News from the FDA/CDC

The Food and Drug Administration has approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) for the treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Specifically, the indication is for first-line treatment as monotherapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease who are not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiotherapy and whose tumors have a high expression of programmed death–ligand 1 (PD-L1) (Tumor Proportion Score >50%), as determined by an FDA-approved test, with no EGFR, ALK, or ROS1 aberrations.

This is the third indication for cemiplimab-rlwc, a monoclonal antibody and PD-1 inhibitor.

In February, it was approved as the first immunotherapy to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinoma that was previously treated with a hedgehog pathway inhibitor or for whom a hedgehog inhibitor is inappropriate.

Cemiplimab-rlwc previously received FDA approval in 2018 for locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma for patients who were not eligible for curative surgery or radiotherapy. At the time, Karl Lewis, MD, a professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, and a trial investigator, predicted that the drug “will change the treatment paradigm for patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma.”
 

Outperforms chemotherapy

The approval for use in NSCLC is based on results from the phase 3, open-label EMPOWER-Lung 1 trial, which randomly assigned 710 patients in a 1:1 ratio to receive either cemiplimab-rwlc or platinum-doublet chemotherapy. Patients had either locally advanced NSCLC and were not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiotherapy, or they had metastatic NSCLC.

Patients in the experimental arm received cemiplimab-rwlc 350 mg intravenously every 3 weeks. The primary efficacy outcome measures were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), determined on the basis of blinded independent central review.

Results showed statistically significant improvements in both outcomes. Median OS was 22.1 months with cemiplimab-rwlc versus 14.3 months with chemotherapy (hazard ratio, 0.68; P = .0022). Median PFS was 6.2 months versus 5.6 months (HR, 0.59; P < .0001).

The confirmed overall response rate was 37% for the cemiplimab arm versus 21% for the chemotherapy arm.

The most common adverse reactions (>10%) with cemiplimab-rlwc were musculoskeletal pain, rash, anemia, fatigue, decreased appetite, pneumonia, and cough.

This approval “means physicians and patients have a potent new treatment option against this deadly disease,” said Naiyer Rizvi, MD, Price Family Professor of Medicine, director of thoracic oncology, and codirector of cancer immunotherapy at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, in a statement. He was a steering committee member on the EMPOWER-Lung-1 Trial.

“Notably, Libtayo was approved based on a pivotal trial where most chemotherapy patients crossed over to Libtayo following disease progression, and that allowed for frequently underrepresented patients who had pretreated and clinically stable brain metastases or who had locally advanced disease and were not candidates for definitive chemoradiation,” said Dr. Rizvi. “This gives doctors important new data when considering Libtayo for the varied patients and situations they treat in daily clinical practice.”

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) for the treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Specifically, the indication is for first-line treatment as monotherapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease who are not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiotherapy and whose tumors have a high expression of programmed death–ligand 1 (PD-L1) (Tumor Proportion Score >50%), as determined by an FDA-approved test, with no EGFR, ALK, or ROS1 aberrations.

This is the third indication for cemiplimab-rlwc, a monoclonal antibody and PD-1 inhibitor.

In February, it was approved as the first immunotherapy to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinoma that was previously treated with a hedgehog pathway inhibitor or for whom a hedgehog inhibitor is inappropriate.

Cemiplimab-rlwc previously received FDA approval in 2018 for locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma for patients who were not eligible for curative surgery or radiotherapy. At the time, Karl Lewis, MD, a professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, and a trial investigator, predicted that the drug “will change the treatment paradigm for patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma.”
 

Outperforms chemotherapy

The approval for use in NSCLC is based on results from the phase 3, open-label EMPOWER-Lung 1 trial, which randomly assigned 710 patients in a 1:1 ratio to receive either cemiplimab-rwlc or platinum-doublet chemotherapy. Patients had either locally advanced NSCLC and were not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiotherapy, or they had metastatic NSCLC.

Patients in the experimental arm received cemiplimab-rwlc 350 mg intravenously every 3 weeks. The primary efficacy outcome measures were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), determined on the basis of blinded independent central review.

Results showed statistically significant improvements in both outcomes. Median OS was 22.1 months with cemiplimab-rwlc versus 14.3 months with chemotherapy (hazard ratio, 0.68; P = .0022). Median PFS was 6.2 months versus 5.6 months (HR, 0.59; P < .0001).

The confirmed overall response rate was 37% for the cemiplimab arm versus 21% for the chemotherapy arm.

The most common adverse reactions (>10%) with cemiplimab-rlwc were musculoskeletal pain, rash, anemia, fatigue, decreased appetite, pneumonia, and cough.

This approval “means physicians and patients have a potent new treatment option against this deadly disease,” said Naiyer Rizvi, MD, Price Family Professor of Medicine, director of thoracic oncology, and codirector of cancer immunotherapy at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, in a statement. He was a steering committee member on the EMPOWER-Lung-1 Trial.

“Notably, Libtayo was approved based on a pivotal trial where most chemotherapy patients crossed over to Libtayo following disease progression, and that allowed for frequently underrepresented patients who had pretreated and clinically stable brain metastases or who had locally advanced disease and were not candidates for definitive chemoradiation,” said Dr. Rizvi. “This gives doctors important new data when considering Libtayo for the varied patients and situations they treat in daily clinical practice.”

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) for the treatment of advanced non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Specifically, the indication is for first-line treatment as monotherapy for patients with locally advanced or metastatic disease who are not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiotherapy and whose tumors have a high expression of programmed death–ligand 1 (PD-L1) (Tumor Proportion Score >50%), as determined by an FDA-approved test, with no EGFR, ALK, or ROS1 aberrations.

This is the third indication for cemiplimab-rlwc, a monoclonal antibody and PD-1 inhibitor.

In February, it was approved as the first immunotherapy to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinoma that was previously treated with a hedgehog pathway inhibitor or for whom a hedgehog inhibitor is inappropriate.

Cemiplimab-rlwc previously received FDA approval in 2018 for locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma for patients who were not eligible for curative surgery or radiotherapy. At the time, Karl Lewis, MD, a professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, and a trial investigator, predicted that the drug “will change the treatment paradigm for patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma.”
 

Outperforms chemotherapy

The approval for use in NSCLC is based on results from the phase 3, open-label EMPOWER-Lung 1 trial, which randomly assigned 710 patients in a 1:1 ratio to receive either cemiplimab-rwlc or platinum-doublet chemotherapy. Patients had either locally advanced NSCLC and were not candidates for surgical resection or definitive chemoradiotherapy, or they had metastatic NSCLC.

Patients in the experimental arm received cemiplimab-rwlc 350 mg intravenously every 3 weeks. The primary efficacy outcome measures were overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS), determined on the basis of blinded independent central review.

Results showed statistically significant improvements in both outcomes. Median OS was 22.1 months with cemiplimab-rwlc versus 14.3 months with chemotherapy (hazard ratio, 0.68; P = .0022). Median PFS was 6.2 months versus 5.6 months (HR, 0.59; P < .0001).

The confirmed overall response rate was 37% for the cemiplimab arm versus 21% for the chemotherapy arm.

The most common adverse reactions (>10%) with cemiplimab-rlwc were musculoskeletal pain, rash, anemia, fatigue, decreased appetite, pneumonia, and cough.

This approval “means physicians and patients have a potent new treatment option against this deadly disease,” said Naiyer Rizvi, MD, Price Family Professor of Medicine, director of thoracic oncology, and codirector of cancer immunotherapy at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, New York, in a statement. He was a steering committee member on the EMPOWER-Lung-1 Trial.

“Notably, Libtayo was approved based on a pivotal trial where most chemotherapy patients crossed over to Libtayo following disease progression, and that allowed for frequently underrepresented patients who had pretreated and clinically stable brain metastases or who had locally advanced disease and were not candidates for definitive chemoradiation,” said Dr. Rizvi. “This gives doctors important new data when considering Libtayo for the varied patients and situations they treat in daily clinical practice.”

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Food and Drug Administration on Feb. 22 updated its October 2020 guidance for manufacturers developing COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments in the wake of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The United States is currently facing three main variant threats, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom; B.1.351 from South Africa; and the P.1 variant, which originated in Brazil.

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, MD, said on a telephone press briefing call Feb. 22 that the FDA has already been communicating with individual manufacturers as they assess the variants’ effect on their products, but these guidelines are issued for the sake of transparency and to welcome scientific input.
 

Tailoring may be necessary

Dr. Woodcock emphasized that, “at this time, available data suggest the FDA-authorized vaccines are effective in protecting circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2.” However, in the event the strains start to show resistance, it may be necessary to tailor the vaccine to the variant.

In that case, effectiveness of a modified vaccine should be determined by data from clinical immunogenicity studies, which would compare a recipient’s immune response with virus variants induced by the modified vaccine against the immune response to the authorized vaccine, the guidance states.

Manufacturers should also study the vaccine in both nonvaccinated people and people fully vaccinated with the authorized vaccine, according to the guidance.

Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said on the call that the clinical immunogenicity data is needed to understand, for instance, whether a new vaccine strain is able to cover the new and old strain or whether it just covers the new strain. Information is also needed to understand whether the modified vaccine, when given to someone fully vaccinated, will still promote a positive response without introducing safety concerns.

Further discussions will be necessary to decide whether future modified vaccines may be authorized without the need for clinical studies.
 

Variants and testing

The FDA’s updated guidance for test developers, Policy for Evaluating Impact of Viral Mutations on COVID-19 Tests, includes information that test performance can be influenced by the sequence of the variant, prevalence of the variant in the population, or design of the test. For example, molecular tests designed to detect multiple SARS-CoV-2 genetic targets are less susceptible to genetic variants than tests designed to detect a single genetic target.

The FDA already issued a safety alert on Jan. 8 to caution that genetic mutations to the virus in a patient sample can potentially change the performance of a diagnostic test. The FDA identified three tests that had been granted emergency-use authorization (EUA) that are known to be affected.

However, Dr. Woodcock said on the call, “at this time the impact does not appear to be significant.”
 

Updated guidance for therapeutics

The FDA has issued new guidance on the effect of variants on monoclonal antibody treatments.

“The FDA is aware that some of the monoclonal antibodies that have been authorized are less active against some of the SARS-CoV-2 variants that have emerged,” the FDA noted in its press release. “This guidance provides recommendations on efficient approaches to the generation of ... manufacturing and controls data that could potentially support an EUA for monoclonal antibody products that may be effective against emerging variants.”

While the FDA is monitoring the effects of variants, manufacturers bear a lot of the responsibility as well.

The FDA added: “With these guidances, the FDA is encouraging developers of drugs or biological products targeting SARS-CoV-2 to continuously monitor genomic databases for emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and evaluate phenotypically any specific variants in the product target that are becoming prevalent or could potentially impact its activity.”

Dr.Woodcock added that “we urge all Americans to continue to get tested, get their vaccines when available, and follow important heath measures such as handwashing, masking, and social distancing.”

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Food and Drug Administration on Feb. 22 updated its October 2020 guidance for manufacturers developing COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments in the wake of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The United States is currently facing three main variant threats, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom; B.1.351 from South Africa; and the P.1 variant, which originated in Brazil.

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, MD, said on a telephone press briefing call Feb. 22 that the FDA has already been communicating with individual manufacturers as they assess the variants’ effect on their products, but these guidelines are issued for the sake of transparency and to welcome scientific input.
 

Tailoring may be necessary

Dr. Woodcock emphasized that, “at this time, available data suggest the FDA-authorized vaccines are effective in protecting circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2.” However, in the event the strains start to show resistance, it may be necessary to tailor the vaccine to the variant.

In that case, effectiveness of a modified vaccine should be determined by data from clinical immunogenicity studies, which would compare a recipient’s immune response with virus variants induced by the modified vaccine against the immune response to the authorized vaccine, the guidance states.

Manufacturers should also study the vaccine in both nonvaccinated people and people fully vaccinated with the authorized vaccine, according to the guidance.

Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said on the call that the clinical immunogenicity data is needed to understand, for instance, whether a new vaccine strain is able to cover the new and old strain or whether it just covers the new strain. Information is also needed to understand whether the modified vaccine, when given to someone fully vaccinated, will still promote a positive response without introducing safety concerns.

Further discussions will be necessary to decide whether future modified vaccines may be authorized without the need for clinical studies.
 

Variants and testing

The FDA’s updated guidance for test developers, Policy for Evaluating Impact of Viral Mutations on COVID-19 Tests, includes information that test performance can be influenced by the sequence of the variant, prevalence of the variant in the population, or design of the test. For example, molecular tests designed to detect multiple SARS-CoV-2 genetic targets are less susceptible to genetic variants than tests designed to detect a single genetic target.

The FDA already issued a safety alert on Jan. 8 to caution that genetic mutations to the virus in a patient sample can potentially change the performance of a diagnostic test. The FDA identified three tests that had been granted emergency-use authorization (EUA) that are known to be affected.

