MONTELUKAST AUROVITAS 5 mg CHEWABLE TABLETS

Introduction

Package Leaflet: Information for the User

Montelukast Aurovitas 5 mg Chewable Tablets EFG

Read all of this leaflet carefully before you start taking this medicine because it contains important information for you.

• Keep this leaflet, you may need to read it again.
• If you have any further questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
• This medicine has been prescribed for you only. Do not pass it on to others. It may harm them, even if their signs of illness are the same as yours.
• If you get any side effects, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. See section 4.

Contents of the pack

1. What is Montelukast Aurovitas and what is it used for
2. What you need to know before you take Montelukast Aurovitas
3. How to take Montelukast Aurovitas
4. Possible side effects
5. Storage of Montelukast Aurovitas
6. Contents of the pack and other information

1. What is Montelukast Aurovitas and what is it used for

What is Montelukast Aurovitas

Montelukast is a leukotriene receptor antagonist that blocks substances called leukotrienes.

How Montelukast Aurovitas works

Leukotrienes cause narrowing and swelling of the airways in the lungs. By blocking leukotrienes, montelukast improves asthma symptoms and helps control asthma.

When to use Montelukast Aurovitas

Your doctor has prescribed montelukast to treat asthma and prevent asthma symptoms during the day and night.

• Montelukast Aurovitas is used for the treatment of pediatric patients from 6 to 14 years of age who are not adequately controlled with their medication and need additional treatment.
• Montelukast Aurovitas is also used as an alternative treatment to inhaled corticosteroids in patients from 6 to 14 years of age who have not recently taken oral corticosteroids for the treatment of their asthma and have demonstrated that they are unable to use inhaled corticosteroids.
• Montelukast Aurovitas also helps prevent exercise-induced narrowing of the airways.

Depending on the symptoms and severity of your asthma or your child's asthma, your doctor will determine how to use montelukast.

What is asthma?

Asthma is a chronic disease.

Asthma includes:

• difficulty breathing due to narrowing of the airways. This narrowing of the airways worsens and improves in response to various situations.
• airways that are sensitive to many things, such as cigarette smoke, pollen, cold air, or exercise.
• swelling (inflammation) of the inner layer of the airways.

The symptoms of asthma include: coughing, wheezing, and chest congestion.

2. What you need to know before you take Montelukast Aurovitas

Tell your doctor about any allergy or medical problem that you or your child have now or have had.

Do not take Montelukast Aurovitas

• If you or your child are allergic to montelukast or any of the other ingredients of this medicine (listed in section 6).

Warnings and precautions

Consult your doctor or pharmacist before giving montelukast to your child:

• If your asthma or your child's asthma or breathing worsens, inform your doctor immediately.
• Montelukast Aurovitas oral is not indicated for the treatment of acute asthma attacks. If an attack occurs, follow the instructions given by your doctor for you or your child. Always have your rescue inhaler medication for asthma attacks.
• It is essential that you or your child use all asthma medications prescribed by your doctor. Montelukast Aurovitas should not be used instead of other asthma medications that your doctor has prescribed for you or your child.
• Any patient being treated with asthma medications should be aware that if they develop a combination of symptoms such as flu-like illness, tingling or numbness of arms or legs, worsening of lung symptoms, and/or skin rash, they should consult their doctor.
• You or your child should not take aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid) or anti-inflammatory medications (also known as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications or NSAIDs) if they worsen your asthma.

Children and adolescents

Do not give this medicine to children under 6 years of age.

For pediatric patients under 18 years of age, other presentations of this medicine are available based on the age range.

Other medicines and Montelukast Aurovitas

Tell your doctor or pharmacist if your child is taking, has recently taken, or might take any other medicines, including those obtained without a prescription.

Some medicines may affect the way montelukast works, or montelukast may affect the way other medicines work.

Before taking montelukast, tell your doctor if your child is taking the following medicines:

• phenobarbital (used to treat epilepsy)
• phenytoin (used to treat epilepsy)
• rifampicin (used to treat tuberculosis and some other infections)

Taking Montelukast Aurovitas with food, drinks, and alcohol

Montelukast Aurovitas 5 mg chewable tablets should not be taken with food; it should be taken at least 1 hour before or 2 hours after food.

