Abstract
INTRODUCTION
Clinical Trials Corner of
To do so, we will gather and curate data from the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Search Portal (ICTRP)— a central database that contains the trial registration datasets provided by 17 clinical trial registries [1], including the EU Clinical Trials Register (EU-CTR), the USA ClinicalTrials.gov, among others— using the keywords “
There are only two drugs specifically approved for HD [4]: tetrabenazine [5] and deutetrabenazine [6], both with a moderate effect on involuntary movements. No intervention has shown to modify disease progression so far [7]. That being said, almost one hundred clinical trials and 50 different interventions have been or are currently being tested in HD [8]. It is clear that modifying the progression of HD is exceptionally difficult; that success in preclinical models so far has failed to anticipate the outcome of subsequent human trials; and that there is a need for not only better drugs, but better means of deciding which drugs we should test in patients.
In this inaugural Clinical Trials Corner, we will list all currently registered and ongoing clinical trials, expand on LEGATO-HD (NCT02215616) and IONIS-HTTRx (NCT02519036), and cover two recently finished trials: Amaryllis (NCT02197130) and Pride-HD (NCT02006472). For future editions, we will summarize current efforts and recent developments as well as providing in-depth information on notable trials.
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ONGOING CLINICAL TRIALS
A list of ongoing clinical trials is given in Tables 1, 2 and 3.
Ongoing pharmacological clinical trials registered at the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Research Platform (ICTRP) for people with Huntington’s disease (HD). NINDS, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke; HSG, Huntington Study Group; N/S, not specified; PD, Parkinson’s disease; VMAT2, Vesicular Monoamine Transporter 2
Ongoing invasive non-pharmacological clinical trials registered at the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Research Platform (ICTRP) for people with Huntington’s disease (HD). DBS, deep brain stimulation; EHDN, European Huntington’s Disease Network; ET, Essential Tremor; GP, Globus pallidus; HT, Holmes Tremor; MNC, mononuclear cells; PD, Parkinson’s disease; TD, Tardive dyskinesia; WD, Wilson’s disease
Ongoing non-invasive non-pharmacological clinical trials registered at the World Health Organization (WHO) International Clinical Trials Research Platform (ICTRP) for people with Huntington’s disease (HD). AD, Alzheimer’s disease; ALS, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; ET, Essential Tremor; HT, Holmes Tremor; MS, Multiple Sclerosis; PD, Parkinson’s disease; TD, Tardive dyskinesia
LEGATO-HD (NCT02215616)
Participant involvement will last for 12 months of treatment. The trial is a phase 2, international, multi-center, randomized, placebo controlled, double blind, parallel study. The recruitment aim is 400 participants in Canada, Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States of America.
The primary outcome is change from baseline in the UHDRS TMS after 1, 3, 6, and 12 months of treatment. The secondary outcomes involve the UHDRS Total Functional Capacity (TFC), the Clinician’s Interview-Based Impression of Change Plus Caregiver Input (CIBIC-Plus) global score, the Huntington’s Disease Cognitive Assessment Battery (HD-CAB), and caudate volume.
IONIS-HTTRx (NCT02519036)
Each participant’s involvement will last for 29 weeks. It is a phase 1b/2a, international multi-center, randomized, placebo controlled, double blind, parallel, dose-ascending study, taking place in Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom. The recruitment goal of 46 participants was reached in June2017 [14].
The primary outcome is safety and tolerability at 29 weeks. The secondary outcomes involve pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic measures in the cerebrospinal fluid, such as peak drug concentrations, time to peak dose concentrations, huntingtin concentration, neurofilament light concentration, and also ventricular volume and performance on the HD Cognitive Assessment Battery (HD-CAB).
COMPLETED CLINICAL TRIALS
Amaryllis (NCT02197130)
Participant involvement lasted for 26 weeks. It was a phase 2, international, multi-center, randomized, placebo controlled, double blind, parallel study conducted in Canada, Germany, Poland, United Kingdom, and United States of America. 272 participants were recruited.
The primary outcome was change from baseline in the UHDRS TMS after 26 weeks of treatment. The secondary outcomes involved the UHDRS TFC, the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement, the Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS), extrapyramidal symptoms, and white cell counts and neutrophil counts.
Pride-HD (NCT02006472)
It lasted for 52 weeks, was a phase 2, international, multi-center, randomized, placebo controlled, double blind, parallel study taking place in Australia, Austria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States of America. It recruited 408 participants.
The primary outcome was change from baseline in the UHDRS TMS after 26 weeks of treatment. The secondary outcomes involved the modified Physical Performance Test, and adverse events. Early in the course of the study, the sponsors instituted a change in the study design, from a 26-week study focused primarily on changes in motor symptoms as measured by the TMS, to a longer 52-week study to explore pridopidine’s potential impact on functionalendpoints.
Still, the final results of this study have not yet been published, and we look forward to seeing them after peer review. The open label extension of this trial— Open PRIDE-HD (NCT02494778)— is still ongoing, according to the latest public information.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
FBR and EJW are sub-investigators on LEGATO-HD (NCT02215616) and IONIS-HTTRx (NCT02519036), and EJW was a sub-investigator on Amaryllis (NCT02197130). The authors did not make use of confidential or privileged information: all materials included in this manuscript were collected from publicly available sources. EJW has participated in scientific advisory boards with Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd, Ionis, Shire, GSK and Wave Life Sciences. All honoraria were paid through UCL Consultants Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of UCL. Their Host Institution, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, has received funds as compensation for conducting clinical trials for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer and Teva Pharmaceuticals.