However, Dr. Woodcock said on the call, “at this time the impact does not appear to be significant.”
 

Updated guidance for therapeutics

The FDA has issued new guidance on the effect of variants on monoclonal antibody treatments.

“The FDA is aware that some of the monoclonal antibodies that have been authorized are less active against some of the SARS-CoV-2 variants that have emerged,” the FDA noted in its press release. “This guidance provides recommendations on efficient approaches to the generation of ... manufacturing and controls data that could potentially support an EUA for monoclonal antibody products that may be effective against emerging variants.”

While the FDA is monitoring the effects of variants, manufacturers bear a lot of the responsibility as well.

The FDA added: “With these guidances, the FDA is encouraging developers of drugs or biological products targeting SARS-CoV-2 to continuously monitor genomic databases for emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and evaluate phenotypically any specific variants in the product target that are becoming prevalent or could potentially impact its activity.”

Dr.Woodcock added that “we urge all Americans to continue to get tested, get their vaccines when available, and follow important heath measures such as handwashing, masking, and social distancing.”

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Food and Drug Administration on Feb. 22 updated its October 2020 guidance for manufacturers developing COVID-19 vaccines, diagnostics, and treatments in the wake of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants.

The United States is currently facing three main variant threats, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom; B.1.351 from South Africa; and the P.1 variant, which originated in Brazil.

Acting FDA Commissioner Janet Woodcock, MD, said on a telephone press briefing call Feb. 22 that the FDA has already been communicating with individual manufacturers as they assess the variants’ effect on their products, but these guidelines are issued for the sake of transparency and to welcome scientific input.
 

Tailoring may be necessary

Dr. Woodcock emphasized that, “at this time, available data suggest the FDA-authorized vaccines are effective in protecting circulating strains of SARS-CoV-2.” However, in the event the strains start to show resistance, it may be necessary to tailor the vaccine to the variant.

In that case, effectiveness of a modified vaccine should be determined by data from clinical immunogenicity studies, which would compare a recipient’s immune response with virus variants induced by the modified vaccine against the immune response to the authorized vaccine, the guidance states.

Manufacturers should also study the vaccine in both nonvaccinated people and people fully vaccinated with the authorized vaccine, according to the guidance.

Peter Marks, MD, PhD, director of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said on the call that the clinical immunogenicity data is needed to understand, for instance, whether a new vaccine strain is able to cover the new and old strain or whether it just covers the new strain. Information is also needed to understand whether the modified vaccine, when given to someone fully vaccinated, will still promote a positive response without introducing safety concerns.

Further discussions will be necessary to decide whether future modified vaccines may be authorized without the need for clinical studies.
 

Variants and testing

The FDA’s updated guidance for test developers, Policy for Evaluating Impact of Viral Mutations on COVID-19 Tests, includes information that test performance can be influenced by the sequence of the variant, prevalence of the variant in the population, or design of the test. For example, molecular tests designed to detect multiple SARS-CoV-2 genetic targets are less susceptible to genetic variants than tests designed to detect a single genetic target.

The FDA already issued a safety alert on Jan. 8 to caution that genetic mutations to the virus in a patient sample can potentially change the performance of a diagnostic test. The FDA identified three tests that had been granted emergency-use authorization (EUA) that are known to be affected.

However, Dr. Woodcock said on the call, “at this time the impact does not appear to be significant.”
 

Updated guidance for therapeutics

The FDA has issued new guidance on the effect of variants on monoclonal antibody treatments.

“The FDA is aware that some of the monoclonal antibodies that have been authorized are less active against some of the SARS-CoV-2 variants that have emerged,” the FDA noted in its press release. “This guidance provides recommendations on efficient approaches to the generation of ... manufacturing and controls data that could potentially support an EUA for monoclonal antibody products that may be effective against emerging variants.”

While the FDA is monitoring the effects of variants, manufacturers bear a lot of the responsibility as well.

The FDA added: “With these guidances, the FDA is encouraging developers of drugs or biological products targeting SARS-CoV-2 to continuously monitor genomic databases for emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants and evaluate phenotypically any specific variants in the product target that are becoming prevalent or could potentially impact its activity.”

Dr.Woodcock added that “we urge all Americans to continue to get tested, get their vaccines when available, and follow important heath measures such as handwashing, masking, and social distancing.”

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, walked through a multiagency attack plan for halting the spread of three COVID-19 variants earlier this week.

As part of JAMA’s Q&A series with JAMA editor in chief Howard Bauchner, MD, Dr. Walensky referenced the blueprint she coathored with Anthony Fauci, MD, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and Henry T. Walke, MD, MPH, of the CDC, which was published on Feb. 17 in JAMA.

In the viewpoint article, they explain that the Department of Health & Human Services has established the SARS-CoV-2 Interagency Group to improve coordination among the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Defense.

Dr. Walensky said the first objective is to reinforce vigilance regarding public health mitigation strategies to decrease the amount of virus that’s circulating.

As part of that strategy, she said, the CDC strongly urges against nonessential travel.

In addition, public health leaders are working on a surveillance system to better understand the SARS-CoV-2 variants. That will take ramping up genome sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and ensuring that sampling is geographically representative.

She said the CDC is partnering with state health labs to obtain about 750 samples every week and is teaming up with commercial labs and academic centers to obtain an interim target of 6,000 samples per week.

She acknowledged the United States “is not where we need to be” with sequencing but has come a long way since January. At that time, they were sequencing 250 samples every week; they are currently sequencing thousands each week.

Data analysis is another concern: “We need to be able to understand at the basic science level what the information means,” Dr. Walensky said.

Researchers aren’t sure how the variants might affect use of convalescent plasma or monoclonal antibody treatments. It is expected that 5% of persons who are vaccinated against COVID-19 will nevertheless contract the disease. Sequencing will help answer whether such persons who have been vaccinated and who subsequently contract the virus are among those 5% or whether have been infected by a variant that evades the vaccine.

Accelerating vaccine administration globally and in the United States is essential, Dr. Walensky said.

As of Feb. 17, 56 million doses had been administered in the United States.
 

Top three threats

She updated the numbers on the three biggest variant threats.

Regarding B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom, she said: “So far, we’ve had over 1,200 cases in 41 states.” She noted that the variant is likely to be about 50% more transmissible and 30% to 50% more virulent.

“So far, it looks like that strain doesn’t have any real decrease in susceptibility to our vaccines,” she said.

The strain from South Africa (B.1.351) has been found in 19 cases in the United States.

The P.1. variant, which originated in Brazil, has been identified in two cases in two states.
 

Outlook for March and April

Dr. Bauchner asked Dr. Walensky what she envisions for March and April. He noted that public optimism is high in light of the continued reductions in COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths, as well as the fact that warmer weather is coming and that more vaccinations are on the horizon.

“While I really am hopeful for what could happen in March and April,” Dr. Walensky said, “I really do know that this could go bad so fast. We saw it in November. We saw it in December.”

CDC models have projected that, by March, the more transmissible B.1.1.7 strain is likely to be the dominant strain, she reiterated.

“I worry that it will be spring, and we will all have had enough,” Dr. Walensky said. She noted that some states are already relaxing mask mandates.

“Around that time, life will look and feel a little better, and the motivation for those who might be vaccine hesitant may be diminished,” she said.

Dr. Bauchner also asked her to weigh in on whether a third vaccine, from Johnson & Johnson (J&J), may soon gain FDA emergency-use authorization – and whether its lower expected efficacy rate may result in a tiered system of vaccinations, with higher-risk populations receiving the more efficacious vaccines.

Dr. Walensky said more data are needed before that question can be answered.

“It may very well be that the data point us to the best populations in which to use this vaccine,” she said.

In phase 3 data, the J&J vaccine was shown to be 72% effective in the United States for moderate to severe disease.

Dr. Walensky said it’s important to remember that the projected efficacy for that vaccine is higher than that for the flu shot as well as many other vaccines currently in use for other diseases.

She said it also has several advantages. The vaccine has less-stringent storage requirements, requires just one dose, and protects against hospitalization and death, although it’s less efficacious in protecting against contracting the disease.

“I think many people would opt to get that one if they could get it sooner,” she said.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, walked through a multiagency attack plan for halting the spread of three COVID-19 variants earlier this week.

As part of JAMA’s Q&A series with JAMA editor in chief Howard Bauchner, MD, Dr. Walensky referenced the blueprint she coathored with Anthony Fauci, MD, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and Henry T. Walke, MD, MPH, of the CDC, which was published on Feb. 17 in JAMA.

In the viewpoint article, they explain that the Department of Health & Human Services has established the SARS-CoV-2 Interagency Group to improve coordination among the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Defense.

Dr. Walensky said the first objective is to reinforce vigilance regarding public health mitigation strategies to decrease the amount of virus that’s circulating.

As part of that strategy, she said, the CDC strongly urges against nonessential travel.

In addition, public health leaders are working on a surveillance system to better understand the SARS-CoV-2 variants. That will take ramping up genome sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and ensuring that sampling is geographically representative.

She said the CDC is partnering with state health labs to obtain about 750 samples every week and is teaming up with commercial labs and academic centers to obtain an interim target of 6,000 samples per week.

She acknowledged the United States “is not where we need to be” with sequencing but has come a long way since January. At that time, they were sequencing 250 samples every week; they are currently sequencing thousands each week.

Data analysis is another concern: “We need to be able to understand at the basic science level what the information means,” Dr. Walensky said.

Researchers aren’t sure how the variants might affect use of convalescent plasma or monoclonal antibody treatments. It is expected that 5% of persons who are vaccinated against COVID-19 will nevertheless contract the disease. Sequencing will help answer whether such persons who have been vaccinated and who subsequently contract the virus are among those 5% or whether have been infected by a variant that evades the vaccine.

Accelerating vaccine administration globally and in the United States is essential, Dr. Walensky said.

As of Feb. 17, 56 million doses had been administered in the United States.
 

Top three threats

She updated the numbers on the three biggest variant threats.

Regarding B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom, she said: “So far, we’ve had over 1,200 cases in 41 states.” She noted that the variant is likely to be about 50% more transmissible and 30% to 50% more virulent.

“So far, it looks like that strain doesn’t have any real decrease in susceptibility to our vaccines,” she said.

The strain from South Africa (B.1.351) has been found in 19 cases in the United States.

The P.1. variant, which originated in Brazil, has been identified in two cases in two states.
 

Outlook for March and April

Dr. Bauchner asked Dr. Walensky what she envisions for March and April. He noted that public optimism is high in light of the continued reductions in COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths, as well as the fact that warmer weather is coming and that more vaccinations are on the horizon.

“While I really am hopeful for what could happen in March and April,” Dr. Walensky said, “I really do know that this could go bad so fast. We saw it in November. We saw it in December.”

CDC models have projected that, by March, the more transmissible B.1.1.7 strain is likely to be the dominant strain, she reiterated.

“I worry that it will be spring, and we will all have had enough,” Dr. Walensky said. She noted that some states are already relaxing mask mandates.

“Around that time, life will look and feel a little better, and the motivation for those who might be vaccine hesitant may be diminished,” she said.

Dr. Bauchner also asked her to weigh in on whether a third vaccine, from Johnson & Johnson (J&J), may soon gain FDA emergency-use authorization – and whether its lower expected efficacy rate may result in a tiered system of vaccinations, with higher-risk populations receiving the more efficacious vaccines.

Dr. Walensky said more data are needed before that question can be answered.

“It may very well be that the data point us to the best populations in which to use this vaccine,” she said.

In phase 3 data, the J&J vaccine was shown to be 72% effective in the United States for moderate to severe disease.

Dr. Walensky said it’s important to remember that the projected efficacy for that vaccine is higher than that for the flu shot as well as many other vaccines currently in use for other diseases.

She said it also has several advantages. The vaccine has less-stringent storage requirements, requires just one dose, and protects against hospitalization and death, although it’s less efficacious in protecting against contracting the disease.

“I think many people would opt to get that one if they could get it sooner,” she said.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, walked through a multiagency attack plan for halting the spread of three COVID-19 variants earlier this week.

As part of JAMA’s Q&A series with JAMA editor in chief Howard Bauchner, MD, Dr. Walensky referenced the blueprint she coathored with Anthony Fauci, MD, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, and Henry T. Walke, MD, MPH, of the CDC, which was published on Feb. 17 in JAMA.

In the viewpoint article, they explain that the Department of Health & Human Services has established the SARS-CoV-2 Interagency Group to improve coordination among the CDC, the National Institutes of Health, the Food and Drug Administration, the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Defense.

Dr. Walensky said the first objective is to reinforce vigilance regarding public health mitigation strategies to decrease the amount of virus that’s circulating.

As part of that strategy, she said, the CDC strongly urges against nonessential travel.

In addition, public health leaders are working on a surveillance system to better understand the SARS-CoV-2 variants. That will take ramping up genome sequencing of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and ensuring that sampling is geographically representative.

