Tafenoquine Adverse Event Notifications
Dear Therapeutic Goods Administration staff,
Tafenoquine is a synthetic quinoline drug that is being developed by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and 60 Degrees Pharmaceuticals (60P) for prevention and treatment of P. vivax malaria.[1,2] The drug was administered to more than 1,500 Australian Defence Force personnel in a series of clinical trials conducted by the Army Malaria Institute (AMI) in Australia, Bougainville and Timor Leste from 1999 to 2001.[3-4]
Many of the AMI tafenoquine clinical trial subjects have since experienced bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, major depression and anxiety, seizures, hallucinations and psychosis, suicide attempts and/or suicide.[5,6] Some of these severe adverse events have previously been listed publicly on the TGA Database of Adverse Event Notifications (DAEN), including at least one reported suicide.[7]
Tafenoquine has inexplicably been removed from the publicly accessible DAEN, some time between 18 February 2017 and 9 May 2017.[8]
I hereby request to be provided with a summary of all tafenoquine related AERs submitted to the TGA, to include the information normally available for all drugs via the DAEN.
I also request to be provided with any documents relating to decisions by TGA staff to remove tafenoquine from the publicly accessible DAEN, including but not limited to emails, memos, meeting summaries, file notes and/or correspondence between TGA officials and third parties.
I request that fees for this FOI request be waived given that this is a matter of public interest, the information was previously available to the public and would normally be available to the public.
Yours faithfully,
Stuart McCarthy
References:
1. GlaxoSmithKline, Media release: GSK and MMV announce start of phase III programme of tafenoquine for Plasmodium vivax malaria, London, 28 April 2014. http://us.gsk.com/en-us/media/press-rele...
2. L. Fosse, "Therapeutics and travel medicine for tropical diseases such as dengue fever and malaria", CEOCFO Magazine, 21 September 2015. https://www.ceocfointerviews.com/intervi...
3. P. Nasveld, Tafenoquine in the prophylaxis and treatment of malaria in Australian Defence Force personnel, PhD thesis, James Cook University, 2011. https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/29749/
4. S. McCarthy, "The ADF's drug trial outrage", The Spectator Australia, 28 December 2016. https://spectator.com.au/2016/12/adfs-dr...
5. S. McCarthy, "PM must support Diggers used as drug guinea pigs", Herald Sun, 6 December 2016. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion...
6. D. Welch, "A bitter pill", ABC 7.30 Report, 22 August 2016. http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2016/...
7. TGA, Tafenoquine report 20170218, Database of Adverse Event Notifications, 18 February 2017.
8. TGA, Database of Adverse Event Notifications, accessed 11 May 2017. http://apps.tga.gov.au/PROD/DAEN/daen-en...
Dear Mr McCarthy,
I refer to your freedom of information request for adverse event reports
relating to tafenoquine.
The Database of Adverse Event Notifications (DAEN) only publically
displays adverse events information of medicines that are available for
general marketing in Australia i.e., medicines that have been entered on
the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods after having been assessed
for quality, safety and effectiveness. Although TGA collects information
on adverse events for unapproved medicines such as tafenoquine that may be
accessed through clinical trials and other available unapproved medicine
access pathways, these are not published on the DAEN.
The TGA routinely conducts quality assurance activities on adverse events
entered into the DAEN. This allows TGA to identify and rectify any
administrative errors to ensure that the accuracy of the information
published on the DAEN is maintained. In the case of tafenoquine, a number
of adverse events were entered into the database at various times which
incorrectly indicated that the medicine was approved for general marketing
when in fact it has only been accessed through the unapproved medicine
access pathways. When the TGA identified these administrative errors they
were quickly rectified to reflect the correct marketing status of
tafenoquine. Consequently, all adverse events relating to tafenoquine no
longer appear in the DAEN.
The TGA is able to release information on adverse events arising from the
use of tafenoquine in clinical trials and other unapproved medicine access
pathways through requests made under the Freedom of Information Act
(1989). For example, adverse event reports (redacted to remove personal
information) involving the use of the tafenoquine accessed by Australian
Defence Force personnel between 1999 and 2001 have previously been
provided to you through this mechanism and are also available publically
on the [1]TGA’s disclosure log (FOI 222-1516).
Given the above please advise whether you wish to revise the scope of your
request. Specifically could you please indicate whether you are happy to
remove part two of your request so that the request would become:
“I hereby request to be provided with a summary of all tafenoquine related
AEs submitted to the TGA, to include the information normally available
for all drugs via the DAEN.”
Regards,
Jacki
Freedom of Information
(02) 6232 8612
Reporting and Collaboration Services Section
Regulatory Engagement and Planning Branch
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Address: PO Box 100, Woden ACT, 2606
Email: [2][email address]
[3]cid:image001.png@01D1D5D9.7DDEADA0
Dear Mr McCarthy
Please find attached correspondence in relation to your FOI request.
Kind regards
Heather
Freedom of Information
(02) 6232 8612
Reporting and Collaboration Services Section
Regulatory Engagement and Planning Branch
Therapeutic Goods Administration
Address: PO Box 100, Woden ACT, 2606
Email: [1][email address]
[2]cid:image001.png@01D1D5D9.7DDEADA0