# A real-world pharmacovigilance study of FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) events for osimertinib

## TL;DR

This study analyzed real-world data to identify adverse events linked to the cancer drug osimertinib, revealing new safety signals for clinical monitoring.

## Contribution

The study identifies new and unexpected adverse event signals for osimertinib using FAERS data and disproportionality analysis.

## Key findings

- Osimertinib caused adverse events in 27 organ systems, with 68 significant signals detected.
- Unexpected AEs like scrotal volvulus and venous thromboembolisms were identified.
- Most AEs occurred within 30 days of starting osimertinib, with a median onset of 58 days.

## Abstract

Osimertinib was a third-generation, irreversible epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor (EGFR-TKI), which approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2015 for treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Our study was to explore the adverse events (AEs) caused by osimertinib through data mining of the US FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS), and provide reference for clinical safety. Data of osimertinib were collected from the FAERS database covering the period from first quarter of 2016 to the fourth quarter of 2021. Disproportionality analyses was employed to quantify the associated AE signals of osimertinib and detect the risk signals from the data in the FAERS database. Reporting odds ratio (ROR) was used to detect the risk signals from the data in the FAERS database. The definition relied on system organ class (SOCs) and preferred terms (PTs) by the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities (MedDRA). Totally, 9,704,33 reports were collected from the FAERS database, 10,804 reports of osimertinib were identified as the ‘primary suspected (PS)’ AEs. Osimertinib induced AEs occurred in 27 organ systems. 68 significant disproportionality PTs satisfying with the four algorithms were retained at the same time. Unexpected significant AEs such as scrotal volvulus, hepatic function abnormal, venous thromboembolisms might also occur. The median onset time of osimertinib-associated AEs was 58 days (interquartile range [IQR] 14–212 days), and the majority of the AEs occurred within the first 30 days after osimertinib initiation. Our study found significant new AEs signals of osimertinib and might provide support for clinical monitoring and risk identification of osimertinib.