She said the CDC is partnering with state health labs to obtain about 750 samples every week and is teaming up with commercial labs and academic centers to obtain an interim target of 6,000 samples per week.

She acknowledged the United States “is not where we need to be” with sequencing but has come a long way since January. At that time, they were sequencing 250 samples every week; they are currently sequencing thousands each week.

Data analysis is another concern: “We need to be able to understand at the basic science level what the information means,” Dr. Walensky said.

Researchers aren’t sure how the variants might affect use of convalescent plasma or monoclonal antibody treatments. It is expected that 5% of persons who are vaccinated against COVID-19 will nevertheless contract the disease. Sequencing will help answer whether such persons who have been vaccinated and who subsequently contract the virus are among those 5% or whether have been infected by a variant that evades the vaccine.

Accelerating vaccine administration globally and in the United States is essential, Dr. Walensky said.

As of Feb. 17, 56 million doses had been administered in the United States.
 

Top three threats

She updated the numbers on the three biggest variant threats.

Regarding B.1.1.7, which originated in the United Kingdom, she said: “So far, we’ve had over 1,200 cases in 41 states.” She noted that the variant is likely to be about 50% more transmissible and 30% to 50% more virulent.

“So far, it looks like that strain doesn’t have any real decrease in susceptibility to our vaccines,” she said.

The strain from South Africa (B.1.351) has been found in 19 cases in the United States.

The P.1. variant, which originated in Brazil, has been identified in two cases in two states.
 

Outlook for March and April

Dr. Bauchner asked Dr. Walensky what she envisions for March and April. He noted that public optimism is high in light of the continued reductions in COVID-19 case numbers, hospitalizations, and deaths, as well as the fact that warmer weather is coming and that more vaccinations are on the horizon.

“While I really am hopeful for what could happen in March and April,” Dr. Walensky said, “I really do know that this could go bad so fast. We saw it in November. We saw it in December.”

CDC models have projected that, by March, the more transmissible B.1.1.7 strain is likely to be the dominant strain, she reiterated.

“I worry that it will be spring, and we will all have had enough,” Dr. Walensky said. She noted that some states are already relaxing mask mandates.

“Around that time, life will look and feel a little better, and the motivation for those who might be vaccine hesitant may be diminished,” she said.

Dr. Bauchner also asked her to weigh in on whether a third vaccine, from Johnson & Johnson (J&J), may soon gain FDA emergency-use authorization – and whether its lower expected efficacy rate may result in a tiered system of vaccinations, with higher-risk populations receiving the more efficacious vaccines.

Dr. Walensky said more data are needed before that question can be answered.

“It may very well be that the data point us to the best populations in which to use this vaccine,” she said.

In phase 3 data, the J&J vaccine was shown to be 72% effective in the United States for moderate to severe disease.

Dr. Walensky said it’s important to remember that the projected efficacy for that vaccine is higher than that for the flu shot as well as many other vaccines currently in use for other diseases.

She said it also has several advantages. The vaccine has less-stringent storage requirements, requires just one dose, and protects against hospitalization and death, although it’s less efficacious in protecting against contracting the disease.

“I think many people would opt to get that one if they could get it sooner,” she said.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A novel drug that offers multilineage protection from chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The drug, trilaciclib (Cosela, G1 Therapeutics) is administered intravenously as a 30-minute infusion within 4 hours prior to the start of chemotherapy. It is indicated specifically for use in adults with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) who are receiving chemotherapy.

Trilaciclib is a CDK4/6 inhibitor, and this action appears to protect normal bone marrow cells from the harmful effects of chemotherapy.

“For patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer, protecting bone marrow function may help make their chemotherapy safer and allow them to complete their course of treatment on time and according to plan,” Albert Deisseroth, MD, PhD, of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an FDA press release.
 

First drug of its type

Trilaciclib “is the first and only therapy designed to help protect bone marrow (myeloprotection) when administered prior to treatment with chemotherapy,” according to the drug’s manufacturer.

Myelosuppression is one of the most severe adverse effects of chemotherapy, and it can be life-threatening. It can increase the risk of infection and lead to severe anemia and/or bleeding.

“These complications impact patients’ quality of life and may also result in chemotherapy dose reductions and delays,” Jeffrey Crawford, MD, of Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, N.C., said in a company press release.

“To date, approaches have included the use of growth factor agents to accelerate blood cell recovery after the bone marrow injury has occurred, along with antibiotics and transfusions as needed. By contrast, trilaciclib provides the first proactive approach to myelosuppression through a unique mechanism of action that helps protect the bone marrow from damage by chemotherapy.”
 

Approval based on randomized, placebo-controlled trials

The approval of trilaciclib is based on data from three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, involving a total of 245 patients with ES-SCLC.

These patients were being treated with chemotherapy regimens that were based on the combination of carboplatin and etoposide (with or without the immunotherapy atezolizumab) or regimens that were based on topotecan.

Before receiving the chemotherapy, patients were randomly assigned to receive trilaciclib or placebo.

Results showed that patients who had received an infusion of trilaciclib before receiving chemotherapy had a lower chance of developing severe neutropenia compared with patients who received a placebo, the FDA noted. In addition, among the patients who did develop severe neutropenia, this had a shorter duration among patients who received trilaciclib than among those who received placebo.

The most common side effects of trilaciclib were fatigue; low levels of calcium, potassium, and phosphate in the blood; increased levels of aspartate aminotransferase; headache; and pneumonia.

The FDA noted that patients should also be advised about injection site reactions, acute drug hypersensitivity, interstitial lung disease/pneumonitis, and embryo-fetal toxicity.

The approval received a priority review, based on the drug’s breakthrough therapy designation. As is common for such products, the company plans postmarketing activities that will assess the effects of trilaciclib on disease progression or survival with at least a 2-year follow up. This clinical trial is scheduled to start in 2022.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A novel drug that offers multilineage protection from chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The drug, trilaciclib (Cosela, G1 Therapeutics) is administered intravenously as a 30-minute infusion within 4 hours prior to the start of chemotherapy. It is indicated specifically for use in adults with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) who are receiving chemotherapy.

Trilaciclib is a CDK4/6 inhibitor, and this action appears to protect normal bone marrow cells from the harmful effects of chemotherapy.

“For patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer, protecting bone marrow function may help make their chemotherapy safer and allow them to complete their course of treatment on time and according to plan,” Albert Deisseroth, MD, PhD, of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an FDA press release.
 

First drug of its type

Trilaciclib “is the first and only therapy designed to help protect bone marrow (myeloprotection) when administered prior to treatment with chemotherapy,” according to the drug’s manufacturer.

Myelosuppression is one of the most severe adverse effects of chemotherapy, and it can be life-threatening. It can increase the risk of infection and lead to severe anemia and/or bleeding.

“These complications impact patients’ quality of life and may also result in chemotherapy dose reductions and delays,” Jeffrey Crawford, MD, of Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, N.C., said in a company press release.

“To date, approaches have included the use of growth factor agents to accelerate blood cell recovery after the bone marrow injury has occurred, along with antibiotics and transfusions as needed. By contrast, trilaciclib provides the first proactive approach to myelosuppression through a unique mechanism of action that helps protect the bone marrow from damage by chemotherapy.”
 

Approval based on randomized, placebo-controlled trials

The approval of trilaciclib is based on data from three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, involving a total of 245 patients with ES-SCLC.

These patients were being treated with chemotherapy regimens that were based on the combination of carboplatin and etoposide (with or without the immunotherapy atezolizumab) or regimens that were based on topotecan.

Before receiving the chemotherapy, patients were randomly assigned to receive trilaciclib or placebo.

Results showed that patients who had received an infusion of trilaciclib before receiving chemotherapy had a lower chance of developing severe neutropenia compared with patients who received a placebo, the FDA noted. In addition, among the patients who did develop severe neutropenia, this had a shorter duration among patients who received trilaciclib than among those who received placebo.

The most common side effects of trilaciclib were fatigue; low levels of calcium, potassium, and phosphate in the blood; increased levels of aspartate aminotransferase; headache; and pneumonia.

The FDA noted that patients should also be advised about injection site reactions, acute drug hypersensitivity, interstitial lung disease/pneumonitis, and embryo-fetal toxicity.

The approval received a priority review, based on the drug’s breakthrough therapy designation. As is common for such products, the company plans postmarketing activities that will assess the effects of trilaciclib on disease progression or survival with at least a 2-year follow up. This clinical trial is scheduled to start in 2022.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

A novel drug that offers multilineage protection from chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The drug, trilaciclib (Cosela, G1 Therapeutics) is administered intravenously as a 30-minute infusion within 4 hours prior to the start of chemotherapy. It is indicated specifically for use in adults with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) who are receiving chemotherapy.

Trilaciclib is a CDK4/6 inhibitor, and this action appears to protect normal bone marrow cells from the harmful effects of chemotherapy.

“For patients with extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer, protecting bone marrow function may help make their chemotherapy safer and allow them to complete their course of treatment on time and according to plan,” Albert Deisseroth, MD, PhD, of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in an FDA press release.
 

First drug of its type

Trilaciclib “is the first and only therapy designed to help protect bone marrow (myeloprotection) when administered prior to treatment with chemotherapy,” according to the drug’s manufacturer.

Myelosuppression is one of the most severe adverse effects of chemotherapy, and it can be life-threatening. It can increase the risk of infection and lead to severe anemia and/or bleeding.

“These complications impact patients’ quality of life and may also result in chemotherapy dose reductions and delays,” Jeffrey Crawford, MD, of Duke Cancer Institute, Durham, N.C., said in a company press release.

“To date, approaches have included the use of growth factor agents to accelerate blood cell recovery after the bone marrow injury has occurred, along with antibiotics and transfusions as needed. By contrast, trilaciclib provides the first proactive approach to myelosuppression through a unique mechanism of action that helps protect the bone marrow from damage by chemotherapy.”
 

Approval based on randomized, placebo-controlled trials

The approval of trilaciclib is based on data from three randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies, involving a total of 245 patients with ES-SCLC.

These patients were being treated with chemotherapy regimens that were based on the combination of carboplatin and etoposide (with or without the immunotherapy atezolizumab) or regimens that were based on topotecan.

Before receiving the chemotherapy, patients were randomly assigned to receive trilaciclib or placebo.

Results showed that patients who had received an infusion of trilaciclib before receiving chemotherapy had a lower chance of developing severe neutropenia compared with patients who received a placebo, the FDA noted. In addition, among the patients who did develop severe neutropenia, this had a shorter duration among patients who received trilaciclib than among those who received placebo.

The most common side effects of trilaciclib were fatigue; low levels of calcium, potassium, and phosphate in the blood; increased levels of aspartate aminotransferase; headache; and pneumonia.

The FDA noted that patients should also be advised about injection site reactions, acute drug hypersensitivity, interstitial lung disease/pneumonitis, and embryo-fetal toxicity.

The approval received a priority review, based on the drug’s breakthrough therapy designation. As is common for such products, the company plans postmarketing activities that will assess the effects of trilaciclib on disease progression or survival with at least a 2-year follow up. This clinical trial is scheduled to start in 2022.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

On Jan. 13, 2 days after a drive-through vaccination “superstation” opened in San Diego, six people were treated for anaphylaxis after they received the Moderna vaccine, leading the California state epidemiologist to recommend pausing the administration of that particular lot.
 

A group of allergy and immunology experts and public health officials reviewed the cases, as well as an incident that occurred the day before, and concluded that at least some of the responses were angioedema, or swelling — a serious allergic reaction — but none were actually anaphylaxis. No similar clusters had occurred with the same vaccine lot in other states, and California resumed using the doses.

Yet questions remain about the reactions and the mechanisms for them. Some might have been triggered by an allergy to a vaccine component, most likely the polyethylene glycol (PEG) that stabilizes the lipid surrounding the mRNA, the key vaccine component in both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Another possible explanation is that some could be pseudoallergic reactions to a blood protein known as complement, a little-understood process that resembles an antigen-based reaction but doesn’t leave an immune memory and might not recur.

Cases of complement-activation-related pseudoallergy look like a severe allergic reaction but occur through a different mechanism and don’t require previous exposure to an allergen.

“It has the same signs and symptoms and is treated the same way, but it occurs through a different pathway,” explained Neal Halsey, MD, director emeritus of the Institute for Vaccine Safety and emeritus professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

Pseudoallergies are not well understood, but they have been associated with reactions to the contrast media used in imaging, such as with MRI. “If people have had an anaphylaxis-type reaction following the injection of contrast-dye material, that is a strong signal that it might be a complement-activation-related pseudoallergy,” said Dr. Halsey, a member of the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network. “Those are the people who definitely need to consider seeing an allergist before getting the COVID vaccines.”

When Aleena Banerji, MD, clinical director of the allergy and clinical immunology unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, talks to patients about vaccine reactions, she addresses the risk for COVID-19 infection. All of the people who developed allergies after the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines recovered, but more than 445,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.

