Permax® (Pergolide Tablets, USP) is an ergot derivative dopamine receptor agonist at both D1 and D2 receptor sites. Pergolide mesylate is chemically designated as 8β-[(Methylthio)methyl]-6-propylergoline monomethanesulfonate; the structural formula is as follows:

The empirical formula is C19H26N2S∙CH4O3S, representing a molecular weight of 410.60.

Permax is provided for oral administration in tablets containing 0.05 mg (0.159 µmol), 0.25 mg (0.795 µmol), or 1 mg (3.18 µmol) pergolide as the base. The tablets also contain croscarmellose sodium, iron oxide, lactose, magnesium stearate, and povidone. The 0.05 mg tablet also contains L-methionine, and the 0.25 mg tablet also contains FD&C Blue No. 2.

Permax is indicated as adjunctive treatment to levodopa/carbidopa in the management of the signs and symptoms of Parkinson's disease.

Evidence to support the efficacy of pergolide as an antiparkinsonian adjunct was obtained in a multicenter study enrolling 376 patients with mild to moderate Parkinson's disease who were intolerant to l-dopa/carbidopa as manifested by moderate to severe dyskinesia and/or on-off phenomena. On average, the patients evaluated had been on l-dopa/carbidopa for 3.9 years (range, 2 days to 16.8 years). The administration of pergolide permitted a 5% to 30% reduction in the daily dose of l-dopa. On average, these patients treated with pergolide maintained an equivalent or better clinical status than they exhibited at baseline.

Pergolide is contraindicated in patients who are hypersensitive to this drug or other ergot derivatives.

Cardiac Valvulopathy and Fibrotic Complications (SEEBOXED WARNING).

Falling Asleep During Activities of Daily Living—Patients treated with Permax have reported falling asleep while engaged in activities of daily living, including the operation of motor vehicles which sometimes resulted in accidents. Although many of these patients reported somnolence while on Permax, some perceived that they had no warning signs such as excessive drowsiness, and believed that they were alert immediately prior to the event. Some of these events had been reported as late as 1 year after the initiation of treatment.

Somnolence is a common occurrence in patients receiving Permax. Many clinical experts believe that falling asleep while engaged in activities of daily living always occurs in a setting of preexisting somnolence, although patients may not give such a history. For this reason, prescribers should continually reassess patients for drowsiness or sleepiness, especially since some of the events occur well after the start of treatment. Prescribers should also be aware that patients may not acknowledge drowsiness or sleepiness until directly questioned about drowsiness or sleepiness during specific activities.

Before initiating treatment with Permax, patients should be advised of the potential to develop drowsiness and specifically asked about factors that may increase the risk with Permax such as concomitant sedating medications or the presence of sleep disorders. If a patient develops significant daytime sleepiness or episodes of falling asleep during activities that require participation (e.g., conversations, eating, etc.), Permax should ordinarily be discontinued. If a decision is made to continue Permax, patients should be advised to not drive and to avoid other potentially dangerous activities.

While dose reduction may reduce the degree of somnolence, there is insufficient information to establish that dose reduction will eliminate episodes of falling asleep while engaged in activities of daily living.

Symptomatic Hypotension — In clinical trials, approximately 10% of patients taking pergolide with l-dopa versus 7% taking placebo with l-dopa experienced symptomatic orthostatic and/or sustained hypotension, especially during initial treatment. With gradual dosage titration, tolerance to the hypotension usually develops. It is therefore important to warn patients of the risk, to begin therapy with low doses, and to increase the dosage in carefully adjusted increments over a period of 3 to 4 weeks (seeDOSAGE AND ADMINISTRATION).

Hallucinosis— In controlled trials, pergolide with l-dopa caused hallucinosis in about 14% of patients as opposed to 3% taking placebo with l-dopa. This was of sufficient severity to cause discontinuation of treatment in about 3% of those enrolled; tolerance to this untoward effect was not observed.

Fatalities— In the placebo-controlled trial, 2 of 187 patients treated with placebo died as compared with 1 of 189 patients treated with pergolide. Of the 2299 patients treated with pergolide in premarketing studies evaluated as of October 1988, 143 died while on the drug or shortly after discontinuing it. Because the patient population under evaluation was elderly, ill, and at high risk for death, it seems unlikely that pergolide played any role in these deaths, but the possibility that pergolide shortens survival of patients cannot be excluded with absolute certainty.

