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Of the CELEBREX-treated patients in the pre-marketing controlled clinical trials, approximately 4,250 were patients with OA, approximately 2,100 were patients with RA, and approximately 1,050 were patients with post-surgical pain. More than 8,500 patients have received a total daily dose of CELEBREX of 200 mg (100 mg twice daily or 200 mg once daily) or more, including more than 400 treated at 800 mg (400 mg twice daily). Approximately 3,900 patients received CELEBREX at these doses for 6 months or more; approximately 2,300 of these have received it for 1 year or more and 124 of these have received it for 2 years or more.

Because clinical trials are conducted under widely varying conditions, adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical trials of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice. The adverse reaction information from clinical trials does, however, provide a basis for identifying the adverse events that appear to be related to drug use and for approximating rates.

Pre-marketing Controlled Arthritis Trials
Table 1 lists all adverse events, regardless of causality, occurring in ≥2% of patients receiving CELEBREX from 12 controlled studies conducted in patients with OA or RA that included a placebo and/or a positive control group. Since these 12 trials were of different durations, and patients in the trials may not have been exposed for the same duration of time, these percentages do not capture cumulative rates of occurrence.

Table 1
Adverse Events Occurring in ≥2%of CELEBREX Patients
from Pre-marketing Controlled Arthritis Trials

In placebo- or active-controlled clinical trials, the discontinuation rate due to adverse events was 7.1% for patients receiving CELEBREX and 6.1% for patients receiving placebo. Among the most common reasons for discontinuation due to adverse events in the CELEBREX treatment groups were dyspepsia and abdominal pain (cited as reasons for discontinuation in 0.8% and 0.7% of CELEBREX patients, respectively). Among patients receiving placebo, 0.6% discontinued due to dyspepsia and 0.6% withdrew due to abdominal pain.

The following adverse reactions occurred in 0.1 - 1.9% of patients treated with CELEBREX (100 - 200 mg twice daily or 200 mg once daily):

Gastrointestinal: Constipation, diverticulitis, dysphagia, eructation, esophagitis, gastritis, gastroenteritis, gastroesophageal reflux, hemorrhoids, hiatal hernia, melena, dry mouth, stomatitis, tenesmus, vomiting

Cardiovascular: Aggravated hypertension, angina pectoris, coronary artery disorder, myocardial infarction

General: Allergy aggravated, allergic reaction, chest pain, cyst NOS, edema generalized, face edema, fatigue, fever, hot flushes, influenza-like symptoms, pain, peripheral pain

Central, peripheral nervous system: Leg cramps, hypertonia, hypoesthesia, migraine, paresthesia, vertigo

Hearing and vestibular: Deafness, tinnitus

Heart rate and rhythm: Palpitation, tachycardia

Liver and biliary: Hepatic function abnormal, SGOT increased, SGPT increased

Metabolic and nutritional: BUN increased, CPK increased, hypercholesterolemia, hyperglycemia, hypokalemia, NPN increased, creatinine increased, alkaline phosphatase increased, weight increased

Musculoskeletal: Arthralgia, arthrosis, myalgia, synovitis, tendinitis

Platelets (bleeding or clotting): Ecchymosis, epistaxis, thrombocythemia

Psychiatric: Anorexia, anxiety, appetite increased, depression, nervousness, somnolence

Hemic: Anemia

Respiratory: Bronchitis, bronchospasm, bronchospasm aggravated, coughing, dyspnea, laryngitis, pneumonia

Skin and appendages: Alopecia, dermatitis, photosensitivity reaction, pruritus, rash erythematous, rash maculopapular, skin disorder, skin dry, sweating increased, urticaria

Application site disorders: Cellulitis, dermatitis contact

Urinary: Albuminuria, cystitis, dysuria, hematuria, micturition frequency, renal calculus

The following serious adverse events (causality not evaluated) occurred in <0.1% of patients (cases reported only in post-marketing experience are indicated in italics):

Cardiovascular: Syncope, congestive heart failure, ventricular fibrillation, pulmonary embolism, cerebrovascular accident, peripheral gangrene, thrombophlebitis, vasculitis, deep venous thrombosis

Gastrointestinal: Intestinal obstruction, intestinal perforation, gastrointestinal bleeding, colitis with bleeding, esophageal perforation, pancreatitis, ileus

Liver and biliary: Cholelithiasis, hepatitis, jaundice, liver failure

Hemic and lymphatic: Thrombocytopenia, agranulocytosis, aplastic anemia, pancytopenia, leukopenia

Metabolic: Hypoglycemia, hyponatremia

Nervous system: Ataxia, suicide, aseptic meningitis, ageusia, anosmia, fatal intracranial hemorrhage [see Drug Interactions]

Renal: Acute renal failure, interstitial nephritis

Skin: Erythema multiforme, exfoliative dermatitis, Stevens-Johnson syndrome,
toxic epidermal necrolysis

General: Sepsis, sudden death, anaphylactoid reaction, angioedema

The Celecoxib Long-Term Arthritis Safety Study [see Special Studies]

Hematological Events: The incidence of clinically significant decreases in hemoglobin (>2 g/dL) was lower in patients on CELEBREX 400 mg twice daily (0.5%) compared to patients on either diclofenac 75 mg twice daily (1.3%) or ibuprofen 800 mg three times daily 1.9%. The lower incidence of events with CELEBREX was maintained with or without ASA use (see Clinical Pharmacology).