Most people with common allergies, such as to food or oral medications, don’t need to worry about reactions, said Dr. Banerji, lead author of a review that assessed the risk for allergic reactions to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
 

Investigating reactions

As investigators search for the answers to what causes reactions, transparency is crucial to trust, said Kathryn Edwards, MD, principal investigator of the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project, a vaccine safety network funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Unless the public knows that we’re really investigating and we’re taking this seriously, then I think the vaccine hesitancy is going to increase,” said Dr. Edwards, professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and scientific director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program in Nashville, Tenn.

First reports of anaphylaxis came quickly after COVID-19 vaccinations began. In the 2 weeks before the holidays, almost 2 million health care workers received the Pfizer vaccine, and 21 of them developed anaphylaxis, according to CDC researchers who reviewed case reports from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). That rate of about 1 in 100,000 is 10 times higher than the occurrence with other vaccines. No deaths from anaphylaxis were reported.

As the vaccinations ramped up, the rate declined. As of Jan. 18, 50 cases of anaphylaxis were reported to VAERS after the administration of 9,943,247 Pfizer doses, for a rate of 5.0 per million, according to data presented at the Jan. 27 meeting of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. And 21 cases of anaphylaxis were reported to VAERS after the administration of 7,581,429 Moderna doses, for a rate of 2.8 per million.

The anaphylaxis occurred almost exclusively in women; only three of the VAERS anaphylaxis reports were from men. Only 24% had a history of anaphylaxis.

The earlier CDC report explored the potential link to allergies. One person with anaphylaxis had a history of allergy to iodinated contrast media, and others had allergies to various medications, vaccines, foods, and animals. The researchers reported 86 nonanaphylaxis allergic reactions and 61 nonallergic adverse events among the 175 case reports they reviewed as possible cases of severe allergic reaction.

Of 1,266 reports that VAERS received from Dec. 21 to Jan. 10, the CDC identified 108 possible cases of severe allergic reaction after the Moderna vaccine. Only 10 met the case definition of anaphylaxis put forward by the Brighton Collaboration, a vaccine safety organization. All but one case involved a history of allergies or allergic reactions; only five had a previously experienced anaphylaxis.

There were 47 nonanaphylaxis allergic reactions.

The San Diego cluster also met the Brighton case definition for anaphylaxis, Dr. Edwards reported. This discrepancy highlights the difficulties in characterizing vaccine reactions.

Measuring a pseudoallergic reaction is a challenge. It requires that a blood sample be drawn soon after the incident and then frozen to protect heat-sensitive blood markers, Dr. Edwards explained.

And as vaccinations rise, so do adverse-event reports. But unlike in clinical trials, there is no control group for comparison. That is why vaccine safety experts urge caution when evaluating events and, where possible, advise looking at background rates.

“A major way to determine whether the adverse event is causally related is to assess the incidence of the adverse event in vaccines versus nonvaccines,” said Walter Orenstein, MD, who directed the U.S. Immunization Program from 1988 to 2004 and is now associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center and professor of infectious diseases at Emory University in Atlanta. Public health officials could then identify vaccine risk factors, he said.

When a reaction occurs almost immediately after vaccination, vaccine safety investigators look for probable triggers. If allergy to PEG is the culprit in anaphylactic reactions, then the individuals would have had a previous exposure, perhaps from injectable medications, Dr. Edwards said.

It might be feasible to perform a skin test for allergy to PEG. “If the skin testing is negative, that doesn’t completely rule out allergy, but it can be used in the decision-making about giving the first or second vaccine dose,” Dr. Banerji said.

Other vaccines, such as childhood vaccines, contain polysorbate as a stabilizer, which has a similar chemical structure, and it’s not clear why someone would react to PEG but not to polysorbate, Dr. Edwards said.

Meanwhile, other illnesses and even deaths sometimes occur in the days after vaccination, but that doesn’t mean the vaccine caused them, cautioned Steve Black, MD, emeritus professor of pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and cofounder of the Global Vaccine Data Network, an international vaccine safety collaboration.

“Different events and clusters of events will occur by chance alone, as these events can occur without vaccines. We need to not immediately assume that they’re due to the vaccine,” he said. “You don’t want to undermine the whole vaccine program every time something comes up and assume that it’s associated with the vaccine.”

The CDC only has three contraindications for the vaccines:

• Severe allergic reaction (such as anaphylaxis) after a previous dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine or any of its components.
• Immediate allergic reaction of any severity to a previous dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine or any of its components (including PEG).
• Immediate allergic reaction of any severity to polysorbate (due to potential cross-reactive hypersensitivity with PEG).

People who have had an immediate allergic reaction to other vaccines or injectable therapies should consider consulting with an allergist or immunologist before getting the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, the CDC advises.

The CDC also says that people with a history of anaphylaxis from any cause should be observed for 30 minutes after vaccination. Vaccination protocol calls for everyone else to wait on site for 15 minutes after vaccination.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

On Jan. 13, 2 days after a drive-through vaccination “superstation” opened in San Diego, six people were treated for anaphylaxis after they received the Moderna vaccine, leading the California state epidemiologist to recommend pausing the administration of that particular lot.
 

A group of allergy and immunology experts and public health officials reviewed the cases, as well as an incident that occurred the day before, and concluded that at least some of the responses were angioedema, or swelling — a serious allergic reaction — but none were actually anaphylaxis. No similar clusters had occurred with the same vaccine lot in other states, and California resumed using the doses.

Yet questions remain about the reactions and the mechanisms for them. Some might have been triggered by an allergy to a vaccine component, most likely the polyethylene glycol (PEG) that stabilizes the lipid surrounding the mRNA, the key vaccine component in both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Another possible explanation is that some could be pseudoallergic reactions to a blood protein known as complement, a little-understood process that resembles an antigen-based reaction but doesn’t leave an immune memory and might not recur.

Cases of complement-activation-related pseudoallergy look like a severe allergic reaction but occur through a different mechanism and don’t require previous exposure to an allergen.

“It has the same signs and symptoms and is treated the same way, but it occurs through a different pathway,” explained Neal Halsey, MD, director emeritus of the Institute for Vaccine Safety and emeritus professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

Pseudoallergies are not well understood, but they have been associated with reactions to the contrast media used in imaging, such as with MRI. “If people have had an anaphylaxis-type reaction following the injection of contrast-dye material, that is a strong signal that it might be a complement-activation-related pseudoallergy,” said Dr. Halsey, a member of the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network. “Those are the people who definitely need to consider seeing an allergist before getting the COVID vaccines.”

When Aleena Banerji, MD, clinical director of the allergy and clinical immunology unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, talks to patients about vaccine reactions, she addresses the risk for COVID-19 infection. All of the people who developed allergies after the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines recovered, but more than 445,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.

Most people with common allergies, such as to food or oral medications, don’t need to worry about reactions, said Dr. Banerji, lead author of a review that assessed the risk for allergic reactions to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
 

Investigating reactions

As investigators search for the answers to what causes reactions, transparency is crucial to trust, said Kathryn Edwards, MD, principal investigator of the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project, a vaccine safety network funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Unless the public knows that we’re really investigating and we’re taking this seriously, then I think the vaccine hesitancy is going to increase,” said Dr. Edwards, professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and scientific director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program in Nashville, Tenn.

First reports of anaphylaxis came quickly after COVID-19 vaccinations began. In the 2 weeks before the holidays, almost 2 million health care workers received the Pfizer vaccine, and 21 of them developed anaphylaxis, according to CDC researchers who reviewed case reports from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). That rate of about 1 in 100,000 is 10 times higher than the occurrence with other vaccines. No deaths from anaphylaxis were reported.

As the vaccinations ramped up, the rate declined. As of Jan. 18, 50 cases of anaphylaxis were reported to VAERS after the administration of 9,943,247 Pfizer doses, for a rate of 5.0 per million, according to data presented at the Jan. 27 meeting of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. And 21 cases of anaphylaxis were reported to VAERS after the administration of 7,581,429 Moderna doses, for a rate of 2.8 per million.

The anaphylaxis occurred almost exclusively in women; only three of the VAERS anaphylaxis reports were from men. Only 24% had a history of anaphylaxis.

The earlier CDC report explored the potential link to allergies. One person with anaphylaxis had a history of allergy to iodinated contrast media, and others had allergies to various medications, vaccines, foods, and animals. The researchers reported 86 nonanaphylaxis allergic reactions and 61 nonallergic adverse events among the 175 case reports they reviewed as possible cases of severe allergic reaction.

Of 1,266 reports that VAERS received from Dec. 21 to Jan. 10, the CDC identified 108 possible cases of severe allergic reaction after the Moderna vaccine. Only 10 met the case definition of anaphylaxis put forward by the Brighton Collaboration, a vaccine safety organization. All but one case involved a history of allergies or allergic reactions; only five had a previously experienced anaphylaxis.

There were 47 nonanaphylaxis allergic reactions.

The San Diego cluster also met the Brighton case definition for anaphylaxis, Dr. Edwards reported. This discrepancy highlights the difficulties in characterizing vaccine reactions.

Measuring a pseudoallergic reaction is a challenge. It requires that a blood sample be drawn soon after the incident and then frozen to protect heat-sensitive blood markers, Dr. Edwards explained.

And as vaccinations rise, so do adverse-event reports. But unlike in clinical trials, there is no control group for comparison. That is why vaccine safety experts urge caution when evaluating events and, where possible, advise looking at background rates.

“A major way to determine whether the adverse event is causally related is to assess the incidence of the adverse event in vaccines versus nonvaccines,” said Walter Orenstein, MD, who directed the U.S. Immunization Program from 1988 to 2004 and is now associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center and professor of infectious diseases at Emory University in Atlanta. Public health officials could then identify vaccine risk factors, he said.

When a reaction occurs almost immediately after vaccination, vaccine safety investigators look for probable triggers. If allergy to PEG is the culprit in anaphylactic reactions, then the individuals would have had a previous exposure, perhaps from injectable medications, Dr. Edwards said.

It might be feasible to perform a skin test for allergy to PEG. “If the skin testing is negative, that doesn’t completely rule out allergy, but it can be used in the decision-making about giving the first or second vaccine dose,” Dr. Banerji said.

Other vaccines, such as childhood vaccines, contain polysorbate as a stabilizer, which has a similar chemical structure, and it’s not clear why someone would react to PEG but not to polysorbate, Dr. Edwards said.

Meanwhile, other illnesses and even deaths sometimes occur in the days after vaccination, but that doesn’t mean the vaccine caused them, cautioned Steve Black, MD, emeritus professor of pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and cofounder of the Global Vaccine Data Network, an international vaccine safety collaboration.

“Different events and clusters of events will occur by chance alone, as these events can occur without vaccines. We need to not immediately assume that they’re due to the vaccine,” he said. “You don’t want to undermine the whole vaccine program every time something comes up and assume that it’s associated with the vaccine.”

The CDC only has three contraindications for the vaccines:

• Severe allergic reaction (such as anaphylaxis) after a previous dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine or any of its components.
• Immediate allergic reaction of any severity to a previous dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine or any of its components (including PEG).
• Immediate allergic reaction of any severity to polysorbate (due to potential cross-reactive hypersensitivity with PEG).

People who have had an immediate allergic reaction to other vaccines or injectable therapies should consider consulting with an allergist or immunologist before getting the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, the CDC advises.

The CDC also says that people with a history of anaphylaxis from any cause should be observed for 30 minutes after vaccination. Vaccination protocol calls for everyone else to wait on site for 15 minutes after vaccination.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

On Jan. 13, 2 days after a drive-through vaccination “superstation” opened in San Diego, six people were treated for anaphylaxis after they received the Moderna vaccine, leading the California state epidemiologist to recommend pausing the administration of that particular lot.
 

A group of allergy and immunology experts and public health officials reviewed the cases, as well as an incident that occurred the day before, and concluded that at least some of the responses were angioedema, or swelling — a serious allergic reaction — but none were actually anaphylaxis. No similar clusters had occurred with the same vaccine lot in other states, and California resumed using the doses.

Yet questions remain about the reactions and the mechanisms for them. Some might have been triggered by an allergy to a vaccine component, most likely the polyethylene glycol (PEG) that stabilizes the lipid surrounding the mRNA, the key vaccine component in both the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines. Another possible explanation is that some could be pseudoallergic reactions to a blood protein known as complement, a little-understood process that resembles an antigen-based reaction but doesn’t leave an immune memory and might not recur.

Cases of complement-activation-related pseudoallergy look like a severe allergic reaction but occur through a different mechanism and don’t require previous exposure to an allergen.

“It has the same signs and symptoms and is treated the same way, but it occurs through a different pathway,” explained Neal Halsey, MD, director emeritus of the Institute for Vaccine Safety and emeritus professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore.

