Pregnancy & Lactation : הריון/הנקה

4.6    Fertility, pregnancy and lactation

Pregnancy
Animal studies do not indicate direct harmful effects with respect to pregnancy, embryonal/foetal development, parturition or postnatal development (see section 5.3). Studies in pregnant rats and rabbits showed that telbivudine crosses the placenta. Studies in pregnant rabbits showed early delivery and/or abortion secondary to maternal toxicity.

Limited clinical data (less than 300 pregnancy outcomes) after exposure to telbivudine during the first trimester of pregnancy indicate no malformative toxicity and a large amount of data (more than 1000 pregnancy outcomes) after exposure during the second and third trimesters indicate no foetal/neonatal toxicity.
Sebivo should be used during pregnancy only if the benefit to the mother outweighs the potential risk to the foetus.

Literature shows that exposure to telbivudine in the second and/or third trimester of pregnancy has been shown to reduce the risk of HBV transmission from mother to infant if telbivudine is given in addition to Hepatitis B immune globulin and Hepatitis B vaccine.


Breast-feeding
Telbivudine is excreted in the milk of rats. It is not known whether telbivudine is excreted in human milk. Women should not breastfeed if they are taking Sebivo.

Fertility
There are no clinical data on the effects of telbivudine on male or female fertility. In reproductive toxicology studies in adult animals, fertility was slightly reduced when both male and female rats received telbivudine. The adverse effects on fertility were greater in a separate study in juvenile animals when both sexes received telbivudine (see section 5.3).