An Extension Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Fingolimod (FTY720) in Patients With Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

An Extension of the 6-month, Double-blind, Randomized, Placebo-controlled, Parallel-group, Multicenter Study Comparing Efficacy and Safety of FTY720 0.5 mg and 1.25 mg Administered Orally Once Daily in Patients With Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis

This study was an extension study of NCT00537082. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of long-term administration of 0.5 mg or 1.25 mg of fingolimod (FTY720) to relapsing multiple sclerosis.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Multiple Sclerosis
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Fingolimod

Detailed Description

A decision was made to switch all patients on fingolimod 1.25 mg/day to fingolimod 0.5 mg/day in an amendment to the study protocol. The study became open-label with all patients receiving fingolimod 0.5 mg/day on 22 Feb 2010.

The efficacy data for Months 0-6 in this study report is from the core study NCT00537082.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 143
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Japan
  • Chiba, Japan, 276-8524
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Ehime, Japan, 791-0295
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Fukuoka, Japan, 807-8555
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Gunma, Japan, 371-8511
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Hyogo, Japan, 650-0017
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Ibaraki, Japan, 305-8576
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Kanagawa, Japan, 259-1193
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Kyoto, Japan, 604-8453
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Kyoto, Japan, 616-8255
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Morioka, Japan, 020-8505
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Niigata, Japan, 951-8520
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Osaka, Japan, 556-0016
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Osaka, Japan, 589-8511
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Osaka, Japan
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Sapporo, Japan, 060-8648
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Tochigi, Japan, 329-0498
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Tokyo, Japan, 113-8519
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Tokyo, Japan, 145-0065
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Tokyo, Japan, 162-8666
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Wakayama, Japan, 641-8510
    • Novartis Investigative Site

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 60 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients who completed 6 months of treatment with the study drug and the Month 6 visit in the core study NCT00537082.
• Females of childbearing potential who have a negative pregnancy test in the core study NCT00537082.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who permanently discontinued study drug treatment prior to the Month 6 visit in the core study NCT00537082.

Other protocol-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria applied to the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Fingolimod 0.5 mg; Patients who received fingolimod 0.5 orally once daily in the core study continued on the same dose in this extension study.	Drug: Fingolimod; Fingolimod was supplied in capsules.; Other Names: Gilenya; Imsera
Experimental: Fingolimod 1.25 mg; Patients who received fingolimod 1.25 mg orally once daily in the core study continued on the same dose in this extension study.	Drug: Fingolimod; Fingolimod was supplied in capsules.; Other Names: Gilenya; Imsera
Experimental: Placebo-fingolimod; Patients who were randomized to placebo in the core study were re-randomized to either fingolimod 0.5 or 1.25 mg (1:1) orally once daily in this extension study.	Drug: Fingolimod; Fingolimod was supplied in capsules.; Other Names: Gilenya; Imsera

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percentage of Patients Free of Gd-enhanced T1 Weighted Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Lesions	To ensure consistency, MRI scans were evaluated centrally at the Institute of Neurotherapeutics in Kyoto, Japan. After checking the scans for completeness and quality, all scans were analyzed by blinded readers (experienced neurologists). The number of Gd-enhanced T1 weighted MRI lesions were counted and recorded. Lesions expanding through several slices were counted as only 1 lesion.	Months 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, and 48