Withdrawals/Serious Adverse Events: Kaplan-Meier cumulative rates at 9 months for withdrawals due to adverse events for CELEBREX, diclofenac and ibuprofen were 24%, 29%, and 26%, respectively. Rates for serious adverse events (i.e., causing hospitalization or felt to be life-threatening or otherwise medically significant), regardless of causality, were not different across treatment groups (8%, 7%, and 8%, respectively).

Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis Study
In a 12-week, double-blind, active-controlled study, 242 JRA patients 2 years to 17 years of age were treated with celecoxib or naproxen; 77 JRA patients were treated with celecoxib 3 mg/kg BID, 82 patients were treated with celecoxib 6 mg/kg BID, and 83 patients were treated with naproxen 7.5 mg/kg BID. The most commonly occurring (≥5%) adverse events in celecoxib treated patients were headache, fever (pyrexia), upper abdominal pain, cough, nasopharyngitis, abdominal pain, nausea, arthralgia, diarrhea and vomiting. The most commonly occurring (≥5%) adverse experiences for naproxen-treated patients were headache, nausea, vomiting, fever, upper abdominal pain, diarrhea, cough, abdominal pain, and dizziness (Table 2). Compared with naproxen, celecoxib at doses of 3 and 6 mg/kg BID had no observable deleterious effect on growth and development during the course of the 12-week double-blind study. There was no substantial difference in the number of clinical exacerbations of uveitis or systemic features of JRA among treatment groups.

In a 12-week, open-label extension of the double-blind study described above, 202 JRA patients were treated with celecoxib 6 mg/kg BID. The incidence of adverse events was similar to that observed during the double-blind study; no unexpected adverse events of clinical importance emerged.

Table 2: Adverse Events Occurring in ≥5% of JRA Patients in Any Treatment Group, by System Organ Class (% of patients with events)

Other Pre-Approval Studies
Adverse Events from Ankylosing Spondylitis Studies: A total of 378 patients were treated with CELEBREX in placebo- and active-controlled AS studies. Doses up to 400 mg once daily were studied. The types of adverse events reported in the AS studies were similar to those reported in the OA/RA studies.

Adverse Events from Analgesia and Dysmenorrhea Studies: Approximately 1,700 patients were treated with CELEBREX in analgesia and dysmenorrhea studies. All patients in post-oral surgery pain studies received a single dose of study medication. Doses up to 600 mg/day of CELEBREX were studied in primary dysmenorrhea and post-orthopedic surgery pain studies. The types of adverse events in the analgesia and dysmenorrhea studies were similar to those reported in arthritis studies. The only additional adverse event reported was post-dental extraction alveolar osteitis (dry socket) in the post-oral surgery pain studies.

Adverse Events from the Familial Adenomatous Polyposis Study: The adverse event profile reported for the 83 patients with familial adenomatous polyposis enrolled in the randomized, controlled clinical trial was similar to that reported for patients in the arthritis-controlled trials. Intestinal anastomotic ulceration was the only new adverse event reported in the FAP trial, regardless of causality, and was observed in 3 of 58 patients (one at 100 mg twice daily, and two at 400 mg twice daily) who had prior intestinal surgery.

The APC and PreSAP Trials

Adverse reactions from long-term, placebo-controlled polyp prevention studies: Exposure to CELEBREX in the APC and PreSAP trials was 400 to 800 mg daily for up to 3 years (see Special Studies Adenomatous Polyp Prevention Studies).

Some adverse reactions occurred in higher percentages of patients than in the arthritis pre-marketing trials (treatment durations up to 12 weeks; see Adverse events from CELEBREX pre-marketing controlled arthritis trials, above). The adverse reactions for which these differences in patients treated with CELEBREX were greater as compared to the arthritis pre-marketing trials were as follows:

The following additional adverse reactions occurred in ≥0.1% and <1% of patients taking CELEBREX, at an incidence greater than placebo in the long-term polyp prevention studies and were either not reported during the controlled arthritis pre-marketing trials or occurred with greater frequency in the long-term, placebo-controlled polyp prevention studies:

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