L-Glutamine

L-glutamine oral powder is indicated to reduce the acute complications of sickle cell disease in adult and pediatric patients 5 years of age and older. L-glutamine oral powder is an amino acid indicated to reduce the acute complications of sickle cell disease in adult and pediatric patients 5 years of age and older. (1)

None None (4)

8.1Pregnancy Risk Summary

There are no available data on L-glutamine oral powder use in pregnant women to inform a drug-associated risk of major birth defects and miscarriage. Animal reproduction studies were not conducted with L-glutamine oral powder. Adverse outcomes in pregnancy occur regardless of the health of the mother or the use of medications. The background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage for the indicated population are unknown.

In the U.S. general population, the estimated background risk of major birth defects and miscarriage in clinically recognized pregnancies is 2% to 4% and 15% to 20%, respectively.

Most common adverse reactions (incidence > 10%) are constipation, nausea, headache, abdominal pain, cough, pain in extremity, back pain, and chest pain. (6) To report SUSPECTED ADVERSE REACTIONS, contact Renova Pharmaceuticals LLC. at 1-888-211-5593 or FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088 or www.fda.gov/medwatch.

6.1Clinical 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. The data described below reflect exposure to L-glutamine oral powder in 187 patients, including 136 exposed for 6 months and 109 exposed for ≥1 year. L-glutamine oral powder was studied in 2 placebo-controlled clinical trials (a phase 3 study, n=230 and a phase 2 study, n=70).

In these trials, patients with sickle cell anemia or sickle β 0 -thalassemia were randomized to receive L-glutamine oral powder (n=187) or placebo (n=111) orally twice daily for 48 weeks followed by 3 weeks of tapering. Both studies included pediatric and adult patients (5-58 years of age) and 54% were female. The majority of patients were black (97.3%), had a diagnosis of sickle cell anemia (89.9%) and were receiving hydroxyurea at baseline (63.4%).