Efficacy and Long-Term Safety of Ragweed (Ambrosia Artemisiifolia) Sublingual Tablet (SCH 39641) in Adults With a History of Ragweed-Induced Rhinoconjunctivitis With or Without Asthma (Study P05234)

A Multicenter, Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Parallel-Group Study Evaluating the Efficacy and Long-Term Safety of Ragweed (Ambrosia Artemisiifolia) Sublingual Tablet (SCH 39641) in Adult Subjects With a History of Ragweed-Induced Rhinoconjunctivitis With or Without Asthma

This study will evaluate the efficacy and safety of ragweed sublingual tablet (SCH 39641/MK-3641/Amb a 1-U) compared with placebo in participants with ragweed-induced rhinoconjunctivitis over a one-year period. It is expected that ragweed allergic participants on one of the active arms of the trial will have decreased allergic rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms and require less allergy rescue medications during ragweed pollen season.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Rhinitis, Allergic; Conjunctivitis
• Intervention / Treatment: Biological: Ambrosia artemisiifolia allergen extract (Amb a 1-U); Biological: Placebo

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 784
• Phase: Phase 2; Phase 3

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years to 50 years (Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Must have a clinical history of significant ragweed-induced allergic rhinoconjunctivitis of at least 2 years duration, with or without asthma and have received treatment during the previous ragweed season (RS).
• Must have a positive skin prick test response to Ambrosia artemisiifolia at Screening Visit.
• Must be positive for specific immunoglobulin E (IgE) against Ambrosia artemisiifolia at Screening Visit.
• Must have an forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV1) of at least 70% of predicted at Screening Visit.
• Safety laboratory tests and vital signs conducted at the Screening Visit must be within normal limits or clinically acceptable to the investigator/sponsor.
• Must be willing to give written informed consent and be able to adhere to dose and visit schedules.
• Female participants of childbearing potential must be using a medically acceptable and adequate form of birth control. These include: hormonal contraceptives as prescribed by a physician (oral, hormonal vaginal ring, hormonal implant or depot injectable); medically prescribed intra-uterine device; medically prescribed topically-applied transdermal contraceptive patch; double-barrier method (eg, condom in combination with a spermicide).
• Female participants of childbearing potential should be counseled in the appropriate use of birth control while in the study. Female participants who are not currently sexually active must and consent to use one of the above-mentioned methods if she becomes sexually active during the study.
• Female participants of childbearing potential must have a negative urine pregnancy test at Screening Visit. Women who have been surgically sterilized or at least 1 year postmenopausal are not considered to be of childbearing potential.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Clinical history of symptomatic seasonal allergic rhinitis and/or asthma having received regular medication, due to another during or potentially overlapping the RS.
• Clinical history of significant symptomatic perennial allergic rhinitis and/or asthma due to an allergen to which the participant is regularly exposed.
• Receipt of an immunosuppressive treatment within 3 months prior to the Screening Visit (except steroids for allergic and asthma symptoms).
• Clinical history of severe asthma.
• Asthma requiring medium or high dose inhaled corticosteroids (ICS).
• History of anaphylaxis with cardiorespiratory symptoms.
• History of chronic urticaria and angioedema.
• Clinical history of chronic sinusitis 2 years prior to the Screening Visit.
• Current severe atopic dermatitis.
• Breast-feeding, pregnancy, or intending to become pregnant.
• Had previous treatment by immunotherapy with ragweed allergen or any other allergen 5 years prior to Screening Visit.
• History of allergy, hypersensitivity or intolerance to the ingredients of the investigational medicinal products (except for Ambrosia artemisiifolia), rescue medications, or self-injectable epinephrine.
• Any clinically significant condition or situation, other than the condition being studied that, in the opinion of the investigator, would interfere with the study evaluations or optimal participation in the study.
• Use of any investigational drugs within 30 days of Screening Visit.
• Participation in any other clinical study.
• Being a family member of the study staff.
• Inability to meet medication washout requirements.
• Unlikely to be able to complete the trial, or likely to travel for an extended time during the RS.
• Clinically significant abnormal vital sign or lab value.
• Participation in this same study at another site.
• Randomized into this study more than once.
• Inability to or will not comply with the use of self-injectable epinephrine.
• Greater risk of developing adverse reactions after epinephrine administration.
• History of self-injectable epinephrine use

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

4

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: SCH 39641 1.5 Amb a 1-U; Participants receive Ambrosia artemisiifolia allergan extract (SCH 39641 1.5 Amb a 1-U) rapidly dissolving sublingual tablets, administered once daily for approximately 52 weeks	Biological: Ambrosia artemisiifolia allergen extract (Amb a 1-U); Rapidly dissolving tablet administered sublingually once daily, at a dose of 1.5, 6 or 12 units.; Other Names: MK-3641; SCH 39641
Experimental: SCH 39641 6 Amb a 1-U; Participants receive Ambrosia artemisiifolia allergan extract (SCH 39641 6 Amb a 1-U) rapidly dissolving sublingual tablets, administered once daily for approximately 52 weeks	Biological: Ambrosia artemisiifolia allergen extract (Amb a 1-U); Rapidly dissolving tablet administered sublingually once daily, at a dose of 1.5, 6 or 12 units.; Other Names: MK-3641; SCH 39641
Experimental: SCH 39641 12 Amb a 1-U; Participants receive Ambrosia artemisiifolia allergan extract (SCH 39641 12 Amb a 1-U) rapidly dissolving sublingual tablets, administered once daily for approximately 52 weeks	Biological: Ambrosia artemisiifolia allergen extract (Amb a 1-U); Rapidly dissolving tablet administered sublingually once daily, at a dose of 1.5, 6 or 12 units.; Other Names: MK-3641; SCH 39641
Placebo Comparator: Placebo; Participants receive matching placebo rapidly dissolving sublingual tablets, administered once daily for approximately 52 weeks	Biological: Placebo; Placebo matching Ambrosia artemisiifolia allergen extract rapidly dissolving tablet, administered sublingually once daily

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Combined (Sum of) Rhinoconjunctivitis Daily Symptom Score (DSS) and Daily Medication Score (DMS) Averaged Over the Peak Ragweed Season (RS)	The total combined score is a composite endpoint that combines the rhinoconjuntivitis DSS and the rhinoconjunctivitis DMS. The rhinoconjunctivitis DSS consisted of a total of 6 symptoms (runny nose, blocked nose, sneezing, itchy nose, gritty feeling/red/itchy eyes and watery eyes) that were measured on a scale of 0 to 3 (0=no symptoms, 3=severe symptoms; score range: 0-18), with a lower score indicating less rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms. Rhinoconjunctivitis DMS was based on use of specific study-provided rescue medication, with different rescue medications being assigned different scores/dose unit (score range: 0-36), with a lower score indicating less rhinconjunctivitis medication use. The sum of the rhinoconjunctivitis DSS+DMS could range from 0 to 54, with a lower score indicating less rhinoconjuntivitis symptoms and medication use. Raw means were converted to adjusted means using an ANOVA model with baseline asthmatic condition, pollen region and treatment group as fixed effects.	The 15-day period during the ragweed season with the highest moving pollen average

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Average Combined Rhinoconjunctivitis DSS and DMS Over the Entire RS	The total combined score is a composite endpoint that combines the rhinoconjuntivitis DSS and the rhinoconjunctivitis DMS. The rhinoconjunctivitis DSS consisted of a total of 6 symptoms (runny nose, blocked nose, sneezing, itchy nose, gritty feeling/red/itchy eyes and watery eyes) that were measured on a scale of 0 to 3 (0=no symptoms, 3=severe symptoms; score range: 0-18), with a lower score indicating less rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms. Rhinoconjunctivitis DMS was based on use of specific study-provided rescue medication, with different rescue medications being assigned different scores/dose unit (score range: 0-36), with a lower score indicating less rhinconjunctivitis medication use. The sum of the rhinoconjunctivitis DSS+DMS could range from 0 to 54, with a lower score indicating less rhinoconjuntivitis symptoms and medication use. Raw means were converted to adjusted means using an ANOVA model with baseline asthmatic condition, pollen region and treatment group as fixed effects.	Approximately 5 weeks
Average Rhinoconjunctivitis DSS for the Peak RS	The rhinoconjunctivitis DSS consisted of a total of 6 symptoms (runny nose, blocked nose, sneezing, itchy nose, gritty feeling/red/itchy eyes and watery eyes) that were measured on a scale of 0 to 3 (0=no symptoms, 3=severe symptoms; score range: 0-18), with a lower score indicating less rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms. Raw means were converted to adjusted means using an ANOVA model with baseline asthmatic condition, pollen region and treatment group as fixed effects.	The 15-day period during the ragweed season with the highest moving pollen average
Average Rhinoconjunctivitis DSS for the Entire RS	The rhinoconjunctivitis DSS consisted of a total of 6 symptoms (runny nose, blocked nose, sneezing, itchy nose, gritty feeling/red/itchy eyes and watery eyes) that were measured on a scale of 0 to 3 (0=no symptoms, 3=severe symptoms; score range: 0-18), with a lower score indicating less rhinoconjunctivitis symptoms. Raw means were converted to adjusted means using an ANOVA model with baseline asthmatic condition, pollen region and treatment group as fixed effects.	Approximately 5 weeks
Average Rhinoconjunctivitis DMS for the Peak RS	Rhinoconjunctivitis DMS was based on participant use of specific study-provided rescue medication, with different rescue medications being assigned different scores/dose unit (score range: 0-36), with a lower score indicating less rhinconjunctivitis medication use. Raw means were converted to adjusted means using an ANOVA model with baseline asthmatic condition, pollen region and treatment group as fixed effects.	The 15-day period during the ragweed season with the highest moving pollen average

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: ALK-Abelló A/S

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Nolte H, Amar N, Bernstein DI, Lanier BQ, Creticos P, Berman G, Kaur A, Hebert J, Maloney J. Safety and tolerability of a short ragweed sublingual immunotherapy tablet. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2014 Jul;113(1):93-100.e3. doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2014.04.018. Epub 2014 May 14.
• Creticos PS, Maloney J, Bernstein DI, Casale T, Kaur A, Fisher R, Liu N, Murphy K, Nekam K, Nolte H. Randomized controlled trial of a ragweed allergy immunotherapy tablet in North American and European adults. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2013 May;131(5):1342-9.e6. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2013.03.019.
• Christensen LH, Ipsen H, Nolte H, Maloney J, Nelson HS, Weber R, Lund K. Short ragweeds is highly cross-reactive with other ragweeds. Ann Allergy Asthma Immunol. 2015 Dec;115(6):490-495.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.anai.2015.09.016. Epub 2015 Oct 21.
• Kim H, Waserman S, Hebert J, Blaiss M, Nelson H, Creticos P, Kaur A, Maloney J, Li Z, Nolte H. Efficacy and safety of ragweed sublingual immunotherapy in Canadian patients with allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. Allergy Asthma Clin Immunol. 2014 Nov 10;10(1):55. doi: 10.1186/1710-1492-10-55. eCollection 2014.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: September 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2011
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2011

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 9, 2008
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 9, 2008
• First Posted (Estimate): October 10, 2008

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 3, 2017
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 18, 2017
• Last Verified: January 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Infections; Respiratory Tract Infections; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Immune System Diseases; Hypersensitivity, Immediate; Eye Diseases; Otorhinolaryngologic Diseases; Respiratory Hypersensitivity; Hypersensitivity; Nose Diseases; Conjunctival Diseases; Rhinitis; Rhinitis, Allergic; Conjunctivitis
• Other Study ID Numbers: P05234; MK-3641-002 (Other Identifier: Merck Protocol Number); 3810249 (Other Identifier: Schering-Plough Study Number); 2008-003864-20 (EudraCT Number)