⛔ FDA Black Box Warning
WARNING: SERIOUS INFECTIONS and MALIGNANCY SERIOUS INFECTIONS Patients treated with adalimumab products including HULIO are at increased risk for developing serious infections that may lead to hospitalization or death [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] . Most patients who developed these infections were taking concomitant immunosuppressants such as methotrexate or corticosteroids. Discontinue HULIO if a patient develops a serious infection or sepsis. Reported infections include: • Active tuberculosis (TB), including reactivation of latent TB. Patients with TB have frequently presented with disseminated or extrapulmonary disease. Test patients for latent TB before HULIO use and during therapy. Initiate treatment for latent TB prior to HULIO use. • Invasive fungal infections, including histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, candidiasis, aspergillosis, blastomycosis, and pneumocystosis. Patients with histoplasmosis or other invasive fungal infections may present with disseminated, rather than localized, disease. Antigen and antibody testing for histoplasmosis may be negative in some patients with active infection. Consider empiric anti-fungal therapy in patients at risk for invasive fungal infections who develop severe systemic illness. • Bacterial, viral and other infections due to opportunistic pathogens, including Legionella and Listeria. Carefully consider the risks and benefits of treatment with HULIO prior to initiating therapy in patients with chronic or recurrent infection. Monitor patients closely for the development of signs and symptoms of infection during and after treatment with HULIO, including the possible development of TB in patients who tested negative for latent TB infection prior to initiating therapy [see Warnings and Precautions (5.1) and Adverse Reactions (6.1) ]. MALIGNANCY Lymphoma and other malignancies, some fatal, have been reported in children and adolescent patients treated with TNF blockers including adalimumab products [see Warnings and
Pregnancy & Breastfeeding
8.1 Pregnancy Risk Summary Available studies with use of adalimumab during pregnancy do not reliably establish an association between adalimumab and major birth defects. Clinical data are available from the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists (OTIS)/MotherToBaby Pregnancy Registry in pregnant women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or Crohn’s disease (CD) treated with adalimumab. Registry results showed a rate of 10% for major birth defects with first trimester use of adalimumab in pregnant women with RA or CD and a rate of 7.5% for major birth defects in the disease matched comparison cohort. The lack of pattern of major birth defects is reassuring and differences between exposure groups may have impacted the occurrence of birth defects (see Data ). Adalimumab is actively transferred across the placenta during the third trimester of pregnancy and may affect immune response in the in-utero exposed infant (see Clinical Considerations ). In an embryo-fetal perinatal development study conducted in cynomolgus monkeys, no fetal harm or malformations were observed with intravenous administration of adalimumab during organogenesis and later in gestation, at doses that produced exposures up to approximately 373 times the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) of 40 mg subcutaneous without methotrexate (see Data ). The estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage for the indicated populations 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 embryo/fetal risk Published data suggest that the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes in women with RA or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is associated with increased disease activity. Adverse pregnancy outcomes include preterm deliv