1 INDICATIONS AND USAGE Alogliptin and pioglitazone tablets are indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus .

Alogliptin and pioglitazone tablets are a combination of alogliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor, and pioglitazone, a thiazolidinedione agonist of peroxisome proliferator receptor gamma, indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

( 1 ) Limitations of Use: Alogliptin and pioglitazone tablets are not recommended for use in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

( 1 ) Limitations of Use Alogliptin and pioglitazone tablets are not recommended for use in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus.

6 ADVERSE REACTIONS The following serious adverse reactions are described below or elsewhere in the prescribing information: Congestive Heart Failure [see Boxed Warning and Warnings and Precautions (5.1) ] Pancreatitis [see Warnings and Precautions (5.2) ] Hypersensitivity Reactions [see Warnings and Precautions (5.3) ] Hepatic Effects [see Warnings and Precautions (5.4) ] Edema [see Warnings and Precautions (5.5) ] Fractures [see Warnings and Precautions (5.6) ] Urinary Bladder Tumors [see Warnings and Precautions (5.7) ] Hypoglycemia with Concomitant Use with Insulin or Insulin Secretagogues [see Warnings and Precautions (5.8) ] Macular Edema [see Warnings and Precautions (5.9) ] Severe and Disabling Arthralgia [see Warnings and Precautions (5.10) ] Bullous Pemphigoid [see Warnings and Precautions (5.11) ] The most common adverse reactions (4% or greater incidence) are nasopharyngitis, back pain and upper respiratory tract infection.

( 6.1 ) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Takeda Pharmaceuticals America, Inc.

at 1-877-TAKEDA-7 (1-877-825-3327) or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.

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

Alogliptin and Pioglitazone Over 1,500 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have received alogliptin coadministered with pioglitazone in four large, randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trials [see Clinical Studies (14) ] .

The mean exposure to alogliptin and pioglitazone was 29 weeks with more than 100 subjects treated for more than one year.

The studies consisted of two placebo-controlled studies of 16 to 26 weeks in duration and two active-controlled studies of 26 weeks and 52 weeks in duration.

In the alogliptin and pioglitazone arm, the mean duration of diabetes was approximately six years, the mean body mass index (BMI) was 31 kg/m 2 (54% of patients had a BMI ≥30 kg/m 2 ), and the mean age was 54 years (16% of patients ≥65 years of age).

In a pooled analysis of these four controlled clinical studies, the overall incidence of adverse reactions was 65% in patients treated with alogliptin and pioglitazone compared to 57% treated with placebo.

Overall discontinuation of therapy due to adverse reactions was 2.5% with alogliptin and pioglitazone compared to 2.0% with placebo, 3.7% with pioglitazone or 1.3% with alogliptin.

Adverse reactions reported in ≥4% of patients treated with alogliptin and pioglitazone and more frequently than in patients who received alogliptin, pioglitazone or placebo are summarized in Table 2 .

Table 2.

Adverse Reactions Reported in ≥4% of Patients Treated with Alogliptin and Pioglitazone and More Frequently than in Patients Receiving Either Alogliptin, Pioglitazone or Placebo Number of Patients (%) Alogliptin and pioglitazone Alogliptin and pioglitazone – includes data pooled for patients receiving alogliptin 25 mg and 12.5 mg combined with pioglitazone 15 mg, 30 mg and 45 mg Alogliptin Alogliptin – includes data pooled for patients receiving alogliptin 25 mg and 12.5 mg Pioglitazone Pioglitazone – includes data pooled for patients receiving pioglitazone 15 mg, 30 mg and 45 mg Placebo N=1533 N=446 N=949 N=153 Nasopharyngitis 75 (4.9) 21 (4.7) 37 (3.9) 6 (3.9) Back Pain 64 (4.2) 9 (2.0) 32 (3.4) 5 (3.3) Upper Respiratory Tract Infection 63 (4.1) 19 (4.3) 26 (2.7) 5 (3.3) Alogliptin Add-On Therapy to a Thiazolidinedione In a 26 week, placebo-controlled, double-blind study, patients inadequately controlled on a thiazolidinedione alone or in combination with metformin or a sulfonylurea were treated with add-on alogliptin therapy or placebo; the adverse reactions reported in ≥5% of patients and more frequently than in patients who received placebo was influenza (alogliptin, 5.5%; placebo, 4.1%).

