5.1 Anaphylaxis

Severe allergic reactions have been reported following administration of liquid polidocanol, including anaphylactic reactions, some of them fatal. Observe patients for at least 10 minutes following injection and be prepared to treat anaphylaxis appropriately.

5.2 Tissue Ischemia and Necrosis

Intra-arterial injection or extravasation of polidocanol can cause severe necrosis, ischemia or gangrene Patients with underlying arterial disease, such as marked peripheral arteriosclerosis or thromboangiitis obliterans (Buerger’s Disease) may be at increased risk for tissue ischemia. If intra-arterial injection of polidocanol occurs, consult a vascular surgeon immediately.

5.3 Venous Thrombosis

VARITHENA can cause venous thrombosis [see Adverse Reactions (6)]. Follow administration instructions closely and monitor for signs of venous thrombosis after treatment. Patients with reduced mobility, history of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, or recent (within 3 months) major surgery, prolonged hospitalization, or pregnancy are at increased risk for developing thrombosis.

6.1 Clinical Trials Experience

Because clinical trials are conducted under controlled but widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in clinical trials of VARITHENA cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of other drugs or procedures and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.

A total of 1333 patients with GSVI in 12 clinical trials were evaluated for safety when treated with VARITHENA at dose concentrations of 0.125%, 0.5%, 1.0%, or 2.0%, including 437 patients treated with VARITHENA in placebo-controlled clinical trials.

Adverse reactions occurring in 3% more patients receiving VARITHENA 1% than receiving placebo are shown in Table 1.

In VARITHENA-treated patients, 80% of pain events in the treated extremity resolved within 1 week.

Proximal symptomatic venous thrombi occurred in <1% of patients treated with VARITHENA. Approximately half of patients with thrombi received treatment with anticoagulants.

Since VARITHENA induces thrombosis in the treated superficial veins, D-dimer is commonly elevated post-treatment and is not useful diagnostically to assess patients for venous thrombus following treatment with VARITHENA.

Neurologic adverse events (cerebrovascular accident, migraines) have been reported in patients following administration of physician compounded foam sclerosants. None of the 1333 patients in the VARITHENA trials experienced clinically important neurological or visual adverse events suggestive of cerebral gas embolism. The incidence of neurologic and visual adverse events within 1 day of treatment in the placebo-controlled studies was 2.7% in the pooled VARITHENA group and 4.0% in the placebo groups.

Skin discoloration adverse events were reported in 1.1% of the pooled VARITHENA group and 0.7% of the placebo group in the placebo-controlled studies.

8.1 Pregnancy

Risk Summary

Few published case reports with use of polidocanol-containing products, including VARITHENA, in pregnant women have not identified any drug-associated risk for major birth defects, miscarriage, or adverse maternal or fetal outcomes. Although no risks have been identified, there is minimal benefit in treating lower extremity varicosities during pregnancy and lower extremity varicosities that develop during pregnancy as they may spontaneously regress postpartum. In animal reproduction studies, no adverse developmental effects were observed with intravenous administration of polidocanol to pregnant rats and rabbits during organogenesis at dose levels up to approximately 13.5 and 12 times, respectively, the proposed maximum human dose of 15 mL of 1% VARITHENA based on body surface area (see Data).

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 to 4% and 15 to 20%, respectively.

Data
Animal Data

Developmental reproductive toxicity testing was performed in rats and rabbits using intravenous administration of polidocanol solution. In rabbits, dose levels up to and including 10 mg/kg/day (approximately 12 times the proposed maximum human dose of 15 mL of 1% VARITHENA based on body surface area) did not produce any indication of adverse effects on embryo-fetal mortality, fetal weight, or the incidences of fetal abnormalities and variants. In rats administered 27 mg/kg/day of polidocanol solution (approximately 13.5 times the human dose based on body surface area), there were no adverse effects on pregnancy performance or fetal development. In a peri-natal and post-natal study in rats, dose levels of polidocanol up to 9 mg/kg/day (approximately 4.5 times the human dose based on body surface area) were without effects on the development of the conceptus and offspring, and at a dose level of 27 mg/kg/day of polidocanol solution (approximately 13.5 times the human dose based on body surface area), effects were confined to an equivocal reduction in body weights of first-generation males, and an associated equivocal delay in the age of preputial separation.

8.2 Lactation

Risk Summary

There are no data on the presence of polidocanol in human milk, the effects on the breastfed infant, or the effects on milk production. A lactating woman may consider interrupting breastfeeding and pumping anddiscarding breast milk up to 8 hours after VARITHENA administration in order to minimize exposure to a breastfed infant.

8.4 Pediatric Use

Safety and effectiveness in pediatric patients have not been established.

8.5 Geriatric Use

Of the 1333 subjects in clinical studies treated with VARITHENA, 9.1% (n=121) were ≥65 years of age. No clinically important differences in safety or efficacy were observed between older and younger patients in all studies.

12.1 Mechanism of Action

VARITHENA is a drug/device combination product that generates injectable foam. The injectable foam is composed of a liquid and gas phase, both of which are necessary to have its therapeutic effect. VARITHENA is intended to act as follows: (1) the foam displaces blood from the vein to be treated, and (2) the polidocanol then scleroses the endothelium.