In particular, a case-by-case review of the clinical course of the patients who died failed to disclose any unique set of signs, symptoms, or laboratory results that would suggest that treatment with pergolide caused their deaths. Sixty-eight percent (68%) of the patients who died were 65 years of age or older. No death (other than a suicide) occurred within the first month of treatment; most of the patients who died had been on pergolide for years. A relative frequency of the causes of death by organ system are: Pulmonary failure/Pneumonia, 35%; Cardiovascular, 30%; Cancer, 11%; Unknown, 8.4%; Infection, 3.5%; Extrapyramidal syndrome, 3.5%; Stroke, 2.1%; Dysphagia, 2.1%; Injury, 1.4%; Suicide, 1.4%; Dehydration, 0.7%; Glomerulonephritis, 0.7%.

Commonly Observed— In premarketing clinical trials, the most commonly observed adverse events associated with use of pergolide which were not seen at an equivalent incidence among placebo-treated patients were: nervous system complaints, including dyskinesia, hallucinations, somnolence, insomnia; digestive complaints, including nausea, constipation, diarrhea, dyspepsia; and respiratory system complaints, including rhinitis.

Associated With Discontinuation of Treatment— Twenty-seven percent (27%) of approximately 1200 patients receiving pergolide for treatment of Parkinson's disease in premarketing clinical trials in the US and Canada discontinued treatment due to adverse events. The events most commonly causing discontinuation were related to the nervous system (15.5%), primarily hallucinations (7.8%) and confusion (1.8%).

Fatalities —seeWARNINGS

Incidence in Controlled Clinical Trials— The table that follows enumerates adverse events that occurred at a frequency of 1% or more among patients taking pergolide who participated in the premarketing controlled clinical trials comparing pergolide with placebo. In a double-blind, controlled study of 6 months’ duration, patients with Parkinson’s disease were continued on l-dopa/carbidopa and were randomly assigned to receive either pergolide or placebo as additional therapy.

The prescriber should be aware that these figures cannot be used to predict the incidence of side effects in the course of usual medical practice where patient characteristics and other factors differ from those which prevailed in the clinical trials. Similarly, the cited frequencies cannot be compared with figures obtained from other clinical investigations involving different treatments, uses, and investigators. The cited figures, however, do provide the prescribing physician with some basis for estimating the relative contribution of drug and nondrug factors to the side-effect incidence rate in the population studied.

Events Observed During the Premarketing Evaluation of Permax— This section reports event frequencies evaluated as of October 1988 for adverse events occurring in a group of approximately 1800 patients who took multiple doses of pergolide. The conditions and duration of exposure to pergolide varied greatly, involving well-controlled studies as well as experience in open and uncontrolled clinical settings. In the absence of appropriate controls in some of the studies, a causal relationship between these events and treatment with pergolide cannot be determined.

The following enumeration by organ system describes events in terms of their relative frequency of reporting in the data base. Events of major clinical importance are also described in the Warnings and Precautions sections.

The following definitions of frequency are used: frequent adverse events are defined as those occurring in at least 1/100 patients; infrequent adverse events are those occurring in 1/100 to 1/1000 patients; rare events are those occurring in fewer than 1/1000 patients.

Body as a Whole—Frequent: headache, asthenia, accidental injury, pain, abdominal pain, chest pain, back pain, flu syndrome, neck pain, fever; Infrequent: facial edema, chills, enlarged abdomen, malaise, neoplasm, hernia, pelvic pain, sepsis, cellulitis, moniliasis, abscess, jaw pain, hypothermia; Rare: acute abdominal syndrome, LE syndrome.

Cardiovascular System—Frequent: postural hypotension, syncope, hypertension, palpitations, vasodilatations, congestive heart failure; Infrequent: myocardial infarction, tachycardia, heart arrest, abnormal electrocardiogram, angina pectoris, thrombophlebitis, bradycardia, ventricular extrasystoles, cerebrovascular accident, ventricular tachycardia, cerebral ischemia, atrial fibrillation, varicose vein, pulmonary embolus, AV block, shock; Rare: vasculitis, pulmonary hypertension, pericarditis, migraine, heart block, cerebral hemorrhage.