Pregnancy, breastfeeding, and fertility

If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, think you may be pregnant, or are planning to have a baby, ask your doctor or pharmacist for advice before taking this medicine.

Use during pregnancy

Your doctor will assess whether you can take montelukast during this period.

Breastfeeding

It is not known whether Montelukast Aurovitas appears in breast milk. If you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed, you should consult your doctor before taking Montelukast Aurovitas.

Driving and using machines

Montelukast is not expected to affect your ability to drive a car or operate machinery. However, individual responses to the medicine may vary. Certain side effects (such as dizziness and drowsiness) that have been reported with montelukast may affect the patient's ability to drive or operate machinery.

Montelukast Aurovitas contains aspartame

This medicine may be harmful to people with phenylketonuria because it contains aspartame, which is a source of phenylalanine.

Each 5 mg chewable tablet of Montelukast Aurovitas has an aspartame content equivalent to 0.842 mg of phenylalanine.

Montelukast Aurovitas contains sodium

This medicine contains less than 1 mmol of sodium (23 mg) per chewable tablet; this is essentially "sodium-free".

3. How to take Montelukast Aurovitas

Follow exactly the administration instructions of this medicine given by your doctor or pharmacist. In case of doubt, consult your doctor or pharmacist again.

• You or your child should only take one tablet of Montelukast Aurovitas once a day, as prescribed by your doctor.
• It should be taken even when you or your child do not have symptoms or when you have an acute asthma attack.

For children from 6 to 14 years of age:

The recommended dose is one 5 mg chewable tablet daily in the evening.

If you or your child are taking Montelukast Aurovitas, make sure that neither your child nor you take any other medicine that contains the same active ingredient, montelukast.

This medicine is taken orally.

The tablets should be chewed before swallowing.

Montelukast Aurovitas 5 mg chewable tablets should not be taken with food; it should be taken at least 1 hour before or 2 hours after food.

If you or your child take more Montelukast Aurovitas than you should

Seek immediate medical attention from your doctor.

In most cases of overdose, no adverse effects were reported. The symptoms that occurred most frequently reported in overdose in adults and children were abdominal pain, drowsiness, thirst, headache, vomiting, and hyperactivity.

In case of overdose or accidental ingestion, consult your doctor or pharmacist immediately or call the Toxicology Information Service, telephone: 91 562 04 20, indicating the medicine and the amount taken.

If you or your child forget to take Montelukast Aurovitas

Try to take Montelukast Aurovitas as prescribed. However, if you or your child forget a dose, just resume your usual schedule of one tablet once daily.

Do not take a double dose to make up for forgotten doses.

If you or your child stop taking Montelukast Aurovitas

Montelukast Aurovitas will only treat your asthma or your child's asthma if you continue taking it.

It is essential that you continue taking Montelukast Aurovitas for the time your doctor prescribes. It will help control your asthma or your child's asthma.

If you have any further questions on the use of this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist.

4. Possible side effects

Like all medicines, this medicine can cause side effects, although not everybody gets them.

In clinical trials conducted with montelukast 5 mg chewable tablets, the side effects related to the administration of the medicine and most frequently reported (may affect up to 1 in 10 people) were:

• headache

Additionally, the following side effects were reported in clinical trials with montelukast 10 mg film-coated tablets:

• abdominal pain

These side effects were generally mild and occurred with a higher frequency in patients treated with montelukast than with placebo (a pill that does not contain medicine).

Serious side effects

Consult your doctor immediatelyif you observe any of the following side effects, as they can be serious and may require urgent medical treatment.

Uncommon: may affect up to 1 in 100 people

• allergic reactions including swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and/or throat that can cause difficulty breathing or swallowing,
• mood-related changes: excitement including aggressive or hostile behavior, depression,
• seizures.

Rare: may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people

• increased risk of bleeding,
• tremor,
• palpitations.

Very rare: may affect up to 1 in 10,000 people

• combination of symptoms such as flu-like illness, tingling or numbness of arms and legs, worsening of lung symptoms, and/or skin rash (Churg-Strauss syndrome) (see section 2),
• low platelet count,
• mood-related changes: hallucinations, disorientation, suicidal thoughts and actions,
• inflammation (inflammation) of the lungs,
• severe skin reactions (erythema multiforme) that can occur without warning,
• inflammation of the liver (hepatitis).

