2.1 Adult Dose

For treatment of active ulcerative colitis in adult patients, the usual dose is three 750 mg balsalazide capsules to be taken 3 times a day (6.75 g per day) for up to 8 weeks. Some patients in the adult clinical trials required treatment for up to 12 weeks.

2.2 Administration Alternatives

Balsalazide capsules may also be administered by carefully opening the capsule and sprinkling the capsule contents on applesauce. The entire drug/applesauce mixture should be swallowed immediately; the contents may be chewed, if necessary, since contents of balsalazide are NOT coated beads/granules. Patients should be instructed not to store any drug/applesauce mixture for future use.

If the capsules are opened for sprinkling, color variation of the powder inside the capsules ranges from orange to yellow and is expected due to color variation of the active pharmaceutical ingredient.

Teeth and/or tongue staining may occur in some patients who use balsalazide in sprinkle form with food.

5.1 Exacerbations of Ulcerative Colitis

In the adult clinical trials, 3 out of 259 patients reported exacerbation of the symptoms of ulcerative colitis.

Observe patients closely for worsening of these symptoms while on treatment.

5.2 Pyloric Stenosis

Patients with pyloric stenosis may have prolonged gastric retention of balsalazide capsules.

5.3 Renal

Renal toxicity has been observed in animals and patients given other mesalamine products. Therefore, caution should be exercised when administering balsalazide to patients with known renal dysfunction or a history of renal disease. [See 13 NONCLINICAL TOXICOLOGY (13.2)]

6.1 Clinical Studies Experience

Because clinical studies are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical studies of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical studies of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice.

6.2 Postmarketing Experience

The following adverse reactions have been identified during post-approval use of balsalazide in clinical practice: myocarditis, pericarditis, vasculitis, pruritus, pleural effusion, pneumonia (with and without eosinophilia), alveolitis, renal failure,interstitial nephritis, pancreatitis, and alopecia.

Because these reactions are reported voluntarily from a population of unknown size, it is not always possible to reliably estimate their frequency or establish a causal relationship to drug exposure. These adverse reactions have been chosen for inclusion due to a combination of seriousness, frequency of reporting, or potential causal connection to balsalazide.

8.1 Pregnancy

Pregnancy Category B. Reproduction studies were performed in rats and rabbits at oral doses up to 2 g/kg/day, 2.4 and 4.7 times the recommended human dose based on body surface area for the rat and rabbit, respectively, and revealed no evidence of impaired fertility or harm to the fetus due to balsalazide disodium. There are, however, no adequate and well-controlled studies in pregnant women. Because animal reproduction studies are not always predictive of human response, this drug should be used during pregnancy only if clearly needed.

8.3 Nursing Mothers

It is not known whether balsalazide disodium is excreted in human milk. Because many drugs are excreted in human milk, caution should be exercised when balsalazide is administered to a nursing woman.

8.4 Pediatric Use

Pediatric use information is protected by marketing exclusivity.

12.1 Mechanism of Action

Balsalazide disodium is delivered intact to the colon where it is cleaved by bacterial azoreduction to release equimolar quantities of mesalamine, which is the therapeutically active portion of the molecule, and the 4-aminobenzoyl-ß-alanine carrier moiety. The carrier moiety released when balsalazide disodium is cleaved is only minimally absorbed and is largely inert.

The mechanism of action of 5-ASA is unknown, but appears to be local to the colonic mucosa rather than systemic. Mucosal production of arachidonic acid metabolites, both through the cyclooxygenase pathways, i.e., prostanoids, and through the lipoxygenase pathways, i.e., leukotrienes and hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acids, is increased in patients with chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and it is possible that 5-ASA diminishes inflammation by blocking production of arachidonic acid metabolites in the colon.

