FAERS, a spontaneous reporting system used to investigate drug safety after market approval, has been extensively utilized to identify adverse events that may not be listed on drug labels. This study conducted a comprehensive post-market pharmacovigilance analysis of pegvaliase-related adverse events using the FAERS database, with the aim of providing clinical pharmacotherapy reference. Excluding cases with missing age data, most of the adverse events related to pegvaliase occurred in adults.There are several reasons for this phenomenon the bulk of pegvaliase case reports come from the United States, where pegvaliase is mainly authorized for phenylketonuria patients aged 18 and above, pegvaliase was introduced to the market earlier in the United States, and there is typically a greater inclination to report adverse events in the United States. Excluding cases with unknown gender, the incidence of adverse events related to pegvaliase was higher in females than in males, suggesting a potential gender-related association with pegvaliase adverse events. It's worth noting that gender-related information was missing in 35.1% of patients, which could lead to biased results. Among all the reported years, the number of cases reported in 2018 was the lowest.One possible reason for this is that pegvaliase was approved for phenylketonuria treatment in May 2018.
The most common AEs associated with Pegvaliase include arthralgia, hypersensitivity reactions, headache, skin reactions, pruritic rash, and injection site reactions. Our research indicates that more than half of these common AEs are related to injection site reactions. In clinical practice, to prevent injection site reactions, patients are encouraged to rotate their injection sites. If multiple injections are required for a single dose, the injection sites should be at least 2 inches apart14. Following the occurrence of injection site reactions, treatment with H1 receptor antagonists, topical steroids, cold compresses or discontinuation of pegvaliase is recommended15.
Researchs suggest that higher and more frequent doses of pegvaliase can lead to a significant initial decreasein blood phenylalanine levels but may also increase the frequency of hypersensitivity adverse events. This could prompt a reduction or interruption in pegvaliase dosage, resulting in elevated blood phenylalanine levels. On the other hand, with the escalation in pegvaliase dosage and treatment duration, there is a trend towards a decrease and stabilization in the frequency of hypersensitivity adverse events, alongside a notable and consistent reduction in blood phenylalanine levels12,15,16. Patients with phenylketonuria may experience psychological and neurological disorders such as fear, self-harm, vision loss, attention deficit, and others17–21. Therefore, the occurrence of panic attacks, self-injurious ideation, tunnel vision, and attention disturbances could either be complications of phenylketonuria or adverse events resulting from the use of pegvaliase, requiring further exploration.
The study results indicate that the median onset time for adverse events was 15 days, with most adverse events occurring within 30 days. Nevertheless, negative incidents may still happen even a year later. Therefore, clinical practitioners should closely monitor adverse events in users of pegvaliase, especially within the first 30 days. Additionally, longer-term follow-up is warranted for patients receiving pegvaliase treatment.
The top three drugs most commonly prescribed in conjunction with pegvaliase are famotidine, cetirizine, and sapropterin. Famotidine is an H2 receptor antagonist commonly used to treat gastrointestinal disorders. At the SOC level, based on signal strength ranked by MGPS method, the signal intensity of gastrointestinal disorders with pegvaliase, whether used alone or in combination with other drugs, is stronger than when pegvaliase is combined with famotidine, suggesting that combining famotidine with pegvaliase is associated with a reduced risk of gastrointestinal disorders.
Antihistamines are commonly utilized in the management of both allergic and non-allergic conditions.There are four subtypes of histamine receptors, with H1-antihistamines being the largest category of drugs used for allergic diseases. Cetirizine is a second-generation H1-antihistamines with strong efficacy in allergic rhinitis, allergic conjunctivitis, and urticaria22–26. When pegvaliase is used alone or in combination with other drugs, it is possible to detect signs of allergic rhinitis(ROR = 5.36) and urticaria(ROR = 10.59). However, when pegvaliase is used in combination with cetirizine, only a signal for urticaria(ROR = 10.10) is identified, indicating that the combination of pegvaliase and cetirizine is associated with a reduced risk of allergic rhinitis and urticaria.
Tetrahydrobiopterin(BH4) serves as a cofactor for various enzymes and is involved in the breakdown of phenylalanine in individuals with BH4-responsive phenylketonuria, leading to a decrease in blood phenylalanine levels. The first synthetic form of BH4 appeared in the 1970s, namely sapropterin, which was approved for the treatment of phenylketonuria in 2007. Common adverse events in patients using sapropterin include headache, rhinorrhea, pharyngitis, vomiting, diarrhea, nasal congestion, cough, and abrasions27–32. However, little is currently known about the adverse events of pegvaliase in combination with sapropterin. Disproportionality analysis indicates that whether pegvaliase is used alone or in combination with other drugs, compared to when combined with sapropterin, the top three adverse events at the SOC level are immune system disorders, musculoskeletal and connective tissue disorders, and general disorders and administration site conditions. Furthermore, the signal intensity derived from the combination of pegvaliase and sapropterin is stronger than that from pegvaliase used alone or in combination with other drugs. This indicates that the co-administration of pegvaliase with sapropterin increases the risk of certain adverse events. Therefore, clinicians should exercise heightened vigilance regarding the occurrence of such adverse events in clinical practice.
This real-world observational study, despite having a large sample of data, has limitations.The research primarily relied on the FAERS database, which is a spontaneous reporting system. This may lead to incomplete and inaccurate data collection due to variations in reporting practices across different countries and individuals, posing risks of data bias. Since all data are voluntarily reported by relevant individuals, data gaps are inevitable, potentially leading to biases in analysis. The study lacks the total population receiving pegvaliase treatment, thus making it impossible to precisely calculate the true incidence of each adverse event. The analysis of adverse events only provides estimates of signal strength without quantifying risks or inferring causality.Hence, additional clinical trials will be required in the future to establish causal relationships between drug usage and negative effects. Further mechanistic studies are needed to better understand the clinical significance of the newly identified adverse events and to develop appropriate interventions. Although it has certain limitations, the FAERS database continues to be a distinctive and crucial tool for monitoring the safety of approved drugs in the post-market phase.