Cardiovascular Adverse Events Associated with Monoclonal Antibody Products in Patients with COVID-19.

Little is known about cardiovascular safety profiles for monoclonal antibody products that received the FDA Emergency Use Authorization for COVID-19. In this study, data from the FDA Adverse Event Reporting System from the first quarter of 2020 to the second quarter of 2022 were used to investigate cardiovascular safety signals associated with seven monoclonal antibody products (casirivimab + imdevimab, bamlanivimab, bamlanivimab + etesevimab, sotrovimab, tocilizumab, bebtelovimab, tixagevimab + cilgavimab) in COVID-19 patients. Disproportionality analyses were conducted using reporting odds ratio and information component to identify safety signals. About 10% of adverse events in COVID-19 patients were cardiovascular adverse events. Four monoclonal antibody products (casirivimab + imdevimab, bamlanivimab, bamlanivimab + etesevimab, and bebtelovimab) were associated with higher reporting of hypertension. Tocilizumab was associated with higher reporting of cardiac failure and embolic and thrombotic event. Casirivimab + imdevimab and bamlanivimab were also associated with higher reporting of ischemic heart disease. No cardiovascular safety signals were identified for sotrovimab and tixagevimab + cilgavimab. The results indicate differential cardiovascular safety profiles in monoclonal antibodies. Careful monitoring of cardiovascular events may be considered for certain COVID-19 patients at risk when they are treated with monoclonal antibodies.

Hearing disorder following COVID-19 vaccination: A pharmacovigilance analysis using the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System.

WHAT IS KNOWN AND OBJECTIVE: Evidence on whether the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination could cause hearing-related adverse events is still conflicting. This study aims to access the association between COVID-19 vaccine and hearing disorder. METHODS: The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) was queried between January 2020 to November 2021. The disproportionality pattern for hearing impairment of COVID-19 vaccine was accessed by calculating the reporting odds ratio (ROR) and proportional reporting ratio (PRR). A further subgroup analysis based on the type of COVID-19 vaccine and the doses administered was performed. In addition, the disproportionalities for hearing dysfunction between COVID-19 and influenza vaccines were compared. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: A total of 14,956 reports of hearing-related adverse events were identified with COVID-19 vaccination and 151 with influenza vaccine during the analytic period in VAERS. The incidence of hearing disorder following COVID-19 vaccination was 6.66 per 100,000. The results of disproportionality analysis revealed that the adverse events of hearing impairment, after administration of COVID-19 vaccine, was significantly highly reported (ROR 2.38, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.20-2.56; PRR: 2.35, χ2 537.58), for both mRNA (ROR 2.37, 95% CI 2.20-2.55; PRR 2.34, χ2 529.75) and virus vector vaccines (ROR 2.50, 95% CI 2.28-2.73; PRR 2.56, χ2 418.57). While the disproportional level for hearing dysfunction was quite lower in influenza vaccine (ROR 0.36, 95% CI 0.30-0.42; PRR 0.36, χ2 172.24). WHAT IS NEW AND CONCLUSION: This study identified increased risk for hearing disorder following administration of both mRNA and virus vector COVID-19 vaccines compared to influenza vaccination in real-world settings.

Acute Kidney Injury Associated With Remdesivir: A Comprehensive Pharmacovigilance Analysis of COVID-19 Reports in FAERS.

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication among patients with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). COVID-19 along with AKI usually resulted in a poor prognosis for those affected. Remdesivir is a novel antiviral drug that was urgently approved for the treatment of COVID-19. In the current study, safety data of remdesivir were limited. We gathered information on COVID-19 cases in patients with adverse events that were reported to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) database. We employed the reporting odds ratio (ROR) method to perform disproportionality analysis. Finally, we identified 12,869 COVID-19 cases. A total of 3,991 of these cases reported remdesivir as a primary suspected drug, while 8,878 cases were treated with other drugs. More AKI events occurred in cases of male patients and those above the age of 65 years. We detected a significant association between remdesivir and AKI: ROR = 2.81, 95% CI (2.48, 3.18). The association was stronger after the propensity score matching ROR = 3.85, 95% CI (3.11, 4.78). The mean time to AKI event onset was 4.91 ± 7.25 days in COVID-19 cases with remdesivir therapy. The fatality proportion was 36.45% in AKI cases with remdesivir treatment. This pharmacovigilance study identified a significant association between AKI events and remdesivir treatment in COVID-19 patients by mining FAERS real-world big data. Although causality was not confirmed, the association between remdesivir and AKI should not be ignored, especially in the older, male COVID-19 inpatients.

A Pharmacovigilance Study of Hydroxychloroquine Cardiac Safety Profile: Potential Implication in COVID-19 Mitigation.

In light of the favorable outcomes of few small, non-randomized clinical studies, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) for hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. In fact, subsequent clinical studies with COVID-19 and HCQ have reported limited efficacy and poor clinical benefits. Unfortunately, a robust clinical trial for its effectiveness is not feasible at this emergency. Additionally, HCQ was suspected of causing cardiovascular adverse reactions (CV-AEs), but it has never been directly investigated. The objective of this pharmacovigilance analysis was to determine and characterize HCQ-associated cardiovascular adverse events (CV-AEs). We performed a disproportionality analysis of HCQ-associated CV-AEs using the FDA adverse event reporting system (FAERS) database. The FAERS database, comprising more than 11,901,836 datasets and 10,668,655 patient records with drug-adverse reactions, was analyzed. The disproportionality analysis was used to calculate the reporting odds ratios (ROR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI) to predict HCQ-associated CV-AEs. HCQ was associated with higher reporting of right ventricular hypertrophy (ROR: 6.68; 95% CI: 4.02 to 11.17), left ventricular hypertrophy (ROR: 3.81; 95% CI: 2.57 to 5.66), diastolic dysfunction (ROR: 3.54; 95% CI: 2.19 to 5.71), pericarditis (ROR: 3.09; 95% CI: 2.27 to 4.23), torsades de pointes (TdP) (ROR: 3.05; 95% CI: 2.30 to 4.10), congestive cardiomyopathy (ROR: 2.98; 95% CI: 2.01 to 4.42), ejection fraction decreased (ROR: 2.41; 95% CI: 1.80 to 3.22), right ventricular failure (ROR: 2.40; 95% CI: 1.64 to 3.50), atrioventricular block complete (ROR: 2.30; 95% CI: 1.55 to 3.41) and QT prolongation (ROR: 2.09; 95% CI: 1.74 to 2.52). QT prolongation and TdP are most relevant to the COVID-19 treatment regimen of high doses for a comparatively short period and represent the most common HCQ-associated AEs. The patients receiving HCQ are at higher risk of various cardiac AEs, including QT prolongation and TdP. These findings highlight the urgent need for prospective, randomized, controlled studies to assess the risk/benefit ratio of HCQ in the COVID-19 setting before its widespread adoption as therapy.