Because

these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. In postmarketing experience with benazepril, there have been rare reports of Stevens-Johnson syndrome, pancreatitis, hemolytic anemia, pemphigus, thrombocytopenia, paresthesia, dysgeusia, orthostatic symptoms and hypotension, angina pectoris and arrhythmia, pruritus, photosensitivity reaction, arthralgia, arthritis, myalgia, blood urea nitrogen (BUN) increase, serum creatinine increase, renal impairment, vision impairment, agranulocytosis, neutropenia. Rare reports in association with use of amlodipine: gingival hyperplasia, tachycardia, jaundice, and hepatic enzyme elevations (mostly consistent with cholestasis severe enough to require hospitalization), leukocytopenia, allergic reaction, hyperglycemia, dysgeusia, hypoesthesia, paresthesia, syncope, peripheral neuropathy, hypertonia, visual impairment, diplopia, hypotension, vasculitis, rhinitis, gastritis, hyperhidrosis, pruritus, skin discoloration, urticaria, erythema multiform, muscle spasms, arthralgia, micturition disorder, nocturia, erectile dysfunction, malaise, weight decrease or gain.

Other potentially important adverse experiences attributed to other ACE inhibitors and calcium channel blockers include: eosinophilic pneumonitis (ACE inhibitors) and gynecomastia (CCBs).