Pseudoallergies are not well understood, but they have been associated with reactions to the contrast media used in imaging, such as with MRI. “If people have had an anaphylaxis-type reaction following the injection of contrast-dye material, that is a strong signal that it might be a complement-activation-related pseudoallergy,” said Dr. Halsey, a member of the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Network. “Those are the people who definitely need to consider seeing an allergist before getting the COVID vaccines.”

When Aleena Banerji, MD, clinical director of the allergy and clinical immunology unit at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, talks to patients about vaccine reactions, she addresses the risk for COVID-19 infection. All of the people who developed allergies after the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines recovered, but more than 445,000 Americans have died from COVID-19.

Most people with common allergies, such as to food or oral medications, don’t need to worry about reactions, said Dr. Banerji, lead author of a review that assessed the risk for allergic reactions to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
 

Investigating reactions

As investigators search for the answers to what causes reactions, transparency is crucial to trust, said Kathryn Edwards, MD, principal investigator of the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project, a vaccine safety network funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Unless the public knows that we’re really investigating and we’re taking this seriously, then I think the vaccine hesitancy is going to increase,” said Dr. Edwards, professor of pediatrics at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and scientific director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Research Program in Nashville, Tenn.

First reports of anaphylaxis came quickly after COVID-19 vaccinations began. In the 2 weeks before the holidays, almost 2 million health care workers received the Pfizer vaccine, and 21 of them developed anaphylaxis, according to CDC researchers who reviewed case reports from the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS). That rate of about 1 in 100,000 is 10 times higher than the occurrence with other vaccines. No deaths from anaphylaxis were reported.

As the vaccinations ramped up, the rate declined. As of Jan. 18, 50 cases of anaphylaxis were reported to VAERS after the administration of 9,943,247 Pfizer doses, for a rate of 5.0 per million, according to data presented at the Jan. 27 meeting of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. And 21 cases of anaphylaxis were reported to VAERS after the administration of 7,581,429 Moderna doses, for a rate of 2.8 per million.

The anaphylaxis occurred almost exclusively in women; only three of the VAERS anaphylaxis reports were from men. Only 24% had a history of anaphylaxis.

The earlier CDC report explored the potential link to allergies. One person with anaphylaxis had a history of allergy to iodinated contrast media, and others had allergies to various medications, vaccines, foods, and animals. The researchers reported 86 nonanaphylaxis allergic reactions and 61 nonallergic adverse events among the 175 case reports they reviewed as possible cases of severe allergic reaction.

Of 1,266 reports that VAERS received from Dec. 21 to Jan. 10, the CDC identified 108 possible cases of severe allergic reaction after the Moderna vaccine. Only 10 met the case definition of anaphylaxis put forward by the Brighton Collaboration, a vaccine safety organization. All but one case involved a history of allergies or allergic reactions; only five had a previously experienced anaphylaxis.

There were 47 nonanaphylaxis allergic reactions.

The San Diego cluster also met the Brighton case definition for anaphylaxis, Dr. Edwards reported. This discrepancy highlights the difficulties in characterizing vaccine reactions.

Measuring a pseudoallergic reaction is a challenge. It requires that a blood sample be drawn soon after the incident and then frozen to protect heat-sensitive blood markers, Dr. Edwards explained.

And as vaccinations rise, so do adverse-event reports. But unlike in clinical trials, there is no control group for comparison. That is why vaccine safety experts urge caution when evaluating events and, where possible, advise looking at background rates.

“A major way to determine whether the adverse event is causally related is to assess the incidence of the adverse event in vaccines versus nonvaccines,” said Walter Orenstein, MD, who directed the U.S. Immunization Program from 1988 to 2004 and is now associate director of the Emory Vaccine Center and professor of infectious diseases at Emory University in Atlanta. Public health officials could then identify vaccine risk factors, he said.

When a reaction occurs almost immediately after vaccination, vaccine safety investigators look for probable triggers. If allergy to PEG is the culprit in anaphylactic reactions, then the individuals would have had a previous exposure, perhaps from injectable medications, Dr. Edwards said.

It might be feasible to perform a skin test for allergy to PEG. “If the skin testing is negative, that doesn’t completely rule out allergy, but it can be used in the decision-making about giving the first or second vaccine dose,” Dr. Banerji said.

Other vaccines, such as childhood vaccines, contain polysorbate as a stabilizer, which has a similar chemical structure, and it’s not clear why someone would react to PEG but not to polysorbate, Dr. Edwards said.

Meanwhile, other illnesses and even deaths sometimes occur in the days after vaccination, but that doesn’t mean the vaccine caused them, cautioned Steve Black, MD, emeritus professor of pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and cofounder of the Global Vaccine Data Network, an international vaccine safety collaboration.

“Different events and clusters of events will occur by chance alone, as these events can occur without vaccines. We need to not immediately assume that they’re due to the vaccine,” he said. “You don’t want to undermine the whole vaccine program every time something comes up and assume that it’s associated with the vaccine.”

The CDC only has three contraindications for the vaccines:

• Severe allergic reaction (such as anaphylaxis) after a previous dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine or any of its components.
• Immediate allergic reaction of any severity to a previous dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine or any of its components (including PEG).
• Immediate allergic reaction of any severity to polysorbate (due to potential cross-reactive hypersensitivity with PEG).

People who have had an immediate allergic reaction to other vaccines or injectable therapies should consider consulting with an allergist or immunologist before getting the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, the CDC advises.

The CDC also says that people with a history of anaphylaxis from any cause should be observed for 30 minutes after vaccination. Vaccination protocol calls for everyone else to wait on site for 15 minutes after vaccination.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The Food and Drug Administration has approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) as the first immunotherapy to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinoma (BCC) previously treated with a hedgehog pathway inhibitor or in whom an HHI is inappropriate.

The FDA granted full approval for the locally advanced BCC indication and accelerated approval for the metastatic BCC indication, according to a press release from Regeneron and Sanofi, the companies jointly developing cemiplimab.

Cemiplimab is a programmed death–1 inhibitor that was first FDA approved in 2018 for locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma not eligible for curative surgery or radiation.

The new approval “will change the treatment paradigm for patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma,” according to Karl Lewis, MD, a professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, and an investigator on the phase 2 trial of cemiplimab.

“While the primary systemic treatment options are hedgehog inhibitors, many patients will eventually progress on or become intolerant to this therapy,” Dr. Lewis said in the press release. “With Libtayo [cemiplimab], these patients now have a new immunotherapy option.”

The approval of cemiplimab in BCC was based on an open-label, phase 2 trial of 132 patients with advanced BCC. Patients could not tolerate, had progressed on, or had not responded to HHIs after 9 months of treatment.

Cemiplimab was given at 350 mg every 3 weeks. The study was not placebo controlled and has not been published, a Regeneron spokesperson said.

There were 112 patients in the efficacy analysis. The overall response rate was 21% (6/28) in metastatic BCC patients, with no complete responders. In locally advanced BCC patients, the objective response rate was 29% (24/84), with five complete responders.

The median duration of response was not reached in either group but was at least 6 months long in all metastatic patients and in 79% (19/84) of the locally advanced BCC patients.

The most common adverse events among the 132 subjects evaluable for safety were fatigue (49%), musculoskeletal pain (33%), diarrhea (25%), rash (22%), pruritus (20%), and upper respiratory tract infection (15%).

Serious adverse events occurred in 32% of patients, including colitis, acute kidney injury, adrenal insufficiency, and anemia. Adverse events led to discontinuation in 13% of patients, most often for colitis and general physical health deterioration.

For more details on cemiplimab, see the full prescribing information.

[email protected]

The Food and Drug Administration has approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) as the first immunotherapy to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinoma (BCC) previously treated with a hedgehog pathway inhibitor or in whom an HHI is inappropriate.

The FDA granted full approval for the locally advanced BCC indication and accelerated approval for the metastatic BCC indication, according to a press release from Regeneron and Sanofi, the companies jointly developing cemiplimab.

Cemiplimab is a programmed death–1 inhibitor that was first FDA approved in 2018 for locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma not eligible for curative surgery or radiation.

The new approval “will change the treatment paradigm for patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma,” according to Karl Lewis, MD, a professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, and an investigator on the phase 2 trial of cemiplimab.

“While the primary systemic treatment options are hedgehog inhibitors, many patients will eventually progress on or become intolerant to this therapy,” Dr. Lewis said in the press release. “With Libtayo [cemiplimab], these patients now have a new immunotherapy option.”

The approval of cemiplimab in BCC was based on an open-label, phase 2 trial of 132 patients with advanced BCC. Patients could not tolerate, had progressed on, or had not responded to HHIs after 9 months of treatment.

Cemiplimab was given at 350 mg every 3 weeks. The study was not placebo controlled and has not been published, a Regeneron spokesperson said.

There were 112 patients in the efficacy analysis. The overall response rate was 21% (6/28) in metastatic BCC patients, with no complete responders. In locally advanced BCC patients, the objective response rate was 29% (24/84), with five complete responders.

The median duration of response was not reached in either group but was at least 6 months long in all metastatic patients and in 79% (19/84) of the locally advanced BCC patients.

The most common adverse events among the 132 subjects evaluable for safety were fatigue (49%), musculoskeletal pain (33%), diarrhea (25%), rash (22%), pruritus (20%), and upper respiratory tract infection (15%).

Serious adverse events occurred in 32% of patients, including colitis, acute kidney injury, adrenal insufficiency, and anemia. Adverse events led to discontinuation in 13% of patients, most often for colitis and general physical health deterioration.

For more details on cemiplimab, see the full prescribing information.

[email protected]

The Food and Drug Administration has approved cemiplimab-rwlc (Libtayo) as the first immunotherapy to treat patients with locally advanced or metastatic basal cell carcinoma (BCC) previously treated with a hedgehog pathway inhibitor or in whom an HHI is inappropriate.

The FDA granted full approval for the locally advanced BCC indication and accelerated approval for the metastatic BCC indication, according to a press release from Regeneron and Sanofi, the companies jointly developing cemiplimab.

Cemiplimab is a programmed death–1 inhibitor that was first FDA approved in 2018 for locally advanced or metastatic cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma not eligible for curative surgery or radiation.

The new approval “will change the treatment paradigm for patients with advanced basal cell carcinoma,” according to Karl Lewis, MD, a professor at the University of Colorado at Denver, Aurora, and an investigator on the phase 2 trial of cemiplimab.

“While the primary systemic treatment options are hedgehog inhibitors, many patients will eventually progress on or become intolerant to this therapy,” Dr. Lewis said in the press release. “With Libtayo [cemiplimab], these patients now have a new immunotherapy option.”

The approval of cemiplimab in BCC was based on an open-label, phase 2 trial of 132 patients with advanced BCC. Patients could not tolerate, had progressed on, or had not responded to HHIs after 9 months of treatment.

Cemiplimab was given at 350 mg every 3 weeks. The study was not placebo controlled and has not been published, a Regeneron spokesperson said.

There were 112 patients in the efficacy analysis. The overall response rate was 21% (6/28) in metastatic BCC patients, with no complete responders. In locally advanced BCC patients, the objective response rate was 29% (24/84), with five complete responders.

The median duration of response was not reached in either group but was at least 6 months long in all metastatic patients and in 79% (19/84) of the locally advanced BCC patients.

The most common adverse events among the 132 subjects evaluable for safety were fatigue (49%), musculoskeletal pain (33%), diarrhea (25%), rash (22%), pruritus (20%), and upper respiratory tract infection (15%).

Serious adverse events occurred in 32% of patients, including colitis, acute kidney injury, adrenal insufficiency, and anemia. Adverse events led to discontinuation in 13% of patients, most often for colitis and general physical health deterioration.

For more details on cemiplimab, see the full prescribing information.

[email protected]

The Food and Drug Administration has alerted the public to an increased risk of serious heart-related problems and cancer risk associated with the Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR), based on early results from a safety clinical trial comparing tofacitinib and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The FDA is awaiting further results from the trial, but in a safety communication issued on Feb. 4, the agency advised patients not to discontinue tofacitinib without consulting their health care providers and advised health care professionals to weigh the risks and benefits when prescribing the drug and continue to follow the current prescribing information.

Tofacitinib was approved for treatment of RA in 2012 at a 5-mg dose. After this approval, the FDA required drug manufacturer Pfizer to conduct a safety clinical trial that included the 5-mg twice-daily dose and a 10-mg twice-daily dose that is currently approved only for ulcerative colitis. In addition to RA and ulcerative colitis, tofacitinib is approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis and patients aged 2 years or older with active polyarticular course juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Pfizer announced partial results of the study, known as the ORAL Surveillance trial, in a press release on Jan. 27. The randomized trial included 4,362 RA patients aged 50 years and older who received either 5-mg or 10-mg doses of tofacitinib or a TNF inhibitor (adalimumab or etanercept).

