Design of, and first data from, PATRO Children, a multicentre, noninterventional study of the long-term efficacy and safety of Omnitrope in children requiring growth hormone treatment

Objective: To describe the rationale, design and first data from PATRO Children, a postmarketing surveillance of the long-term efficacy and safety of somatropin (Omnitrope ® ) for the treatment of children requiring growth hormone treatment. Methods: PATRO Children is a multicentre, open, longitudinal, noninterventional study being conducted in children’s hospitals and specialised endocrinology clinics. The primary objective is to assess the long-term safety of Omnitrope ® in routine clinical practice. Eligible patients are infants, children and adolescents (male or female) who are receiving treatment with Omnitrope ® and who have provided informed consent. Patients who have been treated with another recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) product before starting Omnitrope ® are eligible for inclusion. All adverse events (AEs) are monitored and recorded, with particular emphasis on: long-term safety; the recording of malignancies; the occurrence and clinical impact of anti-hGH antibodies; the development of diabetes during Omnitrope ® treatment in children short for gestational age (SGA); safety issues in patients with Prader–Willi syndrome (PWS). Efficacy assessments include auxological parameters, plus insulin-like growth factor-1 and insulin-like growth factor binding protein-3. Results: As of September 2012, 1837 patients were enrolled in the study from 184 sites in 10 European countries. To date, efficacy data are reassuring and consistent with previous studies. In addition, there have been no confirmed cases of diabetes occurring under Omnitrope ® treatment, no reports of malignancy and no safety issues in PWS patients. Conclusions: The efficacy and safety profile of Omnitrope ® in the PATRO Children study so far are as expected. The ongoing study will extend the safety database for Omnitrope ® , and rhGH products more generally, in paediatric indications. Of particular interest, PATRO Children will add important information on the diabetogenic potential of rhGH in children born SGA, the risk of malignancies in children receiving rhGH, and AEs with a possible causal relationship to rhGH treatment in children with PWS

Long-term follow up of carbohydrate metabolism and adverse events after termination of Omnitrope (R) treatment in children born small for gestational age

Background: Recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) therapy can affect carbohydrate metabolism and lead to impaired glucose tolerance during treatment. In addition, short children born small for gestational age (SGA) are predisposed to metabolic abnormalities. This study assessed the long-term safety of rhGH (Omnitrope (R)) use in short children born SGA. Methods: This was a follow-up observational study of patients from a phase IV study. The baseline visit was the final visit of the phase IV study. Further visits were planned after 6months (F1), 1year (F2), 5years (F3), and 10years (F4). The primary objective was to evaluate the long-term effect of rhGH treatment on the development of diabetes mellitus; secondary objectives included incidence/severity of adverse events (AEs). Results: In total, 130 subjects were enrolled in the follow-up study; 99 completed F1, 88 completed F2, and 13 completed F3 (no subject reached F4). The full analysis set for evaluation comprised 118 patients (64 female). Mean (standard deviation) duration of follow up was 39.6 (24.4) months. No subject was newly diagnosed with diabetes. The results for carbohydrate metabolism parameters were consistent with this finding. A total of 144 AEs were reported in 54 subjects; these were mostly of mild-to-moderate intensity (96.5%) and not suspected to be related to previous rhGH treatment (94.4%). Serious AEs (n=18) were reported in eight patients; three (in one patient) were suspected as possibly related to previous rhGH treatment (anemia, menorrhagia, oligomenorrhoea). One fatal event occurred (sepsis), which was judged as not related to previous rhGH treatment. Conclusions: None of the participating subjects, who had all been previously treated with Omnitrope (R) in a phase IV study, developed diabetes during this follow-up study. In addition, no other unexpected or concerning safety signals were observed

Ten years of clinical experience with biosimilar human growth hormone : a review of safety data

Safety concerns for recombinant human growth hormone (rhGH) treatments include impact on cancer risk, impact on glucose homeostasis, and the formation of antibodies to endogenous/exogenous GH. Omnitrope (R) (biosimilar rhGH) was approved by the European Medicines Agency in 2006, with approval granted on the basis of comparable quality, safety, and efficacy to the reference medicine (Genotropin (R)). Additional concerns that may exist in relation to biosimilar rhGH include safety in indications granted on the basis of extrapolation and the impact of changing to biosimilar rhGH from other rhGH treatments. A substantial data set is available to fully understand the safety profile of biosimilar rhGH, which includes data from its clinical development studies and 10 years of post-approval experience. As of June 2016, 106,941,419 patient days (292,790 patient-years) experience has been gathered for biosimilar rhGH. Based on the available data, there have been no unexpected or unique adverse events related to biosimilar rhGH treatment. There is no increased risk of cancer, adverse glucose homeostasis, or immunogenic response with biosimilar rhGH compared with the reference medicine and other rhGH products. The immunogenicity of biosimilar rhGH is also similar to that of the reference and other rhGH products. Physicians should be reassured that rhGH products have a good safety record when used for approved indications and at recommended doses, and that the safety profile of biosimilar rhGH is in keeping with that of other rhGH products