Nivestim
filgrastim
Table of contents
Overview
Nivestim is a medicine that stimulates the production of white blood cells and is used:
- to reduce the duration of neutropenia (low levels of neutrophils, a type of white blood cell) and to prevent febrile neutropenia (neutropenia with fever) in cancer patients (excluding patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia or with myelodysplastic syndromes). Neutropenia is a common side effect of cancer treatment and can leave patients vulnerable to infections.
- to reduce the duration of neutropenia in patients undergoing treatment to destroy the bone marrow cells before a bone marrow transplant (such as in some patients with leukaemia) if they are at risk of long-term, severe neutropenia;
- to increase levels of neutrophils and reduce the risk of infections in patients with neutropenia who have a history of severe, repeated infections;
- to treat persistent neutropenia in patients with advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, to reduce the risk of bacterial infections when other treatments are not appropriate.
Nivestim can also be used in people who are about to donate blood stem cells for transplant, to help release these cells from the bone marrow.
Nivestim is a ‘biosimilar’ medicine. This means that Nivestim is highly similar to another biological medicine (the ‘reference medicine’) that is already authorised in the EU. The reference medicine for Nivestim is Neupogen. For more information on biosimilar medicines, see below.
Nivestim contains the active substance filgrastim.
Authorisation details
| Product details | |
|---|---|
| Name |
Nivestim
|
| Agency product number |
EMEA/H/C/001142
|
| Active substance |
filgrastim
|
| International non-proprietary name (INN) or common name |
filgrastim
|
| Therapeutic area (MeSH) |
|
| Anatomical therapeutic chemical (ATC) code |
L03AA02
|
Biosimilar |
This is a biosimilar medicine, which is a biological medicine highly similar to another already approved biological medicine called the ‘reference medicine’. For more information, see Biosimilar medicines. |
| Publication details | |
|---|---|
| Marketing-authorisation holder |
Pfizer Europe MA EEIG
|
| Revision |
27
|
| Date of issue of marketing authorisation valid throughout the European Union |
07/06/2010
|
| Contact address |
Pfizer Europe MA EEIG |
Product information
22/05/2023 Nivestim - EMEA/H/C/001142 - IB/0072
This medicine’s product information is available in all official EU languages.
Select ‘available languages’ to access the language you need.
Product information documents contain:
- summary of product characteristics (annex I);
- manufacturing authorisation holder responsible for batch release (annex IIA);
- conditions of the marketing authorisation (annex IIB);
- labelling (annex IIIA);
- package leaflet (annex IIIB).
You can find product information documents for centrally authorised human medicines on this website. For centrally authorised veterinary medicines authorised or updated from February 2022, see the Veterinary Medicines Information website.
Pharmacotherapeutic group
Immunostimulants
Therapeutic indication
Filgrastim is indicated for the reduction in the duration of neutropenia and the incidence of febrile neutropenia in patients treated with established cytotoxic chemotherapy for malignancy (with the exception of chronic myeloid leukaemia and myelodysplastic syndromes) and for the reduction in the duration of neutropenia in patients undergoing myeloablative therapy followed by bone-marrow transplantation considered to be at increased risk of prolonged severe neutropenia.
The safety and efficacy of filgrastim are similar in adults and children receiving cytotoxic chemotherapy.
Filgrastim is indicated for the mobilisation of peripheral blood progenitor cells (PBPCs).
In patients, children or adults, with severe congenital, cyclic, or idiopathic neutropenia with an absolute neutrophil count (ANC) of ≤0.5 x 109/l and a history of severe or recurrent infections, long-term administration of filgrastim is indicated to increase neutrophil counts and to reduce the incidence and duration of infection-related events.
Filgrastim is indicated for the treatment of persistent neutropenia (ANC ≤1.0 x 109/l) in patients with advanced HIV infection, in order to reduce the risk of bacterial infections when other options to manage neutropenia are inappropriate.