FDA Drug Safety Communication: FDA revises label of diabetes drug canagliflozin (Invokana, Invokamet) to include updates on bone fracture risk and new information on decreased bone mineral density

[ 09-10-2015 ]

Safety Announcement

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has strengthened the warning for the type 2 diabetes medicine canagliflozin (Invokana, Invokamet) related to the increased risk of bone fractures and added new information about decreased bone mineral density. Bone mineral density relates to the strength of a person’s bones. To address these safety concerns, we added a new Warning and Precaution and revised the Adverse Reactions section of the Invokana and Invokamet drug labels.

Health care professionals should consider factors that contribute to fracture risk prior to starting patients on canagliflozin. Patients should talk to their health care professionals about factors that may increase their risk for bone fracture. Patients should not stop or change their diabetes medicines without first talking to their health care professional.

Canagliflozin is a prescription medicine used with diet and exercise to lower blood sugar in adults with type 2 diabetes. It belongs to a class of drugs called sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. Untreated, type 2 diabetes can lead to serious problems, including blindness, nerve and kidney damage, and heart disease. Canagliflozin lowers blood sugar by causing the kidneys to remove sugar from the body through the urine. It is available as a single-ingredient product under the brand name Invokana and also in combination with the diabetes medicine metformin under the brand name Invokamet.

Information about the risk of bone fractures was already in the Adverse Reactions section of the drug label at the time of canagliflozin’s approval. Based on updated information about bone fractures from several clinical trials, we revised the drug label and added a new Warning and Precaution. The additional data confirm the finding that fractures occur more frequently with canagliflozin than placebo, which is an inactive treatment. Fractures can occur as early as 12 weeks after starting the drug. In the clinical trials, when trauma occurred prior to a fracture, it was usually minor, such as falling from no more than standing height.

In addition, we have added new information about the risk of decreased bone mineral density to the canagliflozin label. A clinical trial that we required the manufacturer of canagliflozin to conduct evaluated changes to bone mineral density over two years in 714 elderly individuals and showed that canagliflozin caused greater loss of bone mineral density at the hip and lower spine than a placebo. This new safety information has been added to the Adverse Reactions section of the drug label.

We are continuing to evaluate the risk of bone fractures with other drugs in the SGLT2 inhibitor class, including dapagliflozin (Farxiga, Xigduo XR) and empagliflozin (Jardiance, Glyxambi, Synjardy), to determine if additional label changes or studies are needed. We urge health care professionals and patients to report side effects involving canagliflozin or other SGLT2 inhibitors to the FDA MedWatch program, using the information in the “Contact FDA” box at the bottom of the page.