Digestive System—Frequent: nausea, vomiting, dyspepsia, diarrhea, constipation, dry mouth, dysphagia; Infrequent: flatulence, abnormal liver function tests, increased appetite, salivary gland enlargement, thirst, gastroenteritis, gastritis, periodontal abscess, intestinal obstruction, nausea and vomiting, gingivitis, esophagitis, cholelithiasis, tooth caries, hepatitis, stomach ulcer, melena, hepatomegaly, hematemesis, eructation; Rare: sialadenitis, peptic ulcer, pancreatitis, jaundice, glossitis, fecal incontinence, duodenitis, colitis, cholecystitis, aphthous stomatitis, esophageal ulcer.

Endocrine System—Infrequent: hypothyroidism, adenoma, diabetes mellitus, ADH inappropriate; Rare: endocrine disorder, thyroid adenoma.

Hemic and Lymphatic System—Frequent: anemia; Infrequent: leukopenia, lymphadenopathy, leukocytosis, thrombocytopenia, petechia, megaloblastic anemia, cyanosis; Rare: purpura, lymphocytosis, eosinophilia, thrombocythemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, polycythemia, splenomegaly.

Metabolic and Nutritional System—Frequent: peripheral edema, weight loss, weight gain; Infrequent: dehydration, hypokalemia, hypoglycemia, iron deficiency anemia, hyperglycemia, gout, hypercholesteremia; Rare: electrolyte imbalance, cachexia, acidosis, hyperuricemia.

Musculoskeletal System—Frequent: twitching, myalgia, arthralgia; Infrequent: bone pain, tenosynovitis, myositis, bone sarcoma, arthritis; Rare: osteoporosis, muscle atrophy, osteomyelitis.

Nervous System—Frequent: dyskinesia, dizziness, hallucinations, confusion, somnolence, insomnia, dystonia, paresthesia, depression, anxiety, tremor, akinesia, extrapyramidal syndrome, abnormal gait, abnormal dreams, incoordination, psychosis, personality disorder, nervousness, choreoathetosis, amnesia, paranoid reaction, abnormal thinking; Infrequent: akathisia, neuropathy, neuralgia, hypertonia, delusions, convulsion, libido increased, euphoria, emotional lability, libido decreased, vertigo, myoclonus, coma, apathy, paralysis, neurosis, hyperkinesia, ataxia, acute brain syndrome, torticollis, meningitis, manic reaction, hypokinesia, hostility, agitation, hypotonia; Rare: stupor, neuritis, intracranial hypertension, hemiplegia, facial paralysis, brain edema, myelitis, hallucinations and confusion after abrupt discontinuation.

Respiratory System—Frequent: rhinitis, dyspnea, pneumonia, pharyngitis, cough increased; Infrequent: epistaxis, hiccup, sinusitis, bronchitis, voice alteration, hemoptysis, asthma, lung edema, pleural effusion, laryngitis, emphysema, apnea, hyperventilation; Rare: pneumothorax, lung fibrosis, larynx edema, hypoxia, hypoventilation, hemothorax, carcinoma of lung.

Skin and Appendages System—Frequent: sweating, rash; Infrequent: skin discoloration, pruritus, acne, skin ulcer, alopecia, dry skin, skin carcinoma, seborrhea, hirsutism, herpes simplex, eczema, fungal dermatitis, herpes zoster; Rare: vesiculobullous rash, subcutaneous nodule, skin nodule, skin benign neoplasm, lichenoid dermatitis.

Special Senses System—Frequent: abnormal vision, diplopia; Infrequent: otitis media, conjunctivitis, tinnitus, deafness, taste perversion, ear pain, eye pain, glaucoma, eye hemorrhage, photophobia, visual field defect; Rare: blindness, cataract, retinal detachment, retinal vascular disorder.

Urogenital System—Frequent: urinary tract infection, urinary frequency, urinary incontinence, hematuria, dysmenorrhea; Infrequent: dysuria, breast pain, menorrhagia, impotence, cystitis, urinary retention, abortion, vaginal hemorrhage, vaginitis, priapism, kidney calculus, fibrocystic breast, lactation, uterine hemorrhage, urolithiasis, salpingitis, pyuria, metrorrhagia, menopause, kidney failure, breast carcinoma, cervical carcinoma; Rare: amenorrhea, bladder carcinoma, breast engorgement, epididymitis, hypogonadism, leukorrhea, nephrosis, pyelonephritis, urethral pain, uricaciduria, withdrawal bleeding.

