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The product code(s) for this leaflet is: PLGB00166/0414.
Advagraf 0.5mg, 1mg, 3mg and 5mg Prolonged-release hard capsules (Great Britain)
Advagraf 0.5 mg prolonged-release hard capsules
Advagraf 1 mg prolonged-release hard capsules
Advagraf 3 mg prolonged-release hard capsules
Advagraf 5 mg prolonged-release hard capsules
Tacrolimus
1. What Advagraf is and what it is used for
2. What you need to know before you take Advagraf
3. How to take Advagraf
4. Possible side effects
5. How to store Advagraf
6. Contents of the pack and other information
Advagraf contains the active substance tacrolimus. It is an immunosuppressant. Following your organ transplant (liver, kidney), your body’s immune system will try to reject the new organ. Advagraf is used to control your body’s immune response, enabling your body to accept the transplanted organ.
You may also be given Advagraf for an ongoing rejection of your transplanted liver, kidney, heart or other organ when any previous treatment you were taking was unable to control this immune response after your transplantation.
Advagraf is used in adults.
Prograf and Advagraf both contain the active substance, tacrolimus. However, Advagraf is taken once daily, whereas Prograf is taken twice daily. This is because Advagraf capsules allow for a prolonged release (more slow release over a longer period) of tacrolimus. Advagraf and Prograf are not interchangeable.
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking Advagraf:
Please avoid taking any herbal remedies, e.g., St. John’s wort (Hypericum perforatum) or any other herbal products as this may affect the effectiveness and the dose of Advagraf that you need to receive. If in doubt please consult your doctor prior to taking any herbal products or remedies.
Your doctor may need to adjust your dose of Advagraf.
You should keep in regular contact with your doctor. From time to time, your doctor may need to do blood, urine, heart, eye tests, to set the right dose of Advagraf.
You should limit your exposure to the sun and UV (ultraviolet) light whilst taking Advagraf. This is because immunosuppressants could increase the risk of skin cancer. Wear appropriate protective clothing and use a sunscreen with a high sun protection factor.
Precaution for handling:
Direct contact with any part of your body like your skin or eyes, or breathing in of injection solutions, powder or granules contained in tacrolimus products should be avoided during preparation. If such contact occurs, wash the skin and eyes.
The use of Advagraf is not recommended in children and adolescents under 18 years.
Please tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are taking or have recently taken any other medicines, including medicines obtained without a prescription and herbal preparations.
It is not recommended that Advagraf is taken with ciclosporin (another medicine used for the prevention of transplant organ rejection).
If you need to attend a doctor other than your transplant specialist, tell the doctor that you are taking tacrolimus. Your doctor may need to consult your transplant specialist if you should use another medicine that could increase or decrease your tacrolimus blood level.
Advagraf blood levels can be affected by other medicines you take, and blood levels of other medicines can be affected by taking Advagraf, which may require interruption, an increase or a decrease in Advagraf dose.
Some patients have experienced increases in tacrolimus blood levels while taking other medicines. This could lead to serious side effects, such as kidney problems, nervous system problems, and heart rhythm disturbances (see section 4).
An effect on the Advagraf blood levels may occur very soon after starting the use of another medicine, therefore frequent continued monitoring of your Advagraf blood level may be needed within the first few days of starting another medicine and frequently while treatment with the other medicine continues. Some other medicines may cause tacrolimus blood levels to decrease, which could increase the risk of rejecting the transplanted organ. In particular, you should tell your doctor if you are taking or have recently taken medicines like:
Tell your doctor if you are receiving treatment for hepatitis C. The drug treatment for hepatitis C may change your liver function and may affect blood levels of tacrolimus. Tacrolimus blood levels may fall or may increase depending on the medicines prescribed for hepatitis C. Your doctor may need to closely monitor tacrolimus blood levels and make necessary adjustments of Advagraf dose after you start treatment for hepatitis C.
