Efficacy and Safety Study of AeroVanc for the Treatment of Persistent MRSA Lung Infection in Cystic Fibrosis Patients

A Phase 2, Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo-controlled Study of AeroVanc for the Treatment of Persistent Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus Lung Infection in Cystic Fibrosis Patients

The purpose of this study is to determine whether AeroVanc treatment is safe and effective in reducing the number of MRSA colony forming units in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Cystic Fibrosis
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Placebo inhalation powder; Drug: Vancomycin hydrochloride inhalation powder

Detailed Description

This is a Phase 2a randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel group study to examine the safety and efficacy of AeroVanc in the treatment of persistent MRSA lung infection in CF patients. Pharmacokinetics will be evaluated in a subgroup by measuring plasma and sputum concentrations of vancomycin.

Prior to treatment, patients will be randomized to receive either AeroVanc twice daily (bid), or placebo bid. Patients will be stratified based on the presence of a Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) co-infection that is being treated with a chronic suppression regimen. Patients with P. aeruginosa co-infection can be on any chronic inhaled suppression regimen (or nothing if the patient is considered stable in the opinion of the investigator despite the lack of treatment). Regardless of treatment regimen, if there is an off month, screening should be scheduled so that AeroVanc or placebo administration can be given during this time. Patients with no off month should be screened so that the AeroVanc or placebo administration period coincides with a treatment cycle other than TOBI (e.g., Cayston or colistin). All patients must have at least a 24-hour washout period after stopping their anti-Pseudomonas therapy and prior to the Visit 2 (Baseline) pre-dose microbiology sputum sample. The AeroVanc or placebo treatment duration is 28 days, during which efficacy and safety parameters will be measured, and after which patients will be followed up for 56 days.

There will be two treatment cohorts in this study, each comprised of 40 randomized (1:1 active to placebo) and treated patients (adults ≥18 and children ≥12 years of age). In Cohort 1, patients will be enrolled and randomized to receive the 32 mg dose of AeroVanc bid or placebo bid. Prior to starting enrollment in Cohort 2, a safety evaluation will be carried out by the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) based on treatment data from the first 20 patients in Cohort 1. Subject to the Sponsor's written communication of the DMC's opinion of acceptable safety, the dose for the active arm in Cohort 2 will be escalated to 64 mg bid. Optionally, the active arm for Cohort 2 may also be kept the same (32 mg bid), or reduced to 16 mg bid, depending on the outcome of the DMC's safety evaluation.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 87
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Alabama
    • Mobile, Alabama, United States, 36608
      • Pulmonary Associates of Mobile
  • Arkansas
    • Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, 72205
      • University of Arkansas for Medical Science
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90027
      • Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Division of Pediatric Pulmonology
  • Colorado
    • Denver, Colorado, United States, 80206
      • National Jewish Health
  • Florida
    • Hollywood, Florida, United States, 33021
      • Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital
    • Miami, Florida, United States, 33136
      • University of Miami - Miller School of Medicine
    • Orlando, Florida, United States, 32803
      • Central Florida Pulmonary Group
    • Orlando, Florida, United States, 32806
      • Nemours Children's Clinic and Hospital
    • Tampa, Florida, United States, 33606
      • New Lung Associates, PA; Lung Transplant, Adult Cystic Fibrosis, and the Center for Advanced Lung Diseases, Tampa General Hospital
  • Illinois
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
      • Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago
    • Chicago, Illinois, United States, 60611
      • Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
    • Glenview, Illinois, United States, 60