A Pilot Study of Riluzole Versus Placebo in the Treatment of Children and Adolescents With ASD (RILISE)

July 14, 2025 updated by: Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

A Pilot Study of Riluzole vs. Placebo in the Treatment of Children and Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorders

This study will examine the potential efficacy and safety of riluzole for core and associated symptom domains of autism and will explore biological markers of safety and treatment response.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

There are no pharmacologic treatments available for social function deficits in individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). The data for pharmacologic treatment of repetitive behaviors in this disorder has also become difficult to interpret given that the last two large multisite trials of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in autism are reported to be negative for the treatment of repetitive behaviors. Only the associated symptom of irritability has 2 drugs with FDA indications whereas no systematic data exists on the pharmacologic treatment of anxiety in ASD, and response to rates to stimulants for hyperactivity are lower than what is seen in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In addition, there are no biological markers of treatment response identified in this population at this point. This study will examine the potential efficacy and safety of riluzole for core and associated symptom domains of autism and will explore biological markers of safety and treatment response.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
58

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, L8S 4K1
        • Offord Centre for Child Studies
      • London, Ontario, Canada, N6A 5W9
        • Lawson Health Research Institute
      • Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M4G 1R8
        • Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

6 years to 17 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Male or female outpatients 6-17 years of age inclusive, with a mental age equivalent ≥ 18 months at Screening visit.
  2. Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV) criteria for an ASD.
  3. Have a Clinician's Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) score ≥ 4 (moderately ill) at Screening.

  4. If already receiving stable interventions must meet the following criteria:

    1. If already receiving stable concomitant medications affecting behavior, must be on a stable dose during the preceding 1 month prior to Screening (with the exception of fluoxetine, where a period of 6 weeks is needed), and will not electively initiate new or modify ongoing medications for study duration.
    2. If already receiving stable non-pharmacological educational, behavioral, and/or dietary interventions, have continuous participation during the preceding 3 months prior to Screening, and not electively initiate new or modify ongoing interventions for the duration of the study.
  5. Have normal physical examination and laboratory test results at Screening. If abnormal, the finding(s) must be deemed clinically insignificant by the Investigator.
  6. Ability to complete assessments- fluency in English (parent; patient, if verbal).
  7. Consent to participate in the Province of Ontario Neurodevelopmental (POND) study and commitment to completing as many stages as possible of the phenotyping measures (Stages 1, 2 and 3), genomics component, and interest in being imaged through POND.
  8. Ability to obtain written informed consent from the participant, if developmentally appropriate. If a participant does not have the capacity to consent, ability to obtain assent (if developmentally appropriate), as well as written informed consent from their parent(s)/legal guardian.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Pregnant female patients; sexually active female patients on inadequate birth control.
  2. Patients with a serious medical condition that, based on Investigator judgment, might interfere with the conduct of the study, confound interpretation of the study results, or endanger their own well-being. Patients with evidence or history of malignancy or any significant hematological, endocrine, cardiovascular (including any rhythm disorder), respiratory, renal, hepatic, or gastrointestinal disease, not including mild common pediatric diseases in these areas that are stable (e.g. mild asthma, constipation, etc.).
  3. Patients with unstable epilepsy (i.e. seizures occurring within the last 6 months), or patients with epilepsy who are not on stable doses of antiepileptic medications (i.e. dose changes within the last 3 months).
  4. Patients with hypersensitivity to riluzole or any components of its formulation.
  5. Patients with one or more of the following: HIV, Hepatitis B virus, Hepatitis C virus, hemophilia (bleeding problems, recent nose and brain injuries), abnormal blood pressure (hypotension or hypertension), drug abuse, immunity disorder, major depressive episode or psychosis.
  6. Patients unable to tolerate venipuncture procedures for blood sampling.
  7. Patients receiving concomitant medications that specifically target the glutamate system (e.g. memantine, d-cycloserine), or decrease the elimination of riluzole (e.g. theophylline, quinolones), less than 30 days prior to the screening visit.
  8. Patients actively enrolled in another intervention study.
  9. Patients who are unable to swallow pills.
  10. Patients who have elevated liver enzymes ≥ 3 times the normal amount before the study begins.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Drug: Placebo
Placebo comparator once daily (QD) for 12 weeks for participants 6-11 years old; Placebo comparator twice daily (BID) for 12 weeks for participants 12-17 years old
Active Comparator: Riluzole
Drug: Riluzole
50mg once daily (QD) for 12 weeks for participants 6-11 years old; 50mg twice daily (BID) for 12 weeks for participants 12-17 years old
Other Names:
  • Rilutek

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Efficacy of riluzole vs. placebo on measures of social function
Time Frame: 12 weeks
This will be measured by the Aberrant Behavior Checklist (ABC) - Lethargy / Social Withdrawal Subscale
12 weeks
Efficacy of riluzole vs. placebo on measures of repetitive behaviors
Time Frame: 12 weeks
This will be measured by the Child Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (CY-BOCS)
12 weeks
Efficacy of riluzole vs. placebo on measures of repetitive behaviors
Time Frame: 12 weeks
This will be measured by the Repetitive Behavior Scale (RBS-R)
12 weeks
Safety and tolerability of riluzole in children and adolescents with ASD
Time Frame: 12 Weeks
This will be measured by the Safety Monitoring Uniform Report Form (SMURF)
12 Weeks
Safety and tolerability of riluzole in children and adolescents with ASD
Time Frame: 12 Weeks
This will be measured by the Clinical Global Impressions - Improvement Scale - Global (CGI-I-Global)
12 Weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
The Hospital for Sick Children
McMaster University
Unity Health Toronto
University of Toronto
The University of Western Ontario

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Evdokia Anagnostou, M.D., Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
  • Principal Investigator: Robert Nicolson, M.D., University of Western Ontario, Lawson Health Research Institute
  • Principal Investigator: Terry Bennett, M.D., McMaster University; Offord Centre for Child Studies

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
September 1, 2013

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
September 1, 2015

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
October 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
July 26, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 9, 2012

First Posted (Estimated)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
August 10, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
July 16, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
July 14, 2025

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
March 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • RILISE-07-2013

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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