Amgevita HCF

jamieA

I've just had a text from Lloyds Pharmacy Clinical Home Care who deliver my biologic pointing me to a letter from Amgen the manufacturers of Amgevita. The Amgevita injection pen is changing to a high concentration formulation - HCF. Apparently it's the same pen and same amount of medication but in a smaller amount of liquid. Two things highlighted with this change is that you should take the pen out of the fridge 30 minutes before injection where previously it was 15 minutes and the actual time to complete the injection will increase from 10 to 15 seconds. It seems a strange way to communicate this by text - I'd have thought my rheumatology clinic would have communicated this.

Shaz419

Hi Jamie,

I also have received this message as well, I have been trying to find someone who is already using or done the change to see if any different.

I havent received the medication yet, just used the last pen so expecting it on next delivery.

PM07

I got the new batch of pens. They look and work exactly the same except the pen window is only half full with a grey rubber stopper at the halfway point.

They still say 40mg, but the volume is 0.4mL instead of 0.8mL. I can't see it making any difference because the medication is still the same at 40mg.

I took the first one today but found the injection was more gentle than the 0.8 ones. No idea why your advice says it takes longer to inject. These take less time to inject but my local nurse told me you should always leave the pen in for 10 seconds after the final click (anyway).

The length of time to take the pen out of the fridge is also wrong. The medication is safe out of the fridge for 14 days but you cannot put it back in the fridge to extend that time. If you take it out you HAVE to use it within 14 days.

Always take it out of the fridge for at least an hour. My nurse told me even the whole day if you want. 15-30 minutes is not enough and it will hurt if injected too cold.

Anna

Hi @PM07 and welcome to the online community,

Thanks for sharing your experience of the new batch of Amgevita pens. It’s great to see you contributing with your first post and I hope you continue to post and also ask any questions if you need to hear from others. Were a friendly community and I’m pleased you’ve joined us!

Best wishes,

Anna ( Moderator)