Tell your doctor if you are taking or need to take ibuprofen (used to treat fever, inflammation and pain), antibiotics (cotrimoxazole, vancomycin, or aminoglycoside antibiotics such as gentamicin), amphotericin B (used to treat fungal infections) or antivirals (used to treat viral infections e.g., acyclovir, ganciclovir, cidofovir, foscarnet). These may worsen kidney or nervous system problems when taken together with Advagraf.
Tell your doctor if you are taking sirolimus or everolimus. When tacrolimus is taken together with sirolimus or everolimus, the risk of developing thrombotic microangiopathy, thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura, and haemolytic uraemic syndrome may increase (see section 4).
Your doctor also needs to know if you are taking potassium supplements or certain diuretics used for heart failure, hypertension and kidney disease, (e.g., amiloride, triamterene, or spironolactone), or the antibiotics trimethoprim or cotrimoxazole that may increase levels of potassium in your blood, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs, e.g., ibuprofen) used for fever, inflammation and pain, anticoagulants (blood thinners), or oral medicines for diabetes, while you take Advagraf.
If you need to have any vaccinations, please tell your doctor before.
Avoid grapefruit (also as juice) while on treatment with Advagraf, since it can affect its levels in the blood.
If you are, think you might be or are planning to become pregnant, ask your doctor for advice before using Advagraf.
Advagraf passes into breast milk. Therefore, you should not breast-feed whilst using Advagraf.
Do not drive or use any tools or machines if you feel dizzy or sleepy, or have problems seeing clearly after taking Advagraf. These effects are more frequent if you also drink alcohol.
Advagraf contains lactose (milk sugar). If you have been told by your doctor that you have an intolerance to some sugars, contact your doctor before taking this medicine.
This medicine contains less than 1 mmol sodium (23 mg) per capsule, that is to say essentially ‘sodium-free’.
The printing ink used on Advagraf capsules contains soya lecithin. If you are allergic to peanut or soya, talk to your doctor to determine whether you should use this medicine.
Always take Advagraf exactly as your doctor has told you. You should check with your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure. This medicine should only be prescribed to you by a doctor with experience in the treatment of transplant patients.
Make sure that you receive the same tacrolimus medicine every time you collect your prescription, unless your transplant specialist has agreed to change to a different tacrolimus medicine. This medicine should be taken once a day. If the appearance of this medicine is not the same as usual, or if dosage instructions have changed, speak to your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible to make sure that you have the right medicine.
The starting dose to prevent the rejection of your transplanted organ will be determined by your doctor calculated according to your body weight. Initial daily doses just after transplantation will generally be in the range of
0.10 – 0.30 mg per kg body weight per day
depending on the transplanted organ. When treating rejection, these same doses may be used.
Your dose depends on your general condition and on which other immunosuppressive medication you are taking.
Following the initiation of your treatment with Advagraf, frequent blood tests will be taken by your doctor to define the correct dose. Afterwards regular blood tests by your doctor will be required to define the correct dose and to adjust the dose from time to time. Your doctor will usually reduce your Advagraf dose once your condition has stabilised. Your doctor will tell you exactly how many capsules to take.
You will need to take Advagraf every day as long as you need immunosuppression to prevent rejection of your transplanted organ. You should keep in regular contact with your doctor.
Advagraf is taken orally once daily in the morning. Take Advagraf on an empty stomach or 2 to 3 hours after a meal. Wait at least 1 hour until the next meal. Take the capsules immediately following removal from the blister. The capsules should be swallowed whole with a glass of water. Do not swallow the desiccant contained in the foil wrapper.
If you have accidentally taken too much Advagraf, contact your doctor or nearest hospital emergency department immediately.
If you have forgotten to take your Advagraf capsules in the morning, take them as soon as possible on the same day. Do not take a double dose the next morning.
Stopping your treatment with Advagraf may increase the risk of rejection of your transplanted organ.
Do not stop your treatment unless your doctor tells you to do so.
If you have any further questions on the use of this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Like all medicines, Advagraf can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.
