Setmelanotide Injection
Setmelanotide injection is used to lose weight and then to keep from gaining back that weight in certain adults and children 6 years of age or older who are obese due to certain inherited conditions including proopiomelanocortin (POMC), proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 1 (PCSK1), or leptin receptor (LEPR) deficiency (inherited conditions that cause severe obesity) or Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS; an inherited condition that can cause severe obesity). Setmelanotide is in a class of medications called melanocortin 4 (MC4) receptor agonists. It works by activating pathways in the brain to promote weight loss by decreasing appetite and caloric intake, and increasing energy expenditure.
🔔 How should this medicine be used?
Setmelanotide comes as a solution (liquid) to inject subcutaneously (under the skin). It is usually injected once a day when you wake up with or without food. Use setmelanotide injection at around the same time every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Use setmelanotide injection exactly as directed. Do not use more or less of it or use it more often than prescribed by your doctor.
Your doctor will probably start you on a low dose of setmelanotide and increase your dose after 2 weeks.
If you have POMC, PCSK1, or LEPR deficiency and you do not lose a certain amount of weight after 3 to 4 months of treatment with setmelanotide injection, it is not likely that you will benefit from using this medication. If you have Bardet-Biedl syndrome and you do not lose a certain amount of weight after 1 year of treatment with setmelanotide injection, it is not likely that you will benefit from using this medication. Your doctor may tell you to stop using setmelanotide injection.
You can inject setmelanotide injection yourself, or you can have a friend or relative inject the medication. Before you use setmelanotide injection for the first time, your doctor or nurse will show you how to prepare and inject a dose of the medication. Read the written instructions for use carefully before you inject the medication for the first time. Be sure to ask your doctor or pharmacist if you have any questions about how to inject the medication.
Before you are ready to inject setmelanotide injection, you will need to remove the medication from the refrigerator, and allow the vial to rest for 15 minutes so that it can warm to room temperature. Alternatively, you can warm the vial by gently rolling it between the palms of your hands for 60 seconds. Do not try to warm the medication by heating it in a microwave, placing it in hot water, or through any other method.
As of August 2020, the most expensive drug in America is Myalept, a drug used to treat leptin deficiency. A month’s worse of this drug costs $71, 306 per month, according to research from GoodRx. Myalept is known as an “orphan drug” because it’s intended to treat a rare disease.
Always look at setmelanotide injection solution before injecting it. It should be clear and colorless to slightly yellow. Do not use setmelanotide injection if it is cloudy, contains particles, or if the expiration date marked on the vial has passed. Dispose of used syringes and needles in a puncture-resistant container. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about how to dispose of the puncture-resistant container.
You can inject setmelanotide injection anywhere on the front of your thighs, the back of your upper arms, or your stomach except your navel and the area 2 inches (5 centimeters) around it. Do not inject the medications into an area where the skin is tender, bruised, red, or hard or where you have scars, moles, or stretch marks. Choose a different spot each time you inject the medication, at least 1 inch (2.5 centimeters) away from a spot that you have already used.
Setmelanotide injection needs to be continued regularly to maintain weight loss. Continue to use setmelanotide injection even if you feel well and are losing weight. Do not stop using setmelanotide injection without talking to your doctor.
Ask your pharmacist or doctor for a copy of the manufacturer’s information for the patient.