Hypoglycemia In a 26 week, placebo-controlled factorial study with alogliptin in combination with pioglitazone on background therapy with metformin, the incidence of subjects reporting hypoglycemia was 0.8%, 0% and 3.8% for alogliptin 25 mg with pioglitazone 15 mg, 30 mg or 45 mg, respectively; 2.3% for alogliptin 25 mg; 4.7%, 0.8% and 0.8% for pioglitazone 15 mg, 30 mg or 45 mg, respectively; and 0.8% for placebo.

In a 26 week, active-controlled, double-blind study with alogliptin alone, pioglitazone alone or alogliptin coadministered with pioglitazone in patients inadequately controlled on diet and exercise, the incidence of hypoglycemia was 3% on alogliptin 25 mg with pioglitazone 30 mg, 0.6% on alogliptin 25 mg and 1.8% on pioglitazone 30 mg.

In a 52 week, active-controlled, double-blind study of alogliptin as add-on therapy to the combination of pioglitazone 30 mg and metformin compared to the titration of pioglitazone 30 mg to 45 mg and metformin, the incidence of subjects reporting hypoglycemia was 4.5% in the alogliptin 25 mg with pioglitazone 30 mg and metformin group versus 1.5% in the pioglitazone 45 mg and metformin group.

Alogliptin A total of 14,778 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus participated in 14 randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trials of whom 9,052 subjects were treated with alogliptin, 3,469 subjects were treated with placebo and 2,257 were treated with an active comparator.

The racial distribution of patients exposed to trial medication was 71% White, 17% Asian, 6% Black or African American, 2% American Indian or Alaska Native, 0% Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander and 5% Multiracial or other racial groups.

The ethnic distribution was 30% Hispanic or Latino and 70% was not Hispanic or Latino.

The mean duration of diabetes was seven years, the mean body mass index (BMI) was 31 kg/m 2 (49% of patients had a BMI ≥30 kg/m 2 ) and the mean age was 58 years (26% of patients ≥65 years of age).

The mean exposure to alogliptin was 49 weeks with 3,348 subjects treated for more than one year.

In a pooled analysis of these 14 controlled clinical trials, the overall incidence of adverse reactions was 73% in patients treated with alogliptin 25 mg compared to 75% with placebo and 70% with active comparator.

Overall discontinuation of therapy due to adverse reactions was 6.8% with alogliptin 25 mg compared to 8.4% with placebo or 6.2% with active comparator.

Adverse reactions reported in ≥4% of adult patients treated with alogliptin 25 mg and more frequently than in patients who received placebo are summarized in Table 3.

Table 3.

Adverse Reactions Reported in ≥4% Adult Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Treated with Alogliptin 25 mg and More Frequently Than in Patients Given Placebo in Pooled Trials Number of Patients (%) Alogliptin 25 mg Placebo Active Comparator N=6447 N=3469 N=2257 Nasopharyngitis 309 (5) 152 (4) 113 (5) Upper Respiratory Tract Infection 287 (5) 121 (4) 113 (5) Headache 278 (4) 101 (3) 121 (5) Hypoglycemia Hypoglycemic events were documented based upon a blood glucose value and/or clinical signs and symptoms of hypoglycemia.

In the monotherapy trial, the incidence of hypoglycemia was 1.5% in patients treated with alogliptin compared to 1.6% with placebo.

The use of alogliptin as add-on therapy to glyburide or insulin did not increase the incidence of hypoglycemia compared to placebo.

In a monotherapy trial comparing alogliptin to a sulfonylurea in elderly patients, the incidence of hypoglycemia was 5.4% with alogliptin compared to 26% with glipizide.

In the EXAMINE trial, the incidence of investigator reported hypoglycemia was 6.7% in patients receiving alogliptin and 6.5% in patients receiving placebo.

Serious adverse reactions of hypoglycemia were reported in 0.8% of patients treated with alogliptin and in 0.6% of patients treated with placebo.

Renal Impairment In glycemic control trials in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, 3.4% of patients treated with alogliptin and 1.3% of patients treated with placebo had renal function adverse reactions.