Other side effects reported during the marketing of the medicine

Very common: may affect more than 1 in 10 people

• upper respiratory tract infection.

Common: may affect up to 1 in 10 people

• diarrhea, nausea, vomiting,
• skin rash,
• fever,
• elevated liver enzymes.

Uncommon: may affect up to 1 in 100 people

• mood-related changes: sleep disturbances, including nightmares, sleep problems, sleepwalking, irritability, feeling anxious, restlessness,
• dizziness, drowsiness, tingling/numbness,
• nosebleeds,
• dry mouth, indigestion,
• bruising, itching, hives,
• joint or muscle pain, muscle cramps,
• bedwetting (in children),
• weakness/tiredness, malaise, swelling.

Rare: may affect up to 1 in 1,000 people

• mood-related changes: attention disturbance, memory disturbance, uncontrolled muscle movements.

Very rare: may affect up to 1 in 10,000 people

• red, painful lumps under the skin that most frequently appear on the shins (erythema nodosum).
• mood-related changes: obsessive-compulsive symptoms, stuttering.

Reporting of side effects

If you experience any side effects, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. This includes any possible side effects not listed in this leaflet. You can also report side effects directly to the Spanish Medicines Agency's Pharmacovigilance System for Human Use: https://www.notificaram.es. By reporting side effects, you can help provide more information on the safety of this medicine.

5. Storage of Montelukast Aurovitas

Keep this medicine out of the sight and reach of children.

Do not use this medicine after the expiry date which is stated on the blister and carton after EXP. The expiry date is the last day of the month stated.

Store below 25°C.

Store in the original package to protect from light and moisture.

Medicines should not be disposed of via wastewater or household waste. Ask your pharmacist how to dispose of medicines no longer required. These measures will help protect the environment.

6. Contents of the pack and other information

Composition of Montelukast Aurovitas

• The active substance is montelukast. Each chewable tablet contains montelukast sodium, equivalent to 5 mg of montelukast.
• The other ingredients are: mannitol (E 421), microcrystalline cellulose, hypromellose 2% (6-10 mPa.s), sodium croscarmellose, red iron oxide (E 172), aspartame (E 951), artificial cherry flavor (with its flavoring ingredients and modified cornstarch) and magnesium stearate (E 572).

Appearance of the product and pack contents

Chewable tablets

Uncoated pink, speckled, biconvex, round (9.5 mm diameter) tablets marked with "X" on one face and "53" on the other face of the tablet.

Montelukast Aurovitas chewable tablets are available in PVC/polyamide/aluminum foil/PVC - aluminum foil blisters and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles with a polypropylene cap containing silica gel desiccant.

Presentation

Blister packs: 7, 10, 14, 20, 28, 30, 49, 50, 56, 60, 84, 90, 98, 100, 140, and 200 chewable tablets.

High-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles: 30, 90, and 500 chewable tablets.

Not all pack sizes may be marketed.

Marketing authorization holder and manufacturer

Marketing authorization holder:

Aurovitas Spain, S.A.U.

Avenida de Burgos, 16-D

28036 Madrid

Spain

Manufacturer:

APL Swift Services (Malta) Limited

HF26, Hal Far Industrial Estate, Hal Far,

Birzebbugia, BBG 3000.

Malta

This medicine is authorized in the Member States of the European Economic Area under the following names:

France Montelukast Aurobindo 5 mg, chewable tablet

Germany Montelukast Aurobindo 5 mg chewable tablets

Ireland MONTELUKAST Paediatric 5 mg Chewable Tablets

Italy Montelukast Aurobindo Pharma Italia 5 mg chewable tablet

Malta Montelukast Aurobindo 5 mg Chewable Tablets

Netherlands Montelukast Aurobindo 5 mg, chewable tablets

Poland Montelukast Aurobindo

Spain Montelukast Aurovitas 5 mg chewable tablets EFG

Date of last revision of this leaflet:February 2024

Detailed information on this medicine is available on the website of the Spanish Agency for Medicines and Health Products (AEMPS) (http://www.aemps.gob.es/)