Trulicity Adverse Reactions

Summary of safety profile: In the complete phase II and phase III initial registration studies, 4,006 patients were exposed to dulaglutide alone or in combination with other glucose lowering medicinal products. The most frequently reported adverse reactions in clinical trials were gastrointestinal, including nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. In general, these reactions were mild or moderate in severity and transient in nature.
Results from the long-term cardiovascular outcome study with 4949 patients randomised to dulaglutide and followed for a median of 5.4 years were consistent with these findings.
Tabulated list of adverse reactions: The following adverse reactions have been identified based on evaluation of the full duration of the phase II and phase III clinical studies, the long-term cardiovascular outcome study and post-marketing report. The adverse reactions are listed in Table 12 as MedDRA preferred term by system organ class and in order of decreasing incidence (very common: ≥1/10; common: ≥1/100 to <1/10; uncommon: ≥1/1,000 to <1/100; rare: ≥1/10,000 to <1/1,000; very rare: <1/10,000 and not known: cannot be estimated from available data). Within each incidence grouping, adverse reactions are presented in order of decreasing frequency. Frequencies for events have been calculated based on their incidence in the phase II and phase III registration studies. (See Table 12.)

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Description of selected adverse reactions: Hypoglycaemia: When dulaglutide 0.75 mg and 1.5 mg were used as monotherapy or in combination with metformin alone or metformin and pioglitazone, the incidences of documented symptomatic hypoglycaemia were 5.9% to 10.9% and the rates were 0.14 to 0.62 events/patient/year, and no episodes of severe hypoglycaemia were reported.
The incidences of documented symptomatic hypoglycaemia when dulaglutide 0.75 mg and 1.5 mg, respectively, were used in combination with a sulphonylurea (plus metformin) were 39.0% and 40.3% and the rates were 1.67 and 1.67 events/patient/year. The severe hypoglycaemia event incidences were 0% and 0.7%, and rates were 0.00 and 0.01 events/patient/year for each dose, respectively.
The incidence of documented symptomatic hypoglycemia when dulaglutide 1.5 mg was used with sulphonylurea alone was 11.3% and the rate was 0.90 events/patient/year, and there were no episodes of severe hypoglycemia.
The incidence of documented symptomatic hypoglycemia when dulaglutide 1.5 mg was used in combination with insulin glargine was 35.3% and the rate was 3.38 events/patient/year. The severe hypoglycemia event incidence was 0.7% and the rate was 0.01 events/patient/year.
The incidences when dulaglutide 0.75 mg and 1.5 mg, respectively, were used in combination with prandial insulin were 85.3% and 80.0% and rates were 35.66 and 31.06 events/patient/year. The severe hypoglycaemia event incidences were 2.4% and 3.4%, and rates were 0.05 and 0.06 events/patient/year.
Gastrointestinal adverse reactions: Cumulative reporting of gastrointestinal events up to 104 weeks with dulaglutide 0.75 mg and 1.5 mg, respectively, included nausea (12.9% and 21.2%), diarrhoea (10.7% and 13.7%) and vomiting (6.9% and 11.5%). These were typically mild or moderate in severity and were reported to peak during the first 2 weeks of treatment and rapidly declined over the next 4 weeks, after which the rate remained relatively constant.
In clinical pharmacology studies conducted in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus up to 6 weeks, the majority of gastrointestinal events were reported during the first 2-3 days after the initial dose and declined with subsequent doses.
Acute pancreatitis: The incidence of acute pancreatitis in Phase II and III clinical studies was 0.07% for dulaglutide compared to 0.14% for placebo and 0.19% for comparators with or without additional background antidiabetic therapy.
Pancreatic enzymes: Dulaglutide is associated with mean increases from baseline in pancreatic enzymes (lipase and/or pancreatic amylase) of 11% to 21% (see Precautions). In the absence of other signs and symptoms of acute pancreatitis, elevations in pancreatic enzymes alone are not predictive of acute pancreatitis.
Heart rate increase: Small mean increases in heart rate of 2 to 4 beats per minute (bpm) and a 1.3% and 1.4% incidence of sinus tachycardia, with a concomitant increase from baseline ≥15 bpm, were observed with dulaglutide 0.75 mg and 1.5 mg, respectively.
First degree AV block/PR interval prolongation: Small mean increases from baseline in PR interval of 2 to 3 msec and a 1.5% and 2.4% incidence of first-degree AV block were observed with dulaglutide 0.75 mg and 1.5 mg, respectively.
Immunogenicity: In clinical studies, treatment with dulaglutide was associated with a 1.6% incidence of treatment emergent dulaglutide anti-drug antibodies, indicating that the structural modifications in the GLP-1 and modified IgG4 parts of the dulaglutide molecule, together with high homology with native GLP-1 and native IgG4, minimise the risk of immune response against dulaglutide. Patients with dulaglutide anti-drug antibodies generally had low titres, and although the number of patients developing dulaglutide anti-drug antibodies was low, examination of the phase III data revealed no clear impact of dulaglutide anti-drug antibodies on changes in HbA1c.
During the 26-week controlled period of the glycemic control trial in pediatric patients 10 years of age or older with type 2 diabetes mellitus (see Pharmacology: Pharmacodynamics under Actions) 4/101 (4%) of TRULICITY-treated pediatric patients developed ADA. Of the 4 pediatric patients that developed ADA, 1 patient (1% of the overall population) developed dulaglutide-neutralizing antibodies and 3 patients (3% of the overall population) developed antibodies against native GLP-1. During the 52-week postbaseline period of the same trial (through safety follow-up), 6/103 (6%) of TRULICITY-treated patients developed ADA. Of the 6 patients that developed ADA, 1 patient (1% of the overall population) developed dulaglutide-neutralizing antibodies and 4 patients (4% of the overall population) developed antibodies against native GLP-1. Because of the low occurrence of ADA, the effect of these antibodies on the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, safety, and/or effectiveness of TRULICITY is unknown in pediatric patients.
Hypersensitivity: In the phase II and phase III clinical studies, systemic hypersensitivity events (e.g., urticaria, edema) were reported in 0.5% of patients receiving dulaglutide. Cases of anaphylactic reaction have been rarely reported with marketed use of dulaglutide.
Injection site reactions: Injection site adverse events were reported in 1.9% of patients receiving dulaglutide. Potentially immune-mediated injection site adverse events (e.g., rash, erythema) were reported in 0.7% of patients and were usually mild.
Discontinuation due to an adverse event: In studies of 26 weeks duration, the incidence of discontinuation due to adverse events was 2.6% (0.75 mg) and 6.1% (1.5 mg) for dulaglutide versus 3.7% for placebo. Through the full study duration (up to 104 weeks), the incidence of discontinuation due to adverse events was 5.1% (0.75 mg) and 8.4% (1.5 mg) for dulaglutide. The most frequent adverse reactions leading to discontinuation for 0.75 mg and 1.5 mg dulaglutide, respectively, were nausea (1.0%, 1.9%), diarrhoea (0.5%, 0.6%), and vomiting (0.4%, 0.6%), and were generally reported within the first 4-6 weeks.
Postmarketing Data: The following additional adverse reactions have been reported during post-approval use of Trulicity. Because these events are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is generally not possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.
Immune system disorders: Anaphylactic Reaction.