The full results have yet to be released, but based on data from approximately 10,000 person-years for the combined tofacitinib groups and approximately 5,000 person-years for the TNF inhibitor group, the rate of major cardiovascular adverse events was significantly higher in the combined tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (0.98 vs. 0.73 per 100 person-years; hazard ratio, 1.33). In addition, the rate of adjudicated malignancies was significantly higher in the tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (1.13 vs. 0.77 per 100 person-years; HR, 1.48).

In February 2019, the FDA issued a warning stating an increased risk of pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose of tofacitinib, following interims results from the safety study.

In July 2019, the FDA added a boxed warning to tofacitinib advising of the increased risk for pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose.

The FDA encouraged health care professionals and patients to report any side effects from tofacitinib or other medications through the FDA MedWatch program online or by phone at 1-800-332-1088.
 

Until nuances revealed, no change in practice

The preliminary study findings contain some nuances that are a bit complicated from a statistical standpoint, according to Daniel Furst, MD, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles; adjunct professor at the University of Washington, Seattle; and research professor at the University of Florence (Italy).

This is supposed to be a noninferiority study, so something might not be noninferior, “but that doesn’t mean it is inferior,” explained Dr. Furst, who is also a member of the MDedge Rheumatology Editorial Advisory Board.

Dr. Furst said he was surprised by the study findings, because “I didn’t expect there to be any differences, and in fact it is not clear how great the differences are” among the groups in the study, he said.

When the complete findings are released, in one of the instances, “the statistics may show a very small statistical difference that indicates we may have to be more careful in this particularly high-risk group,” Dr. Furst noted.

“When we understand the data more closely, we may find that there are some nuances we need to be careful about,” he said. However, “until those data are out, I would not make any changes in my practice.”

Whether the current study findings represent a class effect is “impossible to say,” since tofacitinib affects three enzymes, while other JAK inhibitors affect only one or two, he noted.

Dr. Furst disclosed receiving grant/research support from and/or consulting for AbbVie, Actelion, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Corbus, the National Institutes of Health, Novartis, Pfizer, and Roche/Genentech.

The Food and Drug Administration has alerted the public to an increased risk of serious heart-related problems and cancer risk associated with the Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR), based on early results from a safety clinical trial comparing tofacitinib and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The FDA is awaiting further results from the trial, but in a safety communication issued on Feb. 4, the agency advised patients not to discontinue tofacitinib without consulting their health care providers and advised health care professionals to weigh the risks and benefits when prescribing the drug and continue to follow the current prescribing information.

Tofacitinib was approved for treatment of RA in 2012 at a 5-mg dose. After this approval, the FDA required drug manufacturer Pfizer to conduct a safety clinical trial that included the 5-mg twice-daily dose and a 10-mg twice-daily dose that is currently approved only for ulcerative colitis. In addition to RA and ulcerative colitis, tofacitinib is approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis and patients aged 2 years or older with active polyarticular course juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Pfizer announced partial results of the study, known as the ORAL Surveillance trial, in a press release on Jan. 27. The randomized trial included 4,362 RA patients aged 50 years and older who received either 5-mg or 10-mg doses of tofacitinib or a TNF inhibitor (adalimumab or etanercept).

The full results have yet to be released, but based on data from approximately 10,000 person-years for the combined tofacitinib groups and approximately 5,000 person-years for the TNF inhibitor group, the rate of major cardiovascular adverse events was significantly higher in the combined tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (0.98 vs. 0.73 per 100 person-years; hazard ratio, 1.33). In addition, the rate of adjudicated malignancies was significantly higher in the tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (1.13 vs. 0.77 per 100 person-years; HR, 1.48).

In February 2019, the FDA issued a warning stating an increased risk of pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose of tofacitinib, following interims results from the safety study.

In July 2019, the FDA added a boxed warning to tofacitinib advising of the increased risk for pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose.

The FDA encouraged health care professionals and patients to report any side effects from tofacitinib or other medications through the FDA MedWatch program online or by phone at 1-800-332-1088.
 

Until nuances revealed, no change in practice

The preliminary study findings contain some nuances that are a bit complicated from a statistical standpoint, according to Daniel Furst, MD, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles; adjunct professor at the University of Washington, Seattle; and research professor at the University of Florence (Italy).

This is supposed to be a noninferiority study, so something might not be noninferior, “but that doesn’t mean it is inferior,” explained Dr. Furst, who is also a member of the MDedge Rheumatology Editorial Advisory Board.

Dr. Furst said he was surprised by the study findings, because “I didn’t expect there to be any differences, and in fact it is not clear how great the differences are” among the groups in the study, he said.

When the complete findings are released, in one of the instances, “the statistics may show a very small statistical difference that indicates we may have to be more careful in this particularly high-risk group,” Dr. Furst noted.

“When we understand the data more closely, we may find that there are some nuances we need to be careful about,” he said. However, “until those data are out, I would not make any changes in my practice.”

Whether the current study findings represent a class effect is “impossible to say,” since tofacitinib affects three enzymes, while other JAK inhibitors affect only one or two, he noted.

Dr. Furst disclosed receiving grant/research support from and/or consulting for AbbVie, Actelion, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Corbus, the National Institutes of Health, Novartis, Pfizer, and Roche/Genentech.

The Food and Drug Administration has alerted the public to an increased risk of serious heart-related problems and cancer risk associated with the Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR), based on early results from a safety clinical trial comparing tofacitinib and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The FDA is awaiting further results from the trial, but in a safety communication issued on Feb. 4, the agency advised patients not to discontinue tofacitinib without consulting their health care providers and advised health care professionals to weigh the risks and benefits when prescribing the drug and continue to follow the current prescribing information.

Tofacitinib was approved for treatment of RA in 2012 at a 5-mg dose. After this approval, the FDA required drug manufacturer Pfizer to conduct a safety clinical trial that included the 5-mg twice-daily dose and a 10-mg twice-daily dose that is currently approved only for ulcerative colitis. In addition to RA and ulcerative colitis, tofacitinib is approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis and patients aged 2 years or older with active polyarticular course juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Pfizer announced partial results of the study, known as the ORAL Surveillance trial, in a press release on Jan. 27. The randomized trial included 4,362 RA patients aged 50 years and older who received either 5-mg or 10-mg doses of tofacitinib or a TNF inhibitor (adalimumab or etanercept).

The full results have yet to be released, but based on data from approximately 10,000 person-years for the combined tofacitinib groups and approximately 5,000 person-years for the TNF inhibitor group, the rate of major cardiovascular adverse events was significantly higher in the combined tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (0.98 vs. 0.73 per 100 person-years; hazard ratio, 1.33). In addition, the rate of adjudicated malignancies was significantly higher in the tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (1.13 vs. 0.77 per 100 person-years; HR, 1.48).

In February 2019, the FDA issued a warning stating an increased risk of pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose of tofacitinib, following interims results from the safety study.

In July 2019, the FDA added a boxed warning to tofacitinib advising of the increased risk for pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose.

The FDA encouraged health care professionals and patients to report any side effects from tofacitinib or other medications through the FDA MedWatch program online or by phone at 1-800-332-1088.
 

Until nuances revealed, no change in practice

The preliminary study findings contain some nuances that are a bit complicated from a statistical standpoint, according to Daniel Furst, MD, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles; adjunct professor at the University of Washington, Seattle; and research professor at the University of Florence (Italy).

This is supposed to be a noninferiority study, so something might not be noninferior, “but that doesn’t mean it is inferior,” explained Dr. Furst, who is also a member of the MDedge Rheumatology Editorial Advisory Board.

Dr. Furst said he was surprised by the study findings, because “I didn’t expect there to be any differences, and in fact it is not clear how great the differences are” among the groups in the study, he said.

When the complete findings are released, in one of the instances, “the statistics may show a very small statistical difference that indicates we may have to be more careful in this particularly high-risk group,” Dr. Furst noted.

“When we understand the data more closely, we may find that there are some nuances we need to be careful about,” he said. However, “until those data are out, I would not make any changes in my practice.”

Whether the current study findings represent a class effect is “impossible to say,” since tofacitinib affects three enzymes, while other JAK inhibitors affect only one or two, he noted.

Dr. Furst disclosed receiving grant/research support from and/or consulting for AbbVie, Actelion, Amgen, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Corbus, the National Institutes of Health, Novartis, Pfizer, and Roche/Genentech.

The Food and Drug Administration has alerted the public to an increased risk of serious heart-related problems and cancer risk associated with the Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR), based on early results from a safety clinical trial comparing tofacitinib and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The FDA is awaiting further results from the trial, but in a safety communication issued on Feb. 4, the agency advised patients not to discontinue tofacitinib without consulting their health care providers and advised health care professionals to weigh the risks and benefits when prescribing the drug and continue to follow the current prescribing information.

Tofacitinib was approved for treatment of RA in 2012 at a 5-mg dose. After this approval, the FDA required drug manufacturer Pfizer to conduct a safety clinical trial that included the 5-mg twice-daily dose and a 10-mg twice-daily dose that is currently approved only for ulcerative colitis. In addition to RA and ulcerative colitis, tofacitinib is approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis and patients aged 2 years or older with active polyarticular course juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Pfizer announced partial results of the study, known as the ORAL Surveillance trial, in a press release on Jan. 27. The randomized trial included 4,362 RA patients aged 50 years and older who received either 5-mg or 10-mg doses of tofacitinib or a TNF inhibitor (adalimumab or etanercept).

The full results have yet to be released, but based on data from approximately 10,000 person-years for the combined tofacitinib groups and approximately 5,000 person-years for the TNF inhibitor group, the rate of major cardiovascular adverse events was significantly higher in the combined tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (0.98 vs. 0.73 per 100 person-years; hazard ratio, 1.33). In addition, the rate of adjudicated malignancies was significantly higher in the tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (1.13 vs. 0.77 per 100 person-years; HR, 1.48).

In February 2019, the FDA issued a warning stating an increased risk of pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose of tofacitinib, following interims results from the safety study.

In July 2019, the FDA added a boxed warning to tofacitinib advising of the increased risk for pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose.

The FDA encouraged health care professionals and patients to report any side effects from tofacitinib or other medications through the FDA MedWatch program online or by phone at 1-800-332-1088.

Until nuances revealed, no change in practice

The preliminary study findings contain some nuances that are a bit complicated from a statistical standpoint, according to Daniel Furst, MD, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles; adjunct professor at the University of Washington, Seattle; and research professor at the University of Florence (Italy).

Updated on 2/8/2021.

The Food and Drug Administration has alerted the public to an increased risk of serious heart-related problems and cancer risk associated with the Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR), based on early results from a safety clinical trial comparing tofacitinib and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The FDA is awaiting further results from the trial, but in a safety communication issued on Feb. 4, the agency advised patients not to discontinue tofacitinib without consulting their health care providers and advised health care professionals to weigh the risks and benefits when prescribing the drug and continue to follow the current prescribing information.

Tofacitinib was approved for treatment of RA in 2012 at a 5-mg dose. After this approval, the FDA required drug manufacturer Pfizer to conduct a safety clinical trial that included the 5-mg twice-daily dose and a 10-mg twice-daily dose that is currently approved only for ulcerative colitis. In addition to RA and ulcerative colitis, tofacitinib is approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis and patients aged 2 years or older with active polyarticular course juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Pfizer announced partial results of the study, known as the ORAL Surveillance trial, in a press release on Jan. 27. The randomized trial included 4,362 RA patients aged 50 years and older who received either 5-mg or 10-mg doses of tofacitinib or a TNF inhibitor (adalimumab or etanercept).

The full results have yet to be released, but based on data from approximately 10,000 person-years for the combined tofacitinib groups and approximately 5,000 person-years for the TNF inhibitor group, the rate of major cardiovascular adverse events was significantly higher in the combined tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (0.98 vs. 0.73 per 100 person-years; hazard ratio, 1.33). In addition, the rate of adjudicated malignancies was significantly higher in the tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (1.13 vs. 0.77 per 100 person-years; HR, 1.48).

In February 2019, the FDA issued a warning stating an increased risk of pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose of tofacitinib, following interims results from the safety study.

In July 2019, the FDA added a boxed warning to tofacitinib advising of the increased risk for pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose.

The FDA encouraged health care professionals and patients to report any side effects from tofacitinib or other medications through the FDA MedWatch program online or by phone at 1-800-332-1088.

Until nuances revealed, no change in practice

The preliminary study findings contain some nuances that are a bit complicated from a statistical standpoint, according to Daniel Furst, MD, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles; adjunct professor at the University of Washington, Seattle; and research professor at the University of Florence (Italy).

Updated on 2/8/2021.

The Food and Drug Administration has alerted the public to an increased risk of serious heart-related problems and cancer risk associated with the Janus kinase inhibitor tofacitinib (Xeljanz, Xeljanz XR), based on early results from a safety clinical trial comparing tofacitinib and tumor necrosis factor inhibitors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

The FDA is awaiting further results from the trial, but in a safety communication issued on Feb. 4, the agency advised patients not to discontinue tofacitinib without consulting their health care providers and advised health care professionals to weigh the risks and benefits when prescribing the drug and continue to follow the current prescribing information.