12.3 Pharmacokinetics

Balsalazide capsules contain a powder of balsalazide disodium that is insoluble in acid and designed to be delivered to the colon as the intact prodrug. Upon reaching the colon, bacterial azoreductases cleave the compound to release 5-ASA, the therapeutically active portion of the molecule, and 4-aminobenzoyl-ß-alanine. The 5-ASA is further metabolized to yield N-acetyl-5-aminosalicylic acid (N-Ac-5-ASA), a second key metabolite.

13.1 Carcinogenesis, Mutagenesis, Impairment of Fertility

In a 24-month rat (Sprague Dawley) carcinogenicity study, oral (dietary) balsalazide disodium at doses up to 2 g/kg/day was not tumorigenic. For a 50 kg person of average height this dose represents 2.4 times the recommended human dose on a body surface area basis. Balsalazide disodium was not genotoxic in the following in vitro or in vivo tests: Ames test, human lymphocyte chromosomal aberration test, and mouse lymphoma cell (L5178Y/TK+/-) forward mutation test, or mouse micronucleus test. However, it was genotoxic in the in vitro Chinese hamster lung cell (CH V79/HGPRT) forward mutation test.

4-aminobenzoyl-ß-alanine, a metabolite of balsalazide disodium, was not genotoxic in the Ames test and the mouse lymphoma cell (L5178Y/TK+/-) forward mutation test but was positive in the human lymphocyte chromosomal aberration test. N-acetyl-4-aminobenzoyl-ß-alanine, a conjugated metabolite of balsalazide disodium, was not genotoxic in Ames test, the mouse lymphoma cell (L5178Y/TK+/-) forward mutation test, or the human lymphocyte chromosomal aberration test. Balsalazide disodium at oral doses up to 2 g/kg/day, 2.4 times the recommended human dose based on body surface area, was found to have no effect on fertility and reproductive performance in rats.

13.2 Animal Toxicology and/or Pharmacology

14.1 Adult Studies

Two randomized, double-blind studies were conducted in adults. In the first trial, 103 patients with active mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis with sigmoidoscopy findings of friable or spontaneously bleeding mucosa were randomized and treated with balsalazide 6.75 g/day or balsalazide 2.25 g/day. The primary efficacy endpoint was reduction of rectal bleeding and improvement of at least one of the other assessed symptoms (stool frequency, patient functional assessment, abdominal pain, sigmoidoscopic grade, and physician’s global assessment [PGA]). Outcome assessment for rectal bleeding at each interim period (week 2, 4, and 8) encompassed a 4-day period (96 hours). Results demonstrated a statistically significant difference between high and low doses of balsalazide (Figure 1). 

Figure 1: Percentage of Patients Improved at 8 Weeks

A second study, conducted in Europe, confirmed findings of symptomatic improvement.

Roxane Laboratories, Inc.

Relabeling of "Additional" barcode label by:
Physicians Total Care, Inc.
Tulsa, OK       74146

17.1 Important Precautions Regarding Balsalazide

• Instruct patients not to take balsalazide if they have a hypersensitivity to salicylates (e.g., aspirin).
• Patients should be instructed to contact their health care provider under the following circumstances:
  • If they experience a worsening of their ulcerative colitis symptoms.
  • If they are diagnosed with pyloric stenosis, because balsalazide capsules may be slow to pass through their digestive tract.
  • If they are diagnosed with renal dysfunction. Damage to the kidney has been observed in people given medications similar to balsalazide.

17.2 What Patients Should Know About Adverse Reactions

• In adult clinical trials the most common adverse reactions were headache, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, respiratory infection, and arthralgia.
• Inform patients that this listing of adverse reactions is not complete and not all adverse reactions can be anticipated. If appropriate, a more comprehensive list of adverse reactions can be discussed with patients.

17.3 What Patients Should Know About Taking Balsalazide with Other Medication

• Based upon limited studies conducted in a test tube, balsalazide is not believed to interfere with other drugs by preventing how the liver functions. However, as the studies were limited in scope, you should always consult your doctor and discuss potential interactions prior to initiating any new drug.

10003708/04 Revised October 2010

©RLI, 2010