Advagraf reduces your body’s defense mechanism (immune system), which will not be as good at fighting infections. Therefore, you may be more prone to infections while you are taking Advagraf.
Some infections could be serious or fatal and may include infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, parasites, or other infections.
Tell your doctor immediately if you get signs of an infection including:
Severe effects may occur, including allergic and anaphylactic reactions. Benign and malignant tumours have been reported following Advagraf treatment.
Tell your doctor immediately if you have or suspect you may have any of the following serious side effects:
Serious common side effects (may affect up to 1 in 10 people):
Serious uncommon side effects (may affect up to 1 in 100 people):
Serious rare side effects (may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people):
Serious very rare side effects (may affect up to 1 in 10,000 people):
Serious side effects – frequency not known (frequency cannot be estimated from the available data):
The side effects listed below may also occur after receiving Advagraf and could be serious:
Very common side effects (may affect more than 1 in 10 people):
Common side effects (may affect up to 1 in 10 people):
Uncommon side effects (may affect up to 1 in 100 people):
Rare side effects (may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people):
Very rare side effects (may affect up to 1 in 10,000 people):
Reporting of side effects
If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. You can also report side effects directly via the Yellow Card Scheme at: www.mhra.gov.uk/yellowcard or search for MHRA Yellow Card in the Google Play or Apple App Store. By reporting side effects you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine.
Keep out of the sight and reach of children.
Do not use Advagraf after the expiry date which is stated on the carton after “Exp”. The expiry date refers to the last day of that month.
Use all the prolonged-release hard capsules within 1 year of opening the aluminium wrapping.
Store in the original package in order to protect from moisture.
Do not throw away any medicines via wastewater or household waste. Ask your pharmacist how to throw away medicines you no longer use. These measures will help protect the environment.
Advagraf 0.5 mg prolonged-release hard capsules are hard gelatin capsules imprinted in red with “0.5 mg” on the light yellow capsule cap and “★ 647” on the orange capsule body, containing white powder.
Advagraf 0.5 mg is supplied in blisters or perforated unit-dose blisters containing 10 capsules within a protective foil wrapper, including a desiccant. Packs of 30, 50 and 100 prolonged-release capsules are available in blisters and packs of 30×1, 50×1 and 100×1 prolonged-release capsules are available in perforated unit-dose blisters.
Advagraf 1 mg prolonged-release hard capsules are hard gelatin capsules imprinted in red with “1 mg” on the white capsule cap and “★ 677” on the orange capsule body, containing white powder.
Advagraf 1 mg is supplied in blisters or perforated unit-dose blisters containing 10 capsules within a protective foil wrapper, including a desiccant. Packs of 30, 50, 60 and 100 prolonged-release capsules are available in blisters and packs of 30×1, 50×1, 60×1 and 100×1 prolonged-release capsules are available in perforated unit-dose blisters.
Advagraf 3 mg prolonged-release hard capsules are hard gelatin capsules imprinted in red with “3 mg” on the orange capsule cap and “★ 637” on the orange capsule body, containing white powder.
Advagraf 3 mg is supplied in blisters or perforated unit-dose blisters containing 10 capsules within a protective foil wrapper, including a desiccant. Packs of 30, 50 and 100 prolonged-release capsules are available in blisters and packs of 30×1, 50×1 and 100×1 prolonged-release capsules are available in perforated unit-dose blisters.
Advagraf 5 mg prolonged-release hard capsules are hard gelatin capsules imprinted in red with “5 mg” on the greyish red capsule cap and “★ 687” on the orange capsule body, containing white powder.
Advagraf 5 mg is supplied in blisters or perforated unit-dose blisters containing 10 capsules within a protective foil wrapper, including a desiccant. Packs of 30, 50 and 100 prolonged-release hard capsules are available in blisters and packs of 30×1, 50×1 and 100×1 prolonged-release capsules are available in perforated unit-dose blisters.
Not all pack sizes may be marketed.
Marketing Authorisation Holder:
Manufacturer:
This leaflet was last revised in December 2022