Warning on concomitant use of clopidogrel and repaglinide

Co-administration of the oral antidiabetic agent repaglinide and oral antiplatelet drug clopidogrel (a known CYP2C8 inhibitor), may lead to a significant decrease in blood glucose levels due to a drug-drug interaction, according to a recent recall and alerts posting on pharma regulator Health Canada’s web site.

Health Canada and the Canadian subsidiary of Danish diabetes care giant Novo Nordisk (NOV: N) have reviewed the new safety information regarding repaglinide published in the Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Journal. This information has now led to new prescribing information in the Canadian Product Monographs (CPM) for Novo Nordisk’s GlucoNorm (repaglinide; also sold as Prandin). The CPM for Plavix (clopidogrel) - Sanofi’s (Euronext: SAN) now off-patent drug - is currently being updated. The CPMs for the generic versions will be updated. The concomitant use of repaglinide and clopidogrel is now contraindicated, said Health Canada.

Combination shown to cause hypoglycemia