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Percentage of Patients Free of New or Newly Enlarged T2 Weighted MRI Lesions	To ensure consistency, MRI scans were evaluated centrally at the Institute of Neurotherapeutics in Kyoto, Japan. After checking the scans for completeness and quality, all scans were analyzed by blinded readers (experienced neurologists). The number of new or newly enlarged T2 weighted MRI lesions were counted and recorded. New lesions were identified by comparing each lesion with previous scans. Lesions expanding through several slices were counted as only 1 lesion.	Months 0-3, 3-6, 6-9, 9-12, 12-18, 18-24, 24-36,36-48, and 48 to the end of the study (up to 4 years)
Aggregate Annualized Relapse Rate (ARR) Based on Confirmed Relapses	The ARR was defined as the total number of relapses for all patients in the treatment arm / total number of days in the study for all patients in the treatment arm for the specific period of time × 365.25. General definition of relapse: Appearance of a new neurological abnormality or worsening of previously stable or improving pre-existing neurological abnormality, separated by at least 30 days from the onset of a preceding clinical demyelinating event. The abnormality must be present for at least 24 hours and occur in the absence of fever (< 37.5°C) or infection. A relapse was to be confirmed by a neurologist trained on the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS). A relapse must be accompanied by an increase of at least half a step (0.5) on the EDSS or an increase of 1 point on 2 different Functional Systems (FS) of the EDSS or 2 points on 1 of the FS (excluding Bowel/Bladder or Cerebral FS).	Months 0-6, 6-12, 12-24, 24-36, 36-48, and 48 to the end of the study (up to 4 years)
Percentage of Patients Relapse-free at the End of the Study	Patients who did not experience any relapses confirmed by a neurologist during the study were regarded as relapse-free patients.	Baseline to the end of the study (up to 4 years)
Percentage of Patients Free From 3-month and 6-month Confirmed Disability Progression at Their Last Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) Assessment	Disability progression was measured by the EDSS score. A trained neurologist grades the multiple sclerosis (MS) disability of the patient on a scale of 0-5 (no to severe disability) in 8 Functional Systems (FS): Pyramidal, cerebellar, brainstem, sensory, bowel and bladder, visual, cerebral (or mental), and other. The EDSS score ranges from 0-10 (normal to dead) with higher scores indicating greater disability. A 3-month confirmed disability progression was defined as a 3-month sustained increase from baseline in the EDSS score, that is, every EDSS score obtained (scheduled or unscheduled) within 3-months after the first progression met the following progression criteria: One point (1) increase from baseline in patients with baseline EDSS score from 0 to 5.0; or half a point (0.5) increase in patients with baseline EDSS score of 5.5 or above. A 6-month confirmed disability progression was defined exactly the same except that the sustained progression had to last 6 months.	Baseline to the end of the study (up to 4 years)
Change From Core Study Baseline in the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) Score	Disability progression was measured by the EDSS score. A trained neurologist grades the multiple sclerosis (MS) disability of the patient on a scale of 0-5 (no to severe disability) in 8 Functional Systems (FS): Pyramidal, cerebellar, brainstem, sensory, bowel and bladder, visual, cerebral (or mental), and other. The EDSS score ranges from 0-10 (normal to dead) with higher scores indicating greater disability. A 3-month confirmed disability progression was defined as a 3-month sustained increase from baseline in the EDSS score, that is, every EDSS score obtained (scheduled or unscheduled) within 3-months after the first progression met the following progression criteria: One point (1) increase from baseline in patients with baseline EDSS score from 0 to 5.0; or half a point (0.5) increase in patients with baseline EDSS score of 5.5 or above. A 6-month confirmed disability progression was defined exactly the same except that the sustained progression had to last 6 months.	Baseline to Months 12, 24, 36, 48, and end of study (up to 4 years)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Novartis
• Collaborators: Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Corporation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Japan, 81-3-3797-8748

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Saida T, Itoyama Y, Kikuchi S, Hao Q, Kurosawa T, Ueda K, Auberson LZ, Tsumiyama I, Nagato K, Kira JI. Long-term efficacy and safety of fingolimod in Japanese patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis: 3-year results of the phase 2 extension study. BMC Neurol. 2017 Jan 28;17(1):17. doi: 10.1186/s12883-017-0794-5.
• Kira J, Itoyama Y, Kikuchi S, Hao Q, Kurosawa T, Nagato K, Tsumiyama I, von Rosenstiel P, Zhang-Auberson L, Saida T. Fingolimod (FTY720) therapy in Japanese patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis over 12 months: results of a phase 2 observational extension. BMC Neurol. 2014 Jan 29;14:21. doi: 10.1186/1471-2377-14-21.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: April 1, 2008
• Primary Completion (Actual): April 1, 2012
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2012

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 28, 2008
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 30, 2008
• First Posted (Estimate): May 1, 2008

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimate): September 4, 2013
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 26, 2013
• Last Verified: June 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: MS; multiple sclerosis; FTY720
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Nervous System Diseases; Immune System Diseases; Demyelinating Autoimmune Diseases, CNS; Autoimmune Diseases of the Nervous System; Demyelinating Diseases; Autoimmune Diseases; Multiple Sclerosis; Sclerosis; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Immunosuppressive Agents; Immunologic Factors; Sphingosine 1 Phosphate Receptor Modulators; Fingolimod Hydrochloride
• Other Study ID Numbers: CFTY720D1201E1