2.1     Recommended Dosing

One drop of NEVANAC 0.1% should be applied to the affected eye three times daily beginning 1 day prior to cataract surgery, continued on the day of surgery and through the first 2 weeks of the postoperative period. Shake the container well prior to dosing.

2.2     Use With Other Topical Ophthalmic Medications

NEVANAC 0.1% may be administered in conjunction with other topical ophthalmic medications, such as beta-blockers, carbonic anhydrase inhibitors, alpha-agonists, cycloplegics, and mydriatics.

If more than one topical ophthalmic medication is being used, the medicines must be administered at least 5 minutes apart.

5.1     Increased Bleeding Time

With some NSAIDs, including NEVANAC 0.1%, there exists the potential for increased bleeding time due to interference with thrombocyte aggregation. There have been reports that ocularly applied NSAIDs may cause increased bleeding of ocular tissues (including hyphema) in conjunction with ocular surgery.

It is recommended that NEVANAC 0.1% be used with caution in patients with known bleeding tendencies, or who are receiving other medications, which may prolong bleeding time.

5.2     Delayed Healing

Topical NSAIDs, including NEVANAC 0.1%, may slow or delay healing. Topical corticosteroids are also known to slow or delay healing. Concomitant use of topical NSAIDs and topical steroids may increase the potential for healing problems.

5.3     Corneal Effects

Use of topical NSAIDs may result in keratitis. In some susceptible patients, continued use of topical NSAIDs may result in epithelial breakdown, corneal thinning, corneal erosion, corneal ulceration, or corneal perforation. These events may be sight threatening. Patients with evidence of corneal epithelial breakdown should immediately discontinue use of topical NSAIDs, including NEVANAC 0.1%, and should be closely monitored for corneal health.

Postmarketing experience with topical NSAIDs suggests that patients with complicated ocular surgeries, corneal denervation, corneal epithelial defects, diabetes mellitus, ocular surface diseases (e.g., dry eye syndrome), rheumatoid arthritis, or repeat ocular surgeries within a short period of time may be at increased risk for corneal adverse events, which may become sight threatening. Topical NSAIDs should be used with caution in these patients.

Postmarketing experience with topical NSAIDs also suggests that use more than 1 day prior to surgery or use beyond 14 days post-surgery may increase patient risk and severity of corneal adverse events.

5.4     Contact Lens Wear

NEVANAC® 0.1% should not be administered while using contact lenses.

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 the rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.

The most frequently reported ocular adverse reactions following cataract surgery were capsular opacity, decreased visual acuity, foreign body sensation, increased intraocular pressure (IOP), and sticky sensation. These reactions occurred in approximately 5% to 10% of patients.

Other ocular adverse reactions occurring at an incidence of approximately 1% to 5% included conjunctival edema, corneal edema, dry eye, lid margin crusting, ocular discomfort, ocular hyperemia, ocular pain, ocular pruritus, photophobia, tearing, and vitreous detachment.

Some of these reactions may be the consequence of the cataract surgical procedure.

Non-ocular adverse reactions reported at an incidence of 1% to 4% included headache, hypertension, nausea/vomiting, and sinusitis.

8.1     Pregnancy

Teratogenic Effects

Pregnancy Category C: Reproduction studies performed with nepafenac in rabbits and rats at oral doses up to 10 mg/kg/day have revealed no evidence of teratogenicity due to nepafenac, despite the induction of maternal toxicity. At this dose, the animal plasma exposure to nepafenac and amfenac was approximately 260 and 2400 times human plasma exposure at the recommended human topical ophthalmic dose for rats and 80 and 680 times human plasma exposure for rabbits, respectively. In rats, maternally toxic doses greater than or equal to 10 mg/kg were associated with dystocia, increased post-implantation loss, reduced fetal weights and growth, and reduced fetal survival.

Nepafenac has been shown to cross the placental barrier in rats. There are no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, NEVANAC 0.1% should be used during pregnancy only if the potential benefit justifies the potential risk to the fetus.

Non-Teratogenic Effects

Because of the known effects of prostaglandin biosynthesis inhibiting drugs on the fetal cardiovascular system (closure of the ductus arteriosus), the use of NEVANAC 0.1% during late pregnancy should be avoided.

8.3     Nursing Mothers

Nepafenac is excreted in the milk of lactating rats. It is not known whether this drug is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when NEVANAC 0.1% ophthalmic suspension is administered to a nursing woman.

8.4     Pediatric Use

The safety and effectiveness of NEVANAC 0.1% in pediatric patients below the age of 10 years have not been established.

8.5     Geriatric Use

No overall differences in safety and effectiveness have been observed between elderly and younger patients.

12.1     Mechanism of Action

After topical ocular dosing, nepafenac penetrates the cornea and is converted by ocular tissue hydrolases to amfenac, an NSAID. Amfenac is thought to inhibit the action of prostaglandin H synthase (cyclooxygenase), an enzyme required for prostaglandin production.

12.3     Pharmacokinetics

Low but quantifiable plasma concentrations of nepafenac and amfenac were observed in the majority of subjects 2 and 3 hours post dose, respectively, following bilateral topical ocular 3 times-daily dosing of nepafenac ophthalmic suspension, 0.1%. The mean steady-state Cmax for nepafenac and for amfenac were 0.310 ± 0.104 ng/mL and 0.422 ± 0.121 ng/mL, respectively, following ocular administration.

Nepafenac at concentrations up to 300 ng/mL did not inhibit the in vitro metabolism of 6 specific marker substrates of cytochrome P450 (CYP) isozymes (CYP1A2, CYP2C9, CYP2C19, CYP2D6, CYP2E1, and CYP3A4). Therefore, drug-drug interactions involving CYP-mediated metabolism of concomitantly administered drugs are unlikely. Drug-drug interactions mediated by protein binding are also unlikely.

13.1     Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility

Nepafenac has not been evaluated in long-term carcinogenicity studies. Increased chromosomal aberrations were observed in Chinese hamster ovary cells exposed in vitro to nepafenac suspension. Nepafenac was not mutagenic in the Ames assay or in the mouse lymphoma forward mutation assay. Oral doses up to 5,000 mg/kg did not result in an increase in the formation of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in vivo in the mouse micronucleus assay in the bone marrow of mice.

Nepafenac did not impair fertility when administered orally to male and female rats at 3 mg/kg (approximately 90 and 380 times the plasma exposure to the parent drug, nepafenac, and the active metabolite, amfenac, respectively, at the recommended human topical ophthalmic dose).