Ledipasvir/sofosbuvir

What is Ledipasvir/sofosbuvir?

• Ledipasvir/sofosbuvir (HARVONI) is a fixed-dose combination of ledipasvir, a hepatitis C virus (HCV) NS5A inhibitor, and sofosbuvir, an HCV nucleotide analog NS5B polymerase inhibitor used to treat hepatitis C.

What are the uses of this medicine?

HARVONI is a prescription medicine used to treat adults and children 3 years of age and older with chronic (lasting a long time) hepatitis C virus (HCV):

• genotype 1, 4, 5, or 6 infection without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis
• genotype 1 infection with advanced cirrhosis (decompensated) in combination with ribavirin
• genotype 1 or 4 infection without cirrhosis or with compensated cirrhosis who have had a liver transplant, in combination with ribavirin

How does this medicine work?

• HARVONI is a fixed-dose combination of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir, which are direct-acting antiviral agents against the hepatitis C virus.
• Ledipasvir is an inhibitor of the HCV NS5A protein, which is required for viral replication. Resistance selection in cell culture and cross-resistance studies indicate ledipasvir targets NS5A as its mode of action.
• Sofosbuvir is an inhibitor of the HCV NS5B RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, which is required for viral replication.
• Sofosbuvir is a nucleotide prodrug that undergoes intracellular metabolism to form the pharmacologically active uridine analog triphosphate (GS-461203), which can be incorporated into HCV RNA by the NS5B polymerase and acts as a chain terminator.
• In a biochemical assay, GS-461203 inhibited the polymerase activity of the recombinant NS5B from HCV genotypes 1b and 4a with IC50 values of 3.3 and 2.7 microM, respectively.
• GS-461203 is neither an inhibitor of human DNA and RNA polymerases nor an inhibitor of mitochondrial RNA polymerase.

Who Should Not Use this medicine ?

• If used in combination with ribavirin, all contraindications to ribavirin also apply to HARVONI combination therapy.

What drug interactions can this medicine cause?

• Use of HARVONI with amiodarone is not recommended. Coadministration with amiodarone may result in serious symptomatic bradycardia.
• Use of HARVONI with P-gp inducers is not recommended. P-gp inducers (e.g., rifampin, St. John's wort): May alter concentrations of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir.
• Clearance of HCV infection with direct acting antivirals may lead to changes in hepatic function, which may impact safe and effective use of concomitant medications. Frequent monitoring of relevant laboratory parameters (INR or blood glucose) and dose adjustments of certain concomitant medications may be necessary.
• Therapeutic concentration monitoring of digoxin is recommended when coadministered with HARVONI.
• Coadministration of HARVONI with rifampin, rifabutin, or rifapentine is not recommended.
• Coadministration of HARVONI with simeprevir is not recommended.
• Coadministration of HARVONI with rosuvastatin is not recommended.
• Coadministration of HARVONI with atorvastatin may be associated with increased risk of myopathy, including rhabdomyolysis.

Is this medicine FDA approved?

• This medicine is approved in the year 2014.

How should this medicine be used?

• Test all patients for evidence of current or prior HBV infection by measuring hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and hepatitis B core antibody (anti-HBc) before initiating HCV treatment with HARVONI.

Recommended Dosage: Recommended dosage in adults: One tablet (90 mg of ledipasvir and 400 mg of sofosbuvir) taken orally once daily with or without food. Recommended dosage in pediatric patients 3 years and older: Recommended dosage of HARVONI in pediatric patients 3 years of age and older is based on weight. For patients with any degree of renal impairment, including end stage renal disease on dialysis, no HARVONI dosage adjustment is recommended.

Administration

• Take HARVONI exactly as your healthcare provider tells you to take it. Do not change your dose unless your healthcare provider tells you to.
• Do not stop taking HARVONI without first talking with your healthcare provider.
• Take HARVONI tablets or oral pellets by mouth, with or without food.
• It is important that you do not miss or skip doses of HARVONI during treatment.
• For adults the usual dose of HARVONI is one 90/400 mg tablet each day.
• For children 3 years of age and older your healthcare provider will prescribe the right dose of HARVONI tablets or oral pellets based on your child's body weight.
• Tell your healthcare provider if your child has problems with swallowing tablets.
• If your healthcare provider prescribes HARVONI oral pellets for your child, see "HOW SHOULD I GIVE HARVONI ORAL PELLETS TO MY CHILD."
• Do not miss a dose of HARVONI. Missing a dose lowers the amount of medicine in your blood. Refill your HARVONI prescription before you run out of medicine.