Tofacitinib was approved for treatment of RA in 2012 at a 5-mg dose. After this approval, the FDA required drug manufacturer Pfizer to conduct a safety clinical trial that included the 5-mg twice-daily dose and a 10-mg twice-daily dose that is currently approved only for ulcerative colitis. In addition to RA and ulcerative colitis, tofacitinib is approved for adults with active psoriatic arthritis and patients aged 2 years or older with active polyarticular course juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Pfizer announced partial results of the study, known as the ORAL Surveillance trial, in a press release on Jan. 27. The randomized trial included 4,362 RA patients aged 50 years and older who received either 5-mg or 10-mg doses of tofacitinib or a TNF inhibitor (adalimumab or etanercept).

The full results have yet to be released, but based on data from approximately 10,000 person-years for the combined tofacitinib groups and approximately 5,000 person-years for the TNF inhibitor group, the rate of major cardiovascular adverse events was significantly higher in the combined tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (0.98 vs. 0.73 per 100 person-years; hazard ratio, 1.33). In addition, the rate of adjudicated malignancies was significantly higher in the tofacitinib group, compared with the TNF inhibitor group (1.13 vs. 0.77 per 100 person-years; HR, 1.48).

In February 2019, the FDA issued a warning stating an increased risk of pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose of tofacitinib, following interims results from the safety study.

In July 2019, the FDA added a boxed warning to tofacitinib advising of the increased risk for pulmonary embolism and death associated with the 10-mg twice-daily dose.

The FDA encouraged health care professionals and patients to report any side effects from tofacitinib or other medications through the FDA MedWatch program online or by phone at 1-800-332-1088.

Until nuances revealed, no change in practice

The preliminary study findings contain some nuances that are a bit complicated from a statistical standpoint, according to Daniel Furst, MD, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles; adjunct professor at the University of Washington, Seattle; and research professor at the University of Florence (Italy).

Updated on 2/8/2021.

The Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval for tepotinib (TEPMETKO) for the treatment of adults with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring MET exon 14 skipping alterations.

Tepotinib is the first once-daily oral MET inhibitor approved for this patient population, and the approval applies to both treatment-naive and previously treated patients with NSCLC.

The approval was supported by results from the ongoing phase 2 VISION trial. Tepotinib produced an overall response rate of 43% in both treatment-naive patients (n = 69) and previously treated patients (n = 83) in this trial. The median duration of response was 10.8 months and 11.1 months, respectively.

Results of the primary analysis were published in The New England Journal of Medicine last year.

Study subjects received the recommended dose of 450 mg taken as two 225-mg tablets once daily with food until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Adverse reactions occurring in at least 20% of patients included edema, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, musculoskeletal pain, and dyspnea. Interstitial lung disease, hepatotoxicity, and embryo-fetal toxicity also have been reported with tepotinib.

Continued approval of tepotinib “may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials,” the FDA stated in an approval announcement.

EMD Serono, the drug’s maker, also announced the approval in a press statement, calling tepotinib “an important and welcome new therapeutic option for patients with metastatic NSCLC harboring these genetic mutations.”

“METex14 skipping occurs in approximately 3% to 4% of NSCLC cases, and patients with this aggressive lung cancer are often elderly and face a poor clinical prognosis,” Paul K. Paik, MD, the VISION primary investigator and clinical director of the thoracic oncology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said in the statement.

“There is a pressing need for targeted treatments that have the potential to generate durable antitumor activity and improve the lives of patients with this challenging disease,” he added.

Andrea Ferris, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit LUNGevity Foundation, further noted the “powerful progress” made in recent years with respect to understanding genetic mutations in NSCLC.

“The availability of a new precision medicine for NSCLC with METex14 skipping alterations advances patient access to targeted treatment and underscores the importance of routine comprehensive biomarker testing for patients with this challenging cancer,” she said in the statement.

Tepotinib was approved in Japan in March 2020. The drug previously received breakthrough therapy designation and orphan drug designation from the FDA. A marketing authorization application for tepotinib was validated by the European Medicines Agency in November 2020 for a similar indication, EMD Serono reported, adding that applications “have also been submitted in Australia, Switzerland, and Canada under the FDA’s Project Orbis initiative, which provides a framework for concurrent submission and review of oncology medicines among international partners.”

Other phase 2 studies of tepotinib are ongoing. The INSIGHT 2 study is designed to test tepotinib in combination with osimertinib in MET amplified, advanced, or metastatic NSCLC with activating EGFR mutations that has progressed following first-line treatment with osimertinib. The PERSPECTIVE study is designed to test tepotinib in combination with cetuximab in patients with RAS/BRAF wild-type left-sided metastatic colorectal cancer with acquired resistance to anti-EGFR antibody targeting therapy due to MET amplification.

For more details on tepotinib, see the full prescribing information.

[email protected]

The Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval for tepotinib (TEPMETKO) for the treatment of adults with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring MET exon 14 skipping alterations.

Tepotinib is the first once-daily oral MET inhibitor approved for this patient population, and the approval applies to both treatment-naive and previously treated patients with NSCLC.

The approval was supported by results from the ongoing phase 2 VISION trial. Tepotinib produced an overall response rate of 43% in both treatment-naive patients (n = 69) and previously treated patients (n = 83) in this trial. The median duration of response was 10.8 months and 11.1 months, respectively.

Results of the primary analysis were published in The New England Journal of Medicine last year.

Study subjects received the recommended dose of 450 mg taken as two 225-mg tablets once daily with food until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Adverse reactions occurring in at least 20% of patients included edema, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, musculoskeletal pain, and dyspnea. Interstitial lung disease, hepatotoxicity, and embryo-fetal toxicity also have been reported with tepotinib.

Continued approval of tepotinib “may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials,” the FDA stated in an approval announcement.

EMD Serono, the drug’s maker, also announced the approval in a press statement, calling tepotinib “an important and welcome new therapeutic option for patients with metastatic NSCLC harboring these genetic mutations.”

“METex14 skipping occurs in approximately 3% to 4% of NSCLC cases, and patients with this aggressive lung cancer are often elderly and face a poor clinical prognosis,” Paul K. Paik, MD, the VISION primary investigator and clinical director of the thoracic oncology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said in the statement.

“There is a pressing need for targeted treatments that have the potential to generate durable antitumor activity and improve the lives of patients with this challenging disease,” he added.

Andrea Ferris, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit LUNGevity Foundation, further noted the “powerful progress” made in recent years with respect to understanding genetic mutations in NSCLC.

“The availability of a new precision medicine for NSCLC with METex14 skipping alterations advances patient access to targeted treatment and underscores the importance of routine comprehensive biomarker testing for patients with this challenging cancer,” she said in the statement.

Tepotinib was approved in Japan in March 2020. The drug previously received breakthrough therapy designation and orphan drug designation from the FDA. A marketing authorization application for tepotinib was validated by the European Medicines Agency in November 2020 for a similar indication, EMD Serono reported, adding that applications “have also been submitted in Australia, Switzerland, and Canada under the FDA’s Project Orbis initiative, which provides a framework for concurrent submission and review of oncology medicines among international partners.”

Other phase 2 studies of tepotinib are ongoing. The INSIGHT 2 study is designed to test tepotinib in combination with osimertinib in MET amplified, advanced, or metastatic NSCLC with activating EGFR mutations that has progressed following first-line treatment with osimertinib. The PERSPECTIVE study is designed to test tepotinib in combination with cetuximab in patients with RAS/BRAF wild-type left-sided metastatic colorectal cancer with acquired resistance to anti-EGFR antibody targeting therapy due to MET amplification.

For more details on tepotinib, see the full prescribing information.

[email protected]

The Food and Drug Administration has granted accelerated approval for tepotinib (TEPMETKO) for the treatment of adults with metastatic non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) harboring MET exon 14 skipping alterations.

Tepotinib is the first once-daily oral MET inhibitor approved for this patient population, and the approval applies to both treatment-naive and previously treated patients with NSCLC.

The approval was supported by results from the ongoing phase 2 VISION trial. Tepotinib produced an overall response rate of 43% in both treatment-naive patients (n = 69) and previously treated patients (n = 83) in this trial. The median duration of response was 10.8 months and 11.1 months, respectively.

Results of the primary analysis were published in The New England Journal of Medicine last year.

Study subjects received the recommended dose of 450 mg taken as two 225-mg tablets once daily with food until disease progression or unacceptable toxicity. Adverse reactions occurring in at least 20% of patients included edema, fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, musculoskeletal pain, and dyspnea. Interstitial lung disease, hepatotoxicity, and embryo-fetal toxicity also have been reported with tepotinib.

Continued approval of tepotinib “may be contingent upon verification and description of clinical benefit in confirmatory trials,” the FDA stated in an approval announcement.

EMD Serono, the drug’s maker, also announced the approval in a press statement, calling tepotinib “an important and welcome new therapeutic option for patients with metastatic NSCLC harboring these genetic mutations.”

“METex14 skipping occurs in approximately 3% to 4% of NSCLC cases, and patients with this aggressive lung cancer are often elderly and face a poor clinical prognosis,” Paul K. Paik, MD, the VISION primary investigator and clinical director of the thoracic oncology service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said in the statement.

“There is a pressing need for targeted treatments that have the potential to generate durable antitumor activity and improve the lives of patients with this challenging disease,” he added.

Andrea Ferris, president and chief executive officer of the nonprofit LUNGevity Foundation, further noted the “powerful progress” made in recent years with respect to understanding genetic mutations in NSCLC.

“The availability of a new precision medicine for NSCLC with METex14 skipping alterations advances patient access to targeted treatment and underscores the importance of routine comprehensive biomarker testing for patients with this challenging cancer,” she said in the statement.

Tepotinib was approved in Japan in March 2020. The drug previously received breakthrough therapy designation and orphan drug designation from the FDA. A marketing authorization application for tepotinib was validated by the European Medicines Agency in November 2020 for a similar indication, EMD Serono reported, adding that applications “have also been submitted in Australia, Switzerland, and Canada under the FDA’s Project Orbis initiative, which provides a framework for concurrent submission and review of oncology medicines among international partners.”

Other phase 2 studies of tepotinib are ongoing. The INSIGHT 2 study is designed to test tepotinib in combination with osimertinib in MET amplified, advanced, or metastatic NSCLC with activating EGFR mutations that has progressed following first-line treatment with osimertinib. The PERSPECTIVE study is designed to test tepotinib in combination with cetuximab in patients with RAS/BRAF wild-type left-sided metastatic colorectal cancer with acquired resistance to anti-EGFR antibody targeting therapy due to MET amplification.

For more details on tepotinib, see the full prescribing information.

[email protected]

The United States is nearly 6 weeks into its historic campaign to vaccinate Americans against the virus that causes COVID-19, and so far, the two vaccines in use look remarkably low risk, according to new data presented today at a meeting of vaccine experts that advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With 23.5 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines now given, there have been very few serious side effects. In addition, deaths reported after people got the vaccine do not seem to be related to it.

The most common symptoms reported after vaccination were pain where people got the shot, fatigue, headache, and muscle soreness. These were more common after the second dose. In addition, about one in four people reported fever and chills after the second shot.

“On the whole, I thought it was very reassuring,” said William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease expert with Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., who listened to the presentations.

The CDC is collecting safety information through multiple channels. These include a new smartphone-based app called V-Safe, which collects daily information from people who’ve been vaccinated; the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which accepts reports from anyone; and the Vaccine Safety Datalink, which is a collaboration between the CDC and nine major hospital systems. There’s also the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project, a collaboration between the CDC and vaccine safety experts.

After surveying these systems, experts heading the safety committee for the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said there have been few serious side effects reported.

Very rarely, severe allergic reactions – called anaphylaxis – have occurred after vaccination. There have been 50 of these cases reported after the Pfizer vaccine and 21 cases reported after the Moderna vaccine to date. Nearly all of them – 94% of the anaphylaxis cases after Pfizer vaccines and 100% of those after Moderna’s vaccine – have been in women, though it’s not clear why.

That translates to a rate of about five cases of anaphylaxis for every million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and about three for every million doses of the Moderna vaccine. Most of these occur within 15 minutes after getting a vaccine dose, with one reported as long as 20 hours after the shot.

The CDC suspects these may be related to an ingredient called polyethylene glycol (PEG). PEG is a part of the particles that slip the vaccines’ mRNA into cells with instructions to make the spike protein of the virus. Cells then express these spikes on their surfaces so the immune system can learn to recognize them and make defenses against them. PEG is a common ingredient in many drugs and occasionally triggers anaphylaxis.
 

Reported deaths seem unrelated to vaccines

Through Jan. 18, 196 people have died after getting a vaccine.

