Tulissin

The medicine can only be obtained with a prescription. Tulissin is available as an injection (25 and 100 mg/ml). The 25 mg/ml injection is for pigs only; the 100 mg/ml injection is for cattle, pigs and sheep.

Tulissin is given as a single injection of 2.5 mg per kilogram bodyweight. It is injected under the skin in cattle and into the neck muscle in pigs and sheep. Depending on the size of the dose, it may need to be injected into two sites.

It is recommended that animals are treated early for respiratory disease and that their response is evaluated within 48 hours. If symptoms persist, get worse or come back, treatment should be changed to another antibiotic.

For more information about using Tulissin, see the package leaflet or contact your veterinarian or pharmacist.

The active substance in Tulissin, tulathromycin, is an antibiotic that belongs to the class ‘macrolides’. It works by attaching to the RNA (genetic material) in the bacterial cells and preventing the bacteria from making vital proteins, thus stopping them growing and multiplying.

Tulissin is effective against the bacteria that most commonly cause BRD, SRD, IBK and foot rot.

Studies on the benefits and risks of the active substance in the authorised uses have already been carried out with the reference medicine, Draxxin, and do not need to be repeated for Tulissin.

As for every medicine, the company provided studies on the quality of Tulissin. There was no need for ‘bioequivalence’ studies to investigate whether Tulissin is absorbed similarly to the reference medicine to produce the same level of the active substance in the blood. This is because the composition of Tulissin is very similar to the reference medicine and when given by injection under the skin to cattle or into a muscle in pigs and sheep, the active substance in both products is expected to be similarly absorbed and the products are expected to have the same effects.

Because Tulissin is a generic medicine, its benefits and risks are taken as being the same as the reference medicine’s.

Safety information has been included in the summary of product characteristics and the package leaflet for Tulissin, including the appropriate precautions to be followed by healthcare professionals and animal owners or keepers. The precautions are the same as for the reference medicine since Tulissin is a generic medicine.

The withdrawal period is the time required after administration of a medicine before an animal can be slaughtered and the meat used for human consumption. It is also the time required after administration of a medicine before milk may be used for human consumption.

For cattle the meat withdrawal period is 22 days, for pigs it is 13 days and for sheep it is 16 days. Tulissin must not be used in animals that are producing milk for human consumption, or in pregnant animals intended to produce milk for human consumption, within two months of their expected date of giving birth.

The European Medicines Agency concluded that, in accordance with EU requirements, Tulissin has been shown to be comparable to Draxxin. Therefore, the Agency’s view was that, as for Draxxin, the benefit of Tulissin outweighs the identified risk and it can be authorised for use in the EU.

Tulissin received a marketing authorisation valid throughout the EU on 24 April 2020.