Get your patient on Epiduo Forte (Adapalene And Benzoyl Peroxide)

Pregnancy Category C. There are no well-controlled trials in pregnant women treated with EPIDUO gel. Animal reproduction studies have not been conducted with the combination gel or benzoyl peroxide. Furthermore, such studies are not always predictive of human response; therefore, EPIDUO gel should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the risk to the fetus.

No teratogenic effects were observed in rats treated with oral doses of 0.15 to 5.0 mg adapalene/kg/day, up to 25 times (mg/m ² /day) the maximum recommended human dose (MRHD) of 2 grams of EPIDUO gel. However, teratogenic changes were observed in rats and rabbits when treated with oral doses of ≥ 25 mg adapalene/kg/day representing 123 and 246 times MRHD, respectively. Findings included cleft palate, microphthalmia, encephalocele and skeletal abnormalities in rats; and umbilical hernia, exophthalmos and kidney and skeletal abnormalities in rabbits.

Dermal teratology studies conducted in rats and rabbits at doses of 0.6-6.0 mg adapalene/kg/day [25-59 times (mg/m ² ) the MRHD] exhibited no fetotoxicity and only minimal increases in supernumerary ribs in both species and delayed ossification in rabbits.

It is not known whether adapalene or benzoyl peroxide is excreted in human milk following use of EPIDUO gel.  Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when EPIDUO gel is administered to a nursing woman.

Safety and effectiveness of EPIDUO gel in pediatric patients under the age of 9 have not been established.

Clinical studies of EPIDUO gel did not include sufficient numbers of subjects aged 65 and over to determine whether they respond differently from younger subjects.

Exposure to sunlight, including sunlamps, should be minimized during the use of EPIDUO gel. Patients with high levels of sun exposure and those with inherent sensitivity to sun should exercise particular caution. Use of sunscreen products and protective apparel, (e.g., hat) are recommended when exposure cannot be avoided. Weather extremes, such as wind or cold, may be irritating to patients under treatment with EPIDUO gel.

Erythema, scaling, dryness, and stinging/burning may be experienced with use of EPIDUO gel. These are most likely to occur during the first four weeks of treatment, are mostly mild to moderate in intensity, and usually lessen with continued use of the medication. Irritant and allergic contact dermatitis may occur. Depending upon the severity of these adverse reactions, patients should be instructed to use a moisturizer, reduce the frequency of the application of EPIDUO gel, or discontinue use. The product should not be applied to cuts, abrasions, eczematous or sunburned skin. As with other retinoids, use of "waxing" as a depilatory method should be avoided on skin treated with EPIDUO gel.

Avoid concomitant use of other potentially irritating topical products (medicated or abrasive soaps and cleansers, soaps and cosmetics that have strong skin-drying effect and products with high concentrations of alcohol, astringents, spices, or limes).

Because clinical studies are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical studies of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical studies of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.

During clinical trials, 1401 subjects were exposed to EPIDUO gel. A total of 1036 subjects with acne vulgaris, 12 years and older, were treated once daily for 12 weeks to 12 months. Related adverse events reported within 12 weeks of treatment and in at least 1% of subjects treated with EPIDUO gel and those reported in subjects treated with the vehicle gel are presented in Table 1:

Local tolerability evaluations, presented in Table 2, were conducted at each study visit in clinical trials by assessment of erythema, scaling, dryness, burning, and stinging.

Analysis over the 12-week period showed that local tolerability scores for erythema, scaling, dryness, and stinging/burning peaked at Week 1 of therapy and decreased thereafter.

During a pediatric clinical trial, 285 children with acne vulgaris, 9 to 11 years of age were treated with EPIDUO gel or with the vehicle gel once daily for 12 weeks. Overall, the safety profile of EPIDUO gel in these subjects is comparable to the safety profile observed in older subjects 12 years of age and above, both in the nature and frequency of the observed adverse events.

Analysis of local tolerability evaluations shows similar incidence of treatment emergent signs and symptoms as in subjects 12 years of age and above, with local tolerability signs and symptoms peaking during the first week and decreasing over time.

The following adverse reactions have been identified during postapproval use of EPIDUO gel:  eyelid edema, sunburn, blister, pain of skin, pruritus, swelling face, conjunctivitis, skin discoloration, rash, eczema, throat tightness and allergic contact dermatitis.  Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of uncertain size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure.

Adapalene

Adapalene binds to specific retinoic acid nuclear receptors but does not bind to cytosolic receptor protein. Biochemical and pharmacological profile studies have demonstrated that adapalene is a modulator of cellular differentiation, keratinization and inflammatory processes. However, the significance of these findings with regard to the mechanism of action of adapalene for the treatment of acne is unknown.

Benzoyl peroxide

Benzoyl peroxide is an oxidizing agent with bactericidal and keratolytic effects.

Pharmacodynamics of EPIDUO gel is unknown.

A pharmacokinetic study was conducted in 10 adult subjects with acne vulgaris who were treated once daily for 30 days with 2 grams/day of EPIDUO gel applied to 1000 cm ² of acne involved skin, (face, chest, and upper back).

Two subjects (20%) had quantifiable adapalene plasma concentrations above the limit of quantification (LOQ = 0.1ng/mL). The highest adapalene C _max and AUC _0-24h was 0.21 ng/mL and 1.99 ng•h/mL, respectively. Excretion of adapalene appears to be primarily by the biliary route. Pharmacokinetics of EPIDUO gel in pediatric subjects have not been evaluated.

Benzoyl peroxide is absorbed by the skin where it is converted to benzoic acid and eliminated in the urine.

No carcinogenicity, photocarcinogenicity, genotoxicity, or fertility studies were conducted with EPIDUO gel.

Carcinogenicity studies with adapalene have been conducted in mice at topical doses of 0.4, 1.3, and 4.0 mg/kg/day (1.2, 3.9, and 12 mg/m ² /day), and in rats at oral doses of 0.15, 0.5, and 1.5 mg/kg/day (0.9, 3.0, and 9.0 mg/m ² /day).  In terms of body surface area, the highest dose levels are 9.8 (mice) and 7.4 times (rats) the MRHD of 2 grams of EPIDUO gel. In the rat study, an increased incidence of benign and malignant pheochromocytomas in the adrenal medulla of male rats was observed.

No significant increase in tumor formation was observed in rodents topically treated with 15-25% benzoyl peroxide carbopol gel (6-10 times the concentration of benzoyl peroxide in EPIDUO gel) for two years. Rats received maximum daily applications of 138 (males) and 205 (females) mg benzoyl peroxide/kg. In terms of body surface area, these levels are 27-40 times the MRHD. Similar results were obtained in mice topically treated with 25% benzoyl peroxide carbopol gel for 56 weeks followed by intermittent treatment with 15% benzoyl peroxide carbopol gel for the rest of the 2 year study period, and in mice topically treated with 5% benzoyl peroxide carbopol gel for two years.

The role of benzoyl peroxide as a tumor promoter has been well established in several animal species. However, the significance of this finding in humans is unknown.

In a photocarcinogenicity study conducted with 5% benzoyl peroxide carbopol gel, no increase in UV-induced tumor formation was observed in hairless mice topically treated for 40 weeks.

No photocarcinogenicity studies were conducted with adapalene. However, animal studies have shown an increased tumorigenic risk with the use of pharmacologically similar drugs (e.g., retinoids) when exposed to UV irradiation in the laboratory or sunlight. Although the significance of these findings to humans is not clear, patients should be advised to avoid or minimize exposure to either sunlight or artificial irradiation sources.

Adapalene did not exhibit mutagenic or genotoxic effects in vitro (Ames test, Chinese hamster ovary cell assay, mouse lymphoma TK assay) or in vivo (mouse micronucleus test).

Bacterial mutagenicity assays (Ames test) with benzoyl peroxide has provided mixed results, mutagenic potential was observed in a few but not in a majority of investigations. Benzoyl peroxide has been shown to produce single-strand DNA breaks in human bronchial epithelial and mouse epidermal cells, it has caused DNA-protein cross-links in the human cells, and has also induced a dose-dependent increase in sister chromatid exchanges in Chinese hamster ovary cells.

In rat oral studies, 20 mg adapalene/kg/day (120 mg/m ² /day; 98 times the MRHD based on mg/m ² /day comparison) did not affect the reproductive performance and fertility of F ₀ males and females, or growth, development and reproductive function of F ₁ offspring.

No fertility studies were conducted with benzoyl peroxide.