Most of these deaths (129) were in patients in long term care facilities. These deaths are still being investigated, but when they were compared with the number of deaths that might be expected over the same period because of natural causes, they seemed to be coincidental and not caused by the vaccine, said Tom Shimabukuro, MD, deputy director of the Immunization Safety Office at the CDC, who studied the data.

In fact, death rates were lower among vaccinated nursing home residents, compared with those who had not been vaccinated.

“These findings suggest that short-term mortality rates appear unrelated to vaccination for COVID-19,” Dr. Shimabukuro said.

This also appeared to be true for younger adults who died after their shots.

There were 28 people aged under 65 years who died after being vaccinated. Most of these deaths were heart related, according to autopsy reports. When investigators compared the number of sudden cardiac deaths expected to occur in this population naturally, they found people who were vaccinated had a lower rate than would have been expected without vaccination. This suggests that these deaths were also unrelated to the vaccine.
 

More vaccines on the horizon

The panel also heard an update from drug company AstraZeneca on its vaccine. It’s being used in 18 countries but has not yet been authorized in the United States.

That vaccine is currently in phase 3 of its U.S. clinical trials, and more than 26,000 people who have volunteered to get the shot had received their second dose as of Jan. 21, the company said.

The Food and Drug Administration requires at least 2 months of follow-up before it will evaluate a vaccine for an emergency-use authorization, which means the company would be ready to submit by the end of March, with a possible approval by April.

The AstraZeneca vaccine uses a more traditional method to create immunity, slipping a key part of the virus that causes COVID-19 into the shell of an adenovirus – a virus that causes cold-like symptoms – that normally infects monkeys. When the immune system sees the virus, it generates protective defenses against it.

The two-dose vaccine can be stored in a regular refrigerator for up to 6 months, which makes it easier to handle than the mRNA vaccines, which require much colder storage. Another advantage appears to be that it’s less likely to trigger severe allergic reactions. So far, there have been no cases of anaphylaxis reported after this shot.

In total, four serious side effects have been reported with the AstraZeneca vaccine, including two cases of transverse myelitis, a serious condition that causes swelling of the spinal cord, leading to pain, muscle weakness, and paralysis. One of these was in the group that got the placebo. The reports paused the trial, but it was allowed to continue after a safety review.

This vaccine also appears to be less effective than the mRNA shots. Data presented to the panel show it appears to cut the risk of developing a COVID infection that has symptoms by 62%. That’s over the 50% threshold the FDA set for approval but less than seen with the mRNA vaccines, which are more than 90% effective at preventing infections.

“Is the average person going to want to take the AstraZeneca shot? What role is this going to play in our vaccination program?” Dr. Schaffner said.

Johnson & Johnson will have enough data from its clinical trials to submit it to the FDA within the next week, the company said in a call with shareholders on Tuesday. So far, its one-dose shots looks to be about as effective as both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

“It could be that we wind up with four vaccines: Three that can run very fast, and one that’s not so fast,” Dr. Schaffner said.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The United States is nearly 6 weeks into its historic campaign to vaccinate Americans against the virus that causes COVID-19, and so far, the two vaccines in use look remarkably low risk, according to new data presented today at a meeting of vaccine experts that advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With 23.5 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines now given, there have been very few serious side effects. In addition, deaths reported after people got the vaccine do not seem to be related to it.

The most common symptoms reported after vaccination were pain where people got the shot, fatigue, headache, and muscle soreness. These were more common after the second dose. In addition, about one in four people reported fever and chills after the second shot.

“On the whole, I thought it was very reassuring,” said William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease expert with Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., who listened to the presentations.

The CDC is collecting safety information through multiple channels. These include a new smartphone-based app called V-Safe, which collects daily information from people who’ve been vaccinated; the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which accepts reports from anyone; and the Vaccine Safety Datalink, which is a collaboration between the CDC and nine major hospital systems. There’s also the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project, a collaboration between the CDC and vaccine safety experts.

After surveying these systems, experts heading the safety committee for the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said there have been few serious side effects reported.

Very rarely, severe allergic reactions – called anaphylaxis – have occurred after vaccination. There have been 50 of these cases reported after the Pfizer vaccine and 21 cases reported after the Moderna vaccine to date. Nearly all of them – 94% of the anaphylaxis cases after Pfizer vaccines and 100% of those after Moderna’s vaccine – have been in women, though it’s not clear why.

That translates to a rate of about five cases of anaphylaxis for every million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and about three for every million doses of the Moderna vaccine. Most of these occur within 15 minutes after getting a vaccine dose, with one reported as long as 20 hours after the shot.

The CDC suspects these may be related to an ingredient called polyethylene glycol (PEG). PEG is a part of the particles that slip the vaccines’ mRNA into cells with instructions to make the spike protein of the virus. Cells then express these spikes on their surfaces so the immune system can learn to recognize them and make defenses against them. PEG is a common ingredient in many drugs and occasionally triggers anaphylaxis.
 

Reported deaths seem unrelated to vaccines

Through Jan. 18, 196 people have died after getting a vaccine.

Most of these deaths (129) were in patients in long term care facilities. These deaths are still being investigated, but when they were compared with the number of deaths that might be expected over the same period because of natural causes, they seemed to be coincidental and not caused by the vaccine, said Tom Shimabukuro, MD, deputy director of the Immunization Safety Office at the CDC, who studied the data.

In fact, death rates were lower among vaccinated nursing home residents, compared with those who had not been vaccinated.

“These findings suggest that short-term mortality rates appear unrelated to vaccination for COVID-19,” Dr. Shimabukuro said.

This also appeared to be true for younger adults who died after their shots.

There were 28 people aged under 65 years who died after being vaccinated. Most of these deaths were heart related, according to autopsy reports. When investigators compared the number of sudden cardiac deaths expected to occur in this population naturally, they found people who were vaccinated had a lower rate than would have been expected without vaccination. This suggests that these deaths were also unrelated to the vaccine.
 

More vaccines on the horizon

The panel also heard an update from drug company AstraZeneca on its vaccine. It’s being used in 18 countries but has not yet been authorized in the United States.

That vaccine is currently in phase 3 of its U.S. clinical trials, and more than 26,000 people who have volunteered to get the shot had received their second dose as of Jan. 21, the company said.

The Food and Drug Administration requires at least 2 months of follow-up before it will evaluate a vaccine for an emergency-use authorization, which means the company would be ready to submit by the end of March, with a possible approval by April.

The AstraZeneca vaccine uses a more traditional method to create immunity, slipping a key part of the virus that causes COVID-19 into the shell of an adenovirus – a virus that causes cold-like symptoms – that normally infects monkeys. When the immune system sees the virus, it generates protective defenses against it.

The two-dose vaccine can be stored in a regular refrigerator for up to 6 months, which makes it easier to handle than the mRNA vaccines, which require much colder storage. Another advantage appears to be that it’s less likely to trigger severe allergic reactions. So far, there have been no cases of anaphylaxis reported after this shot.

In total, four serious side effects have been reported with the AstraZeneca vaccine, including two cases of transverse myelitis, a serious condition that causes swelling of the spinal cord, leading to pain, muscle weakness, and paralysis. One of these was in the group that got the placebo. The reports paused the trial, but it was allowed to continue after a safety review.

This vaccine also appears to be less effective than the mRNA shots. Data presented to the panel show it appears to cut the risk of developing a COVID infection that has symptoms by 62%. That’s over the 50% threshold the FDA set for approval but less than seen with the mRNA vaccines, which are more than 90% effective at preventing infections.

“Is the average person going to want to take the AstraZeneca shot? What role is this going to play in our vaccination program?” Dr. Schaffner said.

Johnson & Johnson will have enough data from its clinical trials to submit it to the FDA within the next week, the company said in a call with shareholders on Tuesday. So far, its one-dose shots looks to be about as effective as both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

“It could be that we wind up with four vaccines: Three that can run very fast, and one that’s not so fast,” Dr. Schaffner said.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.

The United States is nearly 6 weeks into its historic campaign to vaccinate Americans against the virus that causes COVID-19, and so far, the two vaccines in use look remarkably low risk, according to new data presented today at a meeting of vaccine experts that advise the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

With 23.5 million doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines now given, there have been very few serious side effects. In addition, deaths reported after people got the vaccine do not seem to be related to it.

The most common symptoms reported after vaccination were pain where people got the shot, fatigue, headache, and muscle soreness. These were more common after the second dose. In addition, about one in four people reported fever and chills after the second shot.

“On the whole, I thought it was very reassuring,” said William Schaffner, MD, an infectious disease expert with Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tenn., who listened to the presentations.

The CDC is collecting safety information through multiple channels. These include a new smartphone-based app called V-Safe, which collects daily information from people who’ve been vaccinated; the federal Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, which accepts reports from anyone; and the Vaccine Safety Datalink, which is a collaboration between the CDC and nine major hospital systems. There’s also the Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment Project, a collaboration between the CDC and vaccine safety experts.

After surveying these systems, experts heading the safety committee for the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices said there have been few serious side effects reported.

Very rarely, severe allergic reactions – called anaphylaxis – have occurred after vaccination. There have been 50 of these cases reported after the Pfizer vaccine and 21 cases reported after the Moderna vaccine to date. Nearly all of them – 94% of the anaphylaxis cases after Pfizer vaccines and 100% of those after Moderna’s vaccine – have been in women, though it’s not clear why.

That translates to a rate of about five cases of anaphylaxis for every million doses of the Pfizer vaccine and about three for every million doses of the Moderna vaccine. Most of these occur within 15 minutes after getting a vaccine dose, with one reported as long as 20 hours after the shot.

The CDC suspects these may be related to an ingredient called polyethylene glycol (PEG). PEG is a part of the particles that slip the vaccines’ mRNA into cells with instructions to make the spike protein of the virus. Cells then express these spikes on their surfaces so the immune system can learn to recognize them and make defenses against them. PEG is a common ingredient in many drugs and occasionally triggers anaphylaxis.
 

Reported deaths seem unrelated to vaccines

Through Jan. 18, 196 people have died after getting a vaccine.

Most of these deaths (129) were in patients in long term care facilities. These deaths are still being investigated, but when they were compared with the number of deaths that might be expected over the same period because of natural causes, they seemed to be coincidental and not caused by the vaccine, said Tom Shimabukuro, MD, deputy director of the Immunization Safety Office at the CDC, who studied the data.

In fact, death rates were lower among vaccinated nursing home residents, compared with those who had not been vaccinated.

“These findings suggest that short-term mortality rates appear unrelated to vaccination for COVID-19,” Dr. Shimabukuro said.

This also appeared to be true for younger adults who died after their shots.

There were 28 people aged under 65 years who died after being vaccinated. Most of these deaths were heart related, according to autopsy reports. When investigators compared the number of sudden cardiac deaths expected to occur in this population naturally, they found people who were vaccinated had a lower rate than would have been expected without vaccination. This suggests that these deaths were also unrelated to the vaccine.
 

More vaccines on the horizon

The panel also heard an update from drug company AstraZeneca on its vaccine. It’s being used in 18 countries but has not yet been authorized in the United States.

That vaccine is currently in phase 3 of its U.S. clinical trials, and more than 26,000 people who have volunteered to get the shot had received their second dose as of Jan. 21, the company said.

The Food and Drug Administration requires at least 2 months of follow-up before it will evaluate a vaccine for an emergency-use authorization, which means the company would be ready to submit by the end of March, with a possible approval by April.

The AstraZeneca vaccine uses a more traditional method to create immunity, slipping a key part of the virus that causes COVID-19 into the shell of an adenovirus – a virus that causes cold-like symptoms – that normally infects monkeys. When the immune system sees the virus, it generates protective defenses against it.

The two-dose vaccine can be stored in a regular refrigerator for up to 6 months, which makes it easier to handle than the mRNA vaccines, which require much colder storage. Another advantage appears to be that it’s less likely to trigger severe allergic reactions. So far, there have been no cases of anaphylaxis reported after this shot.

In total, four serious side effects have been reported with the AstraZeneca vaccine, including two cases of transverse myelitis, a serious condition that causes swelling of the spinal cord, leading to pain, muscle weakness, and paralysis. One of these was in the group that got the placebo. The reports paused the trial, but it was allowed to continue after a safety review.

This vaccine also appears to be less effective than the mRNA shots. Data presented to the panel show it appears to cut the risk of developing a COVID infection that has symptoms by 62%. That’s over the 50% threshold the FDA set for approval but less than seen with the mRNA vaccines, which are more than 90% effective at preventing infections.

“Is the average person going to want to take the AstraZeneca shot? What role is this going to play in our vaccination program?” Dr. Schaffner said.

Johnson & Johnson will have enough data from its clinical trials to submit it to the FDA within the next week, the company said in a call with shareholders on Tuesday. So far, its one-dose shots looks to be about as effective as both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

“It could be that we wind up with four vaccines: Three that can run very fast, and one that’s not so fast,” Dr. Schaffner said.

A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.