Transplanting Hepatitis C Kidneys Into Negative Kidney Recipients (THINKER)

June 14, 2023 updated by: University of Pennsylvania

Open-Labeled Trial Of Direct-Acting Antiviral Treatment Of Hepatitis C-Negative Patients Who Receive Kidney Transplants From Hepatitis C-Positive Donors

This study is being conducted to determine safety and effectiveness of transplanting kidneys from Hepatitis C-positive donors into Hepatitis C-negative patients on the kidney transplant waitlist, who will then be treated with the appropriate direct-acting antiviral (DAA) after the single kidney transplantation.

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

Open-labelled pilot clinical trial of Zepatier (Grazoprevir + Elbasvir), Mavyret (Glecaprevir + Pibrentasvir), Epclusa (Sofosbuvir + Velpatasvir), or another appropriate DAA in at least 75 HCV-negative subjects with end-stage renal disease receiving a kidney transplant from a HCV-positive donor. Eligible subjects will receive a kidney transplant from a deceased-donor, and then will receive DAA treatment after kidney transplantation when infection with HCV is confirmed in these kidney transplant recipients. Treatment will be complete after 12 weeks for most subjects.

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.
62

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
  • Phase 1

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

  • United States
    • Pennsylvania
      • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
        • Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania

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

30 years to 70 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Subject:

Inclusion criteria

  • Must be waitlisted for a kidney transplant (dialysis is not a requirement if a patient is waitlisted)
  • Listed for an isolated kidney transplant with ≤2555 days of accrued transplant waiting time and/or ≤2555 days of dialysis time for blood group A, B, or O, by enrollment
  • Listed for an isolated kidney transplant with ≤1825 days of accrued transplant waiting time and/or ≤1825 days of dialysis time for blood group AB, by enrollment
  • No available living kidney donor
  • Between 30-70 years of age, by enrollment
  • Have a panel reactive antibody level ≤97%
  • eGFR <15ml/min/1.73m2 as calculated using the 4 variable MDRD equation
  • Obtained agreement for participation from the patient's treating transplant nephrologist
  • Able to travel to the University of Pennsylvania for routine post-transplant visits and study visits for a minimum of 6 months after transplantation
  • No active illicit substance abuse
  • Weigh at least 50kg
  • Women must agree to use birth control in accordance with Mycophenolate Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) following transplant due to the increased risk of birth defects and/or miscarriage
  • Both men and women must agree to use at least one barrier method to prevent any secretion exchange
  • Inclusion criteria for treatment (not for entry as study patient) will include any detectable HCV RNA
  • Able to provide informed consent

Exclusion criteria

  • Hepatocellular carcinoma
  • Patients with primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), FSGS recurring after previous transplant, or disease process with increased risk of causing early graft failure as per the treating nephrologist
  • HIV positive
  • HCV RNA positive (can be isolated HCV antibody positive provided the subject has no history of previously treated HCV)
  • Hepatitis B surface antigen positive
  • Any other chronic liver disease (excluding non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) with abnormal liver enzymes
  • Persistently elevated liver transaminases
  • Significant hepatic fibrosis on screening elastography (≥f2 fibrosis)
  • Pregnant or nursing (lactating) women
  • Known allergy or intolerance to tacrolimus that would require post-transplant administration of cyclosporine, rather than tacrolimus given the drug-drug interaction between cyclosporine and Zepatier
  • Waitlisted for a multi-organ transplant (e.g., pancreas-kidney, heart-kidney, etc.)

  • Significant cardiomyopathy defined as either:

    • Left ventricular ejection fraction <40% on most recent echocardiogram
    • Left ventricular ejection fraction ≥40% but <50% on most recent echocardiogram with an <5 METS of exercise tolerance
    • Reversible ischemia on stress testing without revascularization

Donor Organ Selection:

Inclusion Criteria

  • Detectable HCV RNA
  • Age ≤60 years
  • Study modified Kidney donor profile index (KDPI) score ≤0.856 - calculated as if the kidney were HCV-negative (https://optn.transplant.hrsa.gov/resources/allocation-calculators/kdpi-calculator/)

Exclusion Criteria

  • Anatomical issues in the kidney allograft that raise the risk of post-transplant complications (e.g., number or length of renal arteries or veins)
  • Confirmed HIV positive
  • Confirmed HBV positive (positive Hepatitis B surface antigen and/or HBV DNA)
  • Known previously failed treatment for HCV using a regimen with a direct-acting antiviral (can have received interferon monotherapy and/or interferon + ribavirin combination therapy)

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

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.
Experimental: Direct-acting antiviral treatment for HCV
Drug: Zepatier
Zepatier (grazoprevir 100mg and elbasvir 50 mg once daily) is taken by mouth for 12 weeks unless a genetic variation is detected. In this case treatment with Zepatier will be extended to 16 weeks. Study subjects with treatment failure will be provided open-label Zepatier + sofosbuvir (sovaldi) 400mg + Ribavirin (generic), renally dosed based on creatinine clearance per the manufacturer guidelines.
Drug: Mavyret
Mavyret (glecaprevir 100 mg and pibrentasvir 40 mg) is taken by mouth for 8 weeks. Study subjects with treatment failure will be provided an alternative DAA + sofosbuvir (sovaldi) 400mg + Ribavirin (generic), renally dosed based on creatinine clearance per the manufacturer guidelines.

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
Number of Subjects Cured
Time Frame: Baseline to 24 weeks
Subjects with post-treatment sustained virologic response (SVR) = Number of subjects with negative HCV RNA 12 weeks after completing therapy / number of subjects treated post-kidney transplantation
Baseline to 24 weeks
Number of Subjects With SAE Attributable to HCV Therapy
Time Frame: Baseline to 52 weeks
Number of subjects with major adverse events attributable to HCV therapy in post-kidney transplant
Baseline to 52 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.
University of Pennsylvania

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.
Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC

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: Stacey Prenner, MD, University of Hospital of Pennsylvania
  • Principal Investigator: Peter Reese, MD, MSCE, University of Hospital of Pennsylvania

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

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 (Actual)

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.
May 1, 2016

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.
March 1, 2022

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.
December 1, 2022

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).
April 15, 2016

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.
April 15, 2016

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.
April 19, 2016

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.
June 15, 2023

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.
June 14, 2023

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.
June 1, 2023

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.
  • 823833

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings