⚠️ Warnings
Traceability
In order to improve the traceability of biological medicinal products, the name and the batch number of the administered product should be clearly recorded.
Diabetic ketoacidosis
ABASAGLAR is not the insulin of choice for the treatment of diabetic ketoacidosis. Instead, intravenous rapid-acting insulin is recommended in such cases.
Insulin requirement and dose adjustment
In the case of inadequate glucose control or a tendency to hyperglycaemic or hypoglycaemic episodes, the patient's adherence to the prescribed treatment regimen, injection sites and proper injection technique and all other relevant factors must be reviewed before dose adjustment is considered.
Transferring a patient to another type or brand of insulin must be done under strict medical supervision. Changes in strength, brand (manufacturer), type (rapid-acting, NPH, lente, long-acting, etc.), origin (animal, human, human insulin analogue) and/or method of manufacture may result in the need for a change in dose.
Hypoglycaemia
The time of occurrence of hypoglycaemia depends on the action profile of the insulins used and may, therefore, change when the treatment regimen is changed. Due to sustained basal insulin supply with insulin glargine, less nocturnal but more early morning hypoglycaemia can be expected.
Particular caution should be exercised, and intensified blood glucose monitoring is advisable in patients in whom hypoglycaemic episodes might be of particular clinical relevance, such as in patients with significant stenosis of the coronary arteries or of the blood vessels supplying the brain (risk of cardiac or cerebral complications of hypoglycaemia) as well as in patients with proliferative retinopathy, particularly if not treated with photocoagulation (risk of transient amaurosis following hypoglycaemia).
Patients should be made aware of circumstances in which warning symptoms of hypoglycaemia are diminished. The warning symptoms of hypoglycaemia may be changed, be less pronounced, or be absent in certain risk groups. These include patients:
in whom glycaemic control is markedly improved,
in whom hypoglycaemia develops gradually,
who are elderly,
after transfer from animal insulin to human insulin,
in whom autonomic neuropathy is present,
with a long history of diabetes,
suffering from a psychiatric illness,
receiving concurrent treatment with certain other medicinal products (see section 4.5).
Such situations may result in severe hypoglycaemia (and possibly loss of consciousness) before the patient becomes aware of hypoglycaemia.
The prolonged effect of subcutaneous insulin glargine may delay recovery from hypoglycaemia.
If normal or decreased values of glycated haemoglobin are noted, the possibility of recurrent, unrecognised (especially nocturnal) episodes of hypoglycaemia must be considered.
Compliance of the patient with the dose and dietary regimen, correct insulin administration and awareness of hypoglycaemia symptoms are essential to reduce the risk of hypoglycaemia. Factors increasing the susceptibility to hypoglycaemia require particularly careful monitoring and may necessitate dose adjustment.
These include:
change in the injection area,
improved insulin sensitivity (e.g. by removal of stress factors),
unaccustomed, increased or prolonged physical activity,
intercurrent illness (e.g. vomiting, diarrhoea),
inadequate food intake,
missed meals,
alcohol consumption,
certain uncompensated endocrine disorders (e.g. in hypothyroidism and in anterior pituitary or adrenocortical insufficiency),
concomitant treatment with certain other medicinal products.
Injection technique
Patients must be instructed to rotate injection sites continuously in order to reduce the risk of developing lipodystrophy and cutaneous amyloidosis. There is a potential risk of delayed insulin absorption and worsened glycaemic control following insulin injection into sites with these reactions. A sudden change in the injection site to an unaffected area has been reported to result in hypoglycaemia. Blood glucose monitoring is recommended after the change in the injection site, and dose adjustment of antidiabetic medicinal products may be considered.
Intercurrent illness
Intercurrent illness requires intensified metabolic monitoring. In many cases, urine ketone tests are indicated and often it is necessary to adjust the insulin dose. The insulin requirement is often increased. Patients with type 1 diabetes must continue to consume at least a small amount of carbohydrates on a regular basis, even if they are able to eat only little or no food, or are vomiting, etc., and they must never omit insulin entirely.
Insulin antibodies
Insulin administration may cause insulin antibodies to form. In rare cases, the presence of such insulin antibodies may necessitate adjustment of the insulin dose in order to correct a tendency to hyper- or hypoglycaemia (see section 5.1).
Medication errors
Medication errors have been reported in which other insulins, particularly short-acting insulins, have been accidentally administered instead of insulin glargine. The insulin label must always be checked before each injection to avoid mix-ups between ABASAGLAR in pre-filled pen and other insulins.
Combination of ABASAGLAR with pioglitazone
Cases of cardiac failure have been reported when pioglitazone was used in combination with insulin, especially in patients with risk factors for development of cardiac failure. This should be kept in mind if treatment with the combination of ABASAGLAR and pioglitazone is considered. If the combination is used, patients should be observed for signs and symptoms of heart failure, weight gain and oedema. Pioglitazone should be discontinued if any deterioration in cardiac symptoms occurs.
Tempo Pen
The Tempo Pen contains a magnet (see section 6.5), which may interfere with the function of implantable electronic medical devices such as pacemakers. The magnetic field has a range of approximately 1.5 cm.
Sodium content
This medicinal product contains less than 1 mmol (23 mg) sodium per dose, that is to say essentially 'sodium-free'.