The active pharmaceutical ingredient of VARITHENA is polidocanol, a non-ionic surfactant sclerosing agent. The hydrophobic pole of the polidocanol molecule attaches to the lipid cell membrane of the venous endothelium, resulting in disruption of the osmotic barrier, destruction of the venous endothelium, and vasospasm. Following exposure to polidocanol, the interior surface of the vein becomes thrombogenic, which leads to thrombus formation and venous occlusion. The occluded vein is eventually replaced by fibrous connective tissue. Polidocanol is deactivated upon contact with blood, thus limiting the sclerosant action to the endothelium near the site of injection.

12.2 Pharmacodynamics

The active pharmaceutical ingredient in VARITHENA is polidocanol. Polidocanol damages the endothelium of blood vessels.

12.3 Pharmacokinetics

The pharmacokinetics of VARITHENA (as a weighted sum of 4 oligomers: E5, E9, E12 and E14) were evaluated at two concentrations (1% and 2%) randomly assigned within gender in 20 patients with GSV incompetence.

When administered as an intravenous injectable foam as two fixed 5 mL doses separated by 10 minutes, polidocanol was rapidly detected in plasma, reaching maximum concentration of drug in the body after dosing (Cmax) within 15 minutes of the first injection and within 5 minutes of receiving the second injection of VARITHENA 1% or VARITHENA 2%. The mean volume of distribution (Vd) of polidocanol ranged from 35 to 82 L.

Mean systemic clearance (CL) of polidocanol ranged from 0.2 to 0.4 L/min. The clearance of E5 was significantly greater than that of longer oligomers. Mean terminal elimination half-life (t1/2) ranged from 102 to 153 minutes, with most plasma samples below the limit of quantitation (BLQ) at the end of the 8-hour collection period. The increase in plasma polidocanol concentrations was less than proportional with increasing VARITHENA concentration. Weight-normalized data demonstrated no consistent differences in Cmax or AUC between males and females.

13.1 Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility

Long-term studies in animals have not been performed to evaluate carcinogenic potential of VARITHENA. No mutagenic activity was observed in the in vitro bacterial reverse mutation assay at non-toxic concentrations. No mutagenic activity was observed in the in vitro mouse lymphoma assay in the absence of S9 mix and was weakly mutagenic in the presence of S9 close to the limit of acceptance for the accompanying level of toxicity. No micronucleus induction was detected in the in vivo assay on mouse bone marrow cells up to the maximum tolerated dose of 80 mg/kg.

There was no adverse effect on fertility in both male and female rats at 27 mg/kg/day. This dose level is approximately 13.5 times the proposed maximum human dose based on body surface area.

13.2 Animal Toxicology and/or Pharmacology

The pharmacological effects of polidocanol solution on the renal function of the rat were evaluated and at the highest dose tested (10 mg/kg) hematuria occurred in 67% of animals. This dose is 5 times higher than the proposed maximum human dose based on body surface area. Blood was no longer detectable in urine 24 hours after dosing. In the 28-day repeated dose toxicity study in rat blood, pigments were noted in the urine for animals in all treatment groups, including male controls, at the end of the 4-week treatment period with up to 27 mg polidocanol/kg/day. Following the 2-week recovery period, there was still evidence that blood pigments were present in the urine but the incidence and severity was decreased when compared to the main study animals. There were no histopathological findings in the urinary bladder in any study animals.

In a cardiovascular pharmacology study in the anesthetized dog at 20 mg/kg (approximately 33 times the human dose based on body surface area), statistically significantly higher values for P-Q interval were measured before and during dosing and at all time points up to 30 minutes after dosing. An increase in QRS interval was also measured after dosing of 20 mg/kg and at 5 and 10 minutes after dosing. This effect was short lived and was no longer seen at 15 minutes after dosing. In addition, there was an increase in diastolic pressure with increasing dose of polidocanol. This increase became significantly greater (p<0.05) than baseline before injection of the final and highest dose (20 mg/kg).

In a further cardiovascular pharmacology study conducted with a once weekly, for four weeks, intravenous bolus injection of VARITHENA in the conscious dog, dose levels of up to 8.0 mL/kg (approximately 17 times the human dose based on body surface area) to beagle dogs caused only a transient, but consistent, effect on respiration, evidenced by a decrease in tidal volume and RMV at 15 minutes post-dose, resolving by one hour post-dose. Histopathology of the lung at the end of the 3-month follow-up period showed no abnormalities.

16.1 How Supplied

VARITHENA (polidocanol injectable foam) product is available in four configurations, each containing two sterile, connected, 303-mL aluminum alloy cylinders, one containing polidocanol solution (10 mg/mL) under carbon dioxide, and the other containing pressurized oxygen.

16.2 Storage and Handling

Do not shake VARITHENA canisters.

Avoid contact with eyes.

Store the VARITHENA Bi-Canister or convenience box at or below 86°F (30°C);

Do not refrigerate or freeze.

Unused, non-activated VARITHENA canisters may be stored in the flat or upright position.

Contains gas under pressure: May explode if heated. Store in a well-ventilated place. Store the canisters away from sources of heat including strong light conditions.

Pressurized Oxygen: May cause or intensify fire; oxidizer. Store away from combustible materials.

Once activated, the canister of 180 mg/18 mL (10 mg/mL) VARITHENA must be used within thirty (30) days.

Once activated, the canister of 77.5mg/7.75mL (10mg/mL) VARITHENA must be used within thirty (30) days.

Store activated canisters of VARITHENA upright, with the VARITHENA transfer unit attached, under the same temperature conditions as the VARITHENA Bi-Canister or convenience box. Use a new VARITHENA transfer unit for each treatment session.

Discard aerosol canisters after use in accordance with state and local requirements.

For more information, please refer to the IFU.