16 November 2020
EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has aligned recommendations for limiting nitrosamine impurities in sartan medicines with recent recommendations it issued for other classes of medicines.
The main change concerns the limits for nitrosamines, which previously applied to the active ingredients but will now apply instead to the finished products (e.g. tablets). These limits, based on internationally agreed standards (ICH M7(R1)), should ensure that the excess risk of cancer from nitrosamines in any sartan medicines is below 1 in 100,000 for a person taking the medicine for lifelong treatment.
In line with previous recommendations, companies should have appropriate control strategies to prevent or limit the presence of nitrosamine impurities as much as possible and, where necessary, improve their manufacturing processes. Companies should also evaluate the risk of nitrosamines being present in their medicines and carry out appropriate tests.
Nitrosamines are classified as probable human carcinogens (substances that could cause cancer). In the vast majority of sartan medicines, these impurities were either not found or were present at very low levels.
The review of sartans concerned candesartan, irbesartan, losartan, olmesartan and valsartan, which belong to a class of medicines called sartans (also known as angiotensin-II-receptor antagonists).
These sartan medicines have a specific ring structure (tetrazole) whose synthesis could potentially lead to the formation of nitrosamine impurities. Other sartan medicines which do not have this ring, such as azilsartan, eprosartan and telmisartan, were not included in this review but are covered by the subsequent review of other medicines.
Sartans are used to treat patients with hypertension (high blood pressure) and those with certain heart or kidney diseases. They work by blocking the action of angiotensin II, a hormone that constricts blood vessels and causes blood pressure to rise.
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