What are the dosage forms and brand names of this medicine?

This medicine is available in fallowing doasage form:

• As Tablets: 90 mg of ledipasvir and 400 mg of sofosbuvir; 45 mg of ledipasvir and 200 mg of sofosbuvir.
• Oral Pellets: 45 mg of ledipasvir and 200 mg of sofosbuvir; 33.75 mg of ledipasvir and 150 mg of sofosbuvir.

This medicine is available in fallowing brand namesː

• HARVONI

What side effects can this medication cause?

The most common side effects of this medicine include:

• tiredness
• headache
• weakness

HARVONI can cause serious side effects, including:

• Hepatitis B virus reactivation
• Slow heart rate (bradycardia)

What special precautions should I follow?

• Hepatitis B virus (HBV) reactivation has been reported in HCV/HBV coinfected patients who were undergoing or had completed treatment with HCV direct acting antivirals, and who were not receiving HBV antiviral therapy. Test all patients for evidence of current or prior HBV infection before initiation of HCV treatment. Monitor HCV/HBV coinfected patients for HBV reactivation and hepatitis flare during HCV treatment and post-treatment follow-up. Initiate appropriate patient management for HBV infection as clinically indicated.
• Coadministration of amiodarone with HARVONI is not recommended. Serious symptomatic bradycardia may occur in patients taking amiodarone, particularly in patients also receiving beta blockers, or those with underlying cardiac comorbidities and/or advanced liver disease. Coadministration of amiodarone with HARVONI is not recommended. In patients without alternative, viable treatment options, cardiac monitoring is recommended.
• The concomitant use of HARVONI and P-gp inducers may significantly decrease ledipasvir and sofosbuvir plasma concentrations and may lead to a reduced therapeutic effect of HARVONI. Therefore, the use of HARVONI with P-gp inducers (e.g., rifampin, St. John's wort) is not recommended.
• If HARVONI is administered with ribavirin, the warnings and precautions for ribavirin, in particular the pregnancy avoidance warning, apply to this combination regimen.

What to do in case of emergency/overdose?

Management of overdosage:

• No specific antidote is available for overdose with HARVONI.
• If overdose occurs, the patient must be monitored for evidence of toxicity.
• Treatment of overdose with HARVONI consists of general supportive measures including monitoring of vital signs as well as observation of the clinical status of the patient. Hemodialysis is unlikely to result in significant removal of ledipasvir since ledipasvir is highly bound to plasma protein.

Can this medicine be used in pregnancy?

• If HARVONI is administered with ribavirin, the combination regimen is contraindicated in pregnant women and in men whose female partners are pregnant.

Can this medicine be used in children?

• The safety and efficacy of HARVONI have not been established in pediatric patients less than 3 years of age.

What are the active and inactive ingredients in this medicine?

• Active ingredients: ledipasvir and sofosbuvir
• Inactive ingredients, Tablets 90/400 mg: colloidal silicon dioxide, copovidone, croscarmellose sodium, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, and microcrystalline cellulose.
• The tablet film-coat contains: FD&C yellow #6/sunset yellow FCF aluminum lake, polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol, talc, and titanium dioxide.
• Inactive ingredients, Tablets 45/200 mg: colloidal silicon dioxide, copovidone, croscarmellose sodium, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, and microcrystalline cellulose.
• The tablet film-coat contains: polyethylene glycol, polyvinyl alcohol partially hydrolyzed, talc, and titanium dioxide.
• Inactive ingredients, Oral Pellets: amino-methacrylate copolymer, colloidal silicon dioxide, copovidone, croscarmellose sodium, hypromellose, iron oxide red, iron oxide yellow, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, talc, and titanium dioxide.

Who manufactures and distributes this medicine?

• Manufactured and distributed by:

Gilead Sciences, Inc., Foster City

What should I know about storage and disposal of this medication?

• Store HARVONI tablets or pellets below 86°F (30°C).
• Keep HARVONI tablets in the original container.
• Do not use HARVONI tablets if the seal over the bottle opening is broken or missing.
• Do not use HARVONI pellets if the carton tamper-evident seal, or the pellets packet seal, is broken or damaged.
• Keep HARVONI and all medicines out of the reach of children.

• Dailymed label info on Ledipasvir/sofosbuvir
• FDA Ledipasvir/sofosbuvir

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