Comparison of Azathioprine to Methotrexate in Combination Therapy With Adalimumab in Crohn's Disease: an Open-label Randomized Controlled Trial (COMET)

May 22, 2025 updated by: Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Amiens

Combination therapy, the association of an anti-Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) to an immunosuppressant, is recognized as the most effective treatment during Crohn's disease (CD). Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain the superiority of combination therapy over monotherapy, the additive effect of two effective drugs or the prevention of anti-TNF immunogenicity. As the best combination therapy is unknown, both azathioprine (AZA) and methotrexate (MTX) are used. Some retrospective studies suggest a higher effectiveness of AZA. MTX may have an advantage in terms of safety.

The investigators hypothesize that AZA is more effective than MTX as combination therapy with adalimumab to improve short-term endoscopic, clinical and pharmacological outcomes in CD patients.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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.

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 (Estimated)

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.
166

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 3

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • France
      • Amiens, France, 80480
        • Recruiting
        • Chu Amiens
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Benjamin Pariente, Pr
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Guillaume Savoye, Pr
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Vanessa Bonjemah, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Duveau Nicolas, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Painchart, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Tavernier Noemie, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Laurent Peyrin-Biroulet, Pr
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Yoram Bouhnik, Pr
        • Principal Investigator:
          • David Laharie, Pr
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Arnaud Boureille, Pr
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Antony Buisson, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Xavier Roblin, Pr
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Lucine Vuitton, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Romain Altwegg, MD
        • Principal Investigator:
          • Clea Rouillon, MD
        • Contact:

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male or female patients with age > 18 years
  • Crohn's disease for at least 6 weeks,
  • Clinically active with CDAI > 150
  • Active inflammation by endoscopy (CDEIS > 4) at baseline
  • Not responder to conventional therapy or are intolerant to or have medical contraindications for such therapies and initiating treatment with adalimumab
  • Patient followed in a center belonging to the GETAID network
  • Fertile men and women of childbearing potential included in the protocol should use adequate methods of contraception according to study drug SMPCs.
  • Written consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Short bowel syndrome, ostomy, symptomatic stricture, abscess, recent history of abdominal surgery (<3 months)
  • Non-passable colonic stricture
  • Previous intolerance to thiopurines or MTX
  • Previous exposition to adalimumab
  • Contra-indication to immunosuppressants or anti-TNF
  • Others serious simultaneous illness that could interfere with study participation
  • Planning pregnancy, pregnancy or lactation or absence of contraception
  • Known substance abusers
  • Use of any investigational drug within 30 days
  • Adults protected by law

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: 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: AZA group
Combination of sub-cutaneous administration of adalimumab at a dose of 160mg(W0)-80mg(W2)-40mg(W6) and then 40mg EOW and oral AZA capsules at a daily dose of 2.5 mg/kg
Drug: AZA capsules
oral AZA capsules at a daily dose of 2.5 mg per kilogram,
Biological: blood sample
The lab tests are: serum albumin, C-reactive protein, thrombocytosis and haemoglobin.
Experimental: MTX group
Combination of sub-cutaneous administration of adalimumab at a dose of 160mg (week (W) 0)-80mg(W2)-40mg(W6) and then 40mg EOW and sub-cutaneous MTX 25mg once a week
Biological: blood sample
The lab tests are: serum albumin, C-reactive protein, thrombocytosis and haemoglobin.
Drug: MTX
MTX 25 mg SC once a week

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
Variation of the endoscopic response between AZA and MTX groups
Time Frame: 26 weeks

Variation of the endoscopic response to AZA in combination with adalimumab and to MTX in combination with adalimumab in patients with CD.

The endoscopic reference score (EREFS) is used to determine severity of 5 endoscopic findings: edema, rings, exudates, furrows, and structures. The EREFS classification system rates the severity of edema (0-2), rings (0-3), exudates (0-2), furrows (0-2), and strictures (0-1)
26 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.
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire, Amiens

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.
Hospices Civils de Lyon
University Hospital, Montpellier
University Hospital, Bordeaux
University Hospital, Clermont-Ferrand
Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Besancon
Nantes University Hospital
Henri Mondor University Hospital
Hopitaux Civils de Colmar
CHU Toulouse
AP-HP - HU BEAUJON
CHU REIMS
CHRU LILLE
CHU Rennes,France
CHU ROUEN - HOPITAL DE BOIS-GUILLAUME
CHRU TOURS
CHU NICE
CHU NANCY
CHU CAEN
CHU SAINT-ETIENNE
CH TOURCOING
CH COTE BASQUE
CH ROUBAIX
CHI CRETEIL
CHI TOULON LA SEYNE
CH VALENCE
CMC Ambroise Paré, Pierre Cherest, Hartmann

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.
August 26, 2021

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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.
August 1, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
May 1, 2027

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).
August 26, 2021

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.
September 7, 2021

First Posted (Actual)

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.
September 10, 2021

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.
May 28, 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.
May 22, 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.
May 1, 2025

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.
  • PI2021_843_0080

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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