The most commonly reported adverse reactions were renal impairment (0.5% for alogliptin and 0.1% for active comparators or placebo), decreased creatinine clearance (1.6% for alogliptin and 0.5% for active comparators or placebo) and increased blood creatinine (0.5% for alogliptin and 0.3% for active comparators or placebo) [see Use in Specific Populations (8.6) ] .

In the EXAMINE trial of high CV risk type 2 diabetes mellitus patients, 23% of patients treated with alogliptin and 21% of patients treated with placebo had an investigator reported renal impairment adverse reaction.

The most commonly reported adverse reactions were renal impairment (7.7% for alogliptin and 6.7% for placebo), decreased glomerular filtration rate (4.9% for alogliptin and 4.3% for placebo) and decreased renal clearance (2.2% for alogliptin and 1.8% for placebo).

Laboratory measures of renal function were also assessed.

Estimated glomerular filtration rate decreased by 25% or more in 21.1% of patients treated with alogliptin and 18.7% of patients treated with placebo.

Worsening of chronic kidney disease stage was seen in 16.8% of patients treated with alogliptin and in 15.5% of patients treated with placebo.

Pioglitazone Over 8,500 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus have been treated with pioglitazone in randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trials, including 2,605 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and macrovascular disease treated with pioglitazone in the PROactive clinical trial.

In these trials, over 6,000 patients have been treated with pioglitazone for six months or longer, over 4,500 patients have been treated with pioglitazone for one year or longer, and over 3,000 patients have been treated with pioglitazone for at least two years.

Common Adverse Reactions: 16 to 26-Week Monotherapy Trials A summary of the incidence and type of common adverse reactions reported in three pooled 16 to 26 week placebo-controlled monotherapy trials of pioglitazone is provided in Table 4 .

Terms that are reported represent those that occurred at an incidence of >5% and more commonly in patients treated with pioglitazone than in patients who received placebo.

None of these adverse reactions were related to pioglitazone dose.

Table 4.

Three Pooled 16 to 26 Week Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trials of Pioglitazone Monotherapy: Adverse Reactions Reported at an Incidence >5% and More Commonly in Patients Treated with Pioglitazone than in Patients Treated with Placebo % of Patients Placebo Pioglitazone N=259 N=606 Upper Respiratory Tract Infection 8.5 13.2 Headache 6.9 9.1 Sinusitis 4.6 6.3 Myalgia 2.7 5.4 Pharyngitis 0.8 5.1 Congestive Heart Failure A summary of the incidence of adverse reactions related to congestive heart failure for the 16 to 24 week add-on to sulfonylurea trials, for the 16 to 24 week add-on to insulin trials, and for the 16 to 24 week add-on to metformin trials were (at least one congestive heart failure, 0.2% to 1.7%; hospitalized due to congestive heart failure, 0.2% to 0.9%).

None of the reactions were fatal.

Patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and NYHA class II or early class III congestive heart failure were randomized to receive 24 weeks of double-blind treatment with either pioglitazone at daily doses of 30 mg to 45 mg (N=262) or glyburide at daily doses of 10 mg to 15 mg (N=256).

A summary of the incidence of adverse reactions related to congestive heart failure reported in this study is provided in Table 5 .

Table 5.

Treatment-Emergent Adverse Reactions of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) in Patients with NYHA Class II or III Congestive Heart Failure Treated with Pioglitazone or Glyburide Number (%) of Subjects Pioglitazone Glyburide N=262 N=256 Death due to cardiovascular causes (adjudicated) 5 (1.9%) 6 (2.3%) Overnight hospitalization for worsening CHF (adjudicated) 26 (9.9%) 12 (4.7%) Emergency room visit for CHF (adjudicated) 4 (1.5%) 3 (1.2%) Patients experiencing CHF progression during study 35 (13.4%) 21 (8.2%) Congestive heart failure events leading to hospitalization that occurred during the PROactive trial are summarized in Table 6 .

Table 6.

Treatment-Emergent Adverse Reactions of Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) in PROactive Trial Number (%) of Patients Placebo Pioglitazone N=2,633 N=2,605 At least one hospitalized congestive heart failure event 108 (4.1%) 149 (5.7%) Fatal 22 (0.8%) 25 (1%) Hospitalized, nonfatal 86 (3.3%) 124 (4.7%) Cardiovascular Safety In the PROactive trial, 5,238 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and a history of macrovascular disease were randomized to pioglitazone (N=2,605), force-titrated up to 45 mg daily or placebo (N=2,633) in addition to standard of care.

Almost all patients (95%) were receiving cardiovascular medications (beta blockers, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers, calcium channel blockers, nitrates, diuretics, aspirin, statins and fibrates).

At baseline, patients had a mean age of 62 years, mean duration of diabetes mellitus of 9.5 years and mean A1C of 8.1%.

Mean duration of follow-up was 34.5 months.

The primary objective of this trial was to examine the effect of pioglitazone on mortality and macrovascular morbidity in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus who were at high risk for macrovascular events.

The primary efficacy variable was the time to the first occurrence of any event in a cardiovascular composite endpoint that included all-cause mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction (MI) including silent MI, stroke, acute coronary syndrome, cardiac intervention including coronary artery bypass grafting or percutaneous intervention, major leg amputation above the ankle and bypass surgery or revascularization in the leg.

A total of 514 (19.7%) patients treated with pioglitazone and 572 (21.7%) placebo-treated patients experienced at least one event from the primary composite endpoint (hazard ratio = 0.90; 95% Confidence Interval: 0.80, 1.02; p=0.10).

Although there was no statistically significant difference between pioglitazone and placebo for the three-year incidence of a first event within this composite, there was no increase in mortality or in total macrovascular events with pioglitazone.

The number of first occurrences and total individual events contributing to the primary composite endpoint is shown in Table 7 .

Table 7.

PROactive: Number of First and Total Events for Each Component Within the Cardiovascular Composite Endpoint CABG=coronary artery bypass grafting; PCI=percutaneous intervention Placebo N=2,633 Pioglitazone N=2,605 Cardiovascular Events First Events n (%) Total Events n First Events n (%) Total Events n Any Event 572 (21.7) 900 514 (19.7) 803 All-Cause Mortality 122 (4.6) 186 110 (4.2) 177 Nonfatal Myocardial Infarction (MI) 118 (4.5) 157 105 (4) 131 Stroke 96 (3.6) 119 76 (2.9) 92 Acute Coronary Syndrome 63 (2.4) 78 42 (1.6) 65 Cardiac Intervention (CABG/PCI) 101 (3.8) 240 101 (3.9) 195 Major Leg Amputation 15 (0.6) 28 9 (0.3) 28 Leg Revascularization 57 (2.2) 92 71 (2.7) 115 Weight Gain Dose-related weight gain occurs when pioglitazone is used alone or in combination with other antidiabetic medications.

The mechanism of weight gain is unclear but probably involves a combination of fluid retention and fat accumulation.

Edema Edema induced from taking pioglitazone is reversible when pioglitazone is discontinued.

The edema usually does not require hospitalization unless there is coexisting congestive heart failure.

Hepatic Effects There has been no evidence of pioglitazone-induced hepatotoxicity in the pioglitazone controlled clinical trial database to date.

One randomized, double-blind, three-year trial comparing pioglitazone to glyburide as add-on to metformin and insulin therapy was specifically designed to evaluate the incidence of serum ALT elevation to greater than three times the upper limit of the reference range, measured every eight weeks for the first 48 weeks of the trial then every 12 weeks thereafter.

A total of 3/1051 (0.3%) patients treated with pioglitazone and 9/1046 (0.9%) patients treated with glyburide developed ALT values greater than three times the upper limit of the reference range.

None of the patients treated with pioglitazone in the pioglitazone controlled clinical trial database to date have had a serum ALT greater than three times the upper limit of the reference range and a corresponding total bilirubin greater than two times the upper limit of the reference range, a combination predictive of the potential for severe drug-induced liver injury.

Hypoglycemia In the pioglitazone clinical trials, adverse reactions of hypoglycemia were reported based on clinical judgment of the investigators and did not require confirmation with finger stick glucose testing.

In the 16-week add-on to sulfonylurea trial, the incidence of reported hypoglycemia was 3.7% with pioglitazone 30 mg and 0.5% with placebo.

In the 16-week add-on to insulin trial, the incidence of reported hypoglycemia was 7.9% with pioglitazone 15 mg, 15.4% with pioglitazone 30 mg and 4.8% with placebo.

The incidence of reported hypoglycemia was higher with pioglitazone 45 mg compared to pioglitazone 30 mg in both the 24-week add-on to sulfonylurea trial (15.7% versus 13.4%) and in the 24 week add-on to insulin trial (47.8% versus 43.5%).

Three patients in these four trials were hospitalized due to hypoglycemia.

All three patients were receiving pioglitazone 30 mg (0.9%) in the 24-week add-on to insulin trial.

An additional 14 patients reported severe hypoglycemia (defined as causing considerable interference with patient’s usual activities) that did not require hospitalization.

These patients were receiving pioglitazone 45 mg in combination with sulfonylurea (N=2) or pioglitazone 30 mg or 45 mg in combination with insulin (N=12).

Urinary Bladder Tumors Tumors were observed in the urinary bladder of male rats in the two-year carcinogenicity study [see Nonclinical Toxicology (13.1) ].

During the three-year PROactive clinical trial, 14 patients out of 2,605 (0.54%) randomized to pioglitazone and 5 out of 2,633 (0.19%) randomized to placebo were diagnosed with bladder cancer.

After excluding patients in whom exposure to study drug was less than one year at the time of diagnosis of bladder cancer, there were 6 (0.23%) cases on pioglitazone and 2 (0.08%) cases on placebo.

After completion of the trial, a large subset of patients was observed for up to 10 additional years, with little additional exposure to pioglitazone.

During the 13 years of both PROactive and observational follow-up, the occurrence of bladder cancer did not differ between patients randomized to pioglitazone or placebo (HR =1.00; 95% CI: 0.59-1.72) [see Warnings and Precautions (5.7) ] .

Laboratory Abnormalities Pioglitazone Hematologic Effects Pioglitazone may cause decreases in hemoglobin and hematocrit.

In placebo-controlled monotherapy trials, mean hemoglobin values declined by 2% to 4% in patients treated with pioglitazone compared with a mean change in hemoglobin of -1% to +1% in placebo-treated patients.

These changes primarily occurred within the first four to 12 weeks of therapy and remained relatively constant thereafter.

These changes may be related to increased plasma volume associated with pioglitazone therapy and are not likely to be associated with any clinically significant hematologic effects.

Creatine Phosphokinase During protocol-specified measurement of serum creatine phosphokinase (CPK) in pioglitazone clinical trials, an isolated elevation in CPK to greater than 10 times the upper limit of the reference range was noted in nine (0.2%) patients treated with pioglitazone (values of 2,150 to 11,400 IU/L) and in no comparator-treated patients.

Six of these nine patients continued to receive pioglitazone, two patients were noted to have the CPK elevation on the last day of dosing and one patient discontinued pioglitazone due to the elevation.

These elevations resolved without any apparent clinical sequelae.

The relationship of these events to pioglitazone therapy is unknown.

6.2 Postmarketing Experience The following adverse reactions have been identified during the postmarketing use of alogliptin or pioglitazone.

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.

Alogliptin Gastrointestinal Disorders: acute pancreatitis, diarrhea, constipation, nausea, ileus Hepatobiliary Disorders: fulminant hepatic failure Immune System Disorders: hypersensitivity reactions including anaphylaxis Investigations: hepatic enzyme elevations Musculoskeletal and Connective Tissue Disorders: severe and disabling arthralgia, rhabdomyolysis Renal and Urinary Disorders: tubulointerstitial nephritis Skin and Subcutaneous Tissue Disorders: angioedema, rash, urticaria and severe cutaneous adverse reactions including Stevens-Johnson syndrome, bullous pemphigoid Pioglitazone Cardiac Disorders: rapid increases in weight, edema, congestive heart failure both with and without previously known heart disease or concomitant insulin administration Eye Disorders: New onset or worsening diabetic macular edema with decreased visual acuity Hepatobiliary Disorders: Fatal and nonfatal hepatic failure