Postintroduction Reports— Voluntary reports of adverse events temporally associated with pergolide that have been received since market introduction and which may have no causal relationship with the drug, include the following: neuroleptic malignant syndrome and Raynaud’s phenomenon.

There is no clinical experience with massive overdosage. The largest overdose involved a young hospitalized adult patient who was not being treated with pergolide but who intentionally took 60 mg of the drug. He experienced vomiting, hypotension, and agitation. Another patient receiving a daily dosage of 7 mg of pergolide unintentionally took 19 mg/day for 3 days, after which his vital signs were normal but he experienced severe hallucinations. Within 36 hours of resumption of the prescribed dosage level, the hallucinations stopped. One patient unintentionally took 14 mg/day for 23 days instead of her prescribed 1.4 mg/day dosage. She experienced severe involuntary movements and tingling in her arms and legs. Another patient who inadvertently received 7 mg instead of the prescribed 0.7 mg experienced palpitations, hypotension, and ventricular extrasystoles. The highest total daily dose (prescribed for several patients with refractory Parkinson's disease) has exceeded 30 mg.

Symptoms— Animal studies indicate that the manifestations of overdosage in man might include nausea, vomiting, convulsions, decreased blood pressure, and CNS stimulation. The oral median lethal doses in mice and rats were 54 and 15 mg/kg respectively.

Treatment— To obtain up-to-date information about the treatment of overdose, a good resource is your certified Regional Poison Control Center. Telephone numbers of certified poison control centers are listed in the Physicians’ Desk Reference (PDR). In managing overdosage, consider the possibility of multiple drug overdoses, interaction among drugs, and unusual drug kinetics in your patient.

Management of overdosage may require supportive measures to maintain arterial blood pressure. Cardiac function should be monitored; an antiarrhythmic agent may be necessary. If signs of CNS stimulation are present, a phenothiazine or other butyrophenone neuroleptic agent may be indicated; the efficacy of such drugs in reversing the effects of overdose has not been assessed.

Protect the patient’s airway and support ventilation and perfusion. Meticulously monitor and maintain, within acceptable limits, the patient’s vital signs, blood gases, serum electrolytes, etc. Absorption of drugs from the gastrointestinal tract may be decreased by giving activated charcoal, which, in many cases, is more effective than emesis or lavage; consider charcoal instead of or in addition to gastric emptying. Repeated doses of charcoal over time may hasten elimination of some drugs that have been absorbed. Safeguard the patient’s airway when employing gastric emptying or charcoal.

There is no experience with dialysis or hemoperfusion, and these procedures are unlikely to be of benefit.

Administration of Permax should be initiated with a daily dosage of 0.05 mg for the first 2 days. The dosage should then be gradually increased by 0.1 or 0.15 mg/day every third day over the next 12 days of therapy. The dosage may then be increased by 0.25 mg/day every third day until an optimal therapeutic dosage is achieved.

Permax is usually administered in divided doses 3 times per day. During dosage titration, the dosage of concurrent l-dopa/carbidopa may be cautiously decreased.

In clinical studies, the mean therapeutic daily dosage of Permax was 3 mg/day. The average concurrent daily dosage of l-dopa/carbidopa (expressed as l-dopa) was approximately 650 mg/day. The efficacy of Permax at doses above 5 mg/day has not been systematically evaluated.  Doses of pergolide above 5 mg/day are not recommended (seeWARNINGS).

Tablets (modified rectangle shape, scored):

0.05 mg, ivory, debossed with A 024, in bottles of 30 (UC5336) — NDC 0187-0839-01

0.25 mg, green, debossed with A 025, in bottles of 100 (UC5337) — NDC 0187-0840-02

1 mg, pink, debossed with A 026, in bottles of 100 (UC5338) — NDC 0187-0841-02

Store at 25°C (77°F); excursions permitted to 15°C-30°C (59°F-86°F) [see USP Controlled Room Temperature].

PERMAX is a registered trademark of Eli Lilly and Company, and licensed in the US to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International.

Literature revised August 18, 2004

Manufactured for:
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International
3300 Hyland Ave.
Costa Mesa, CA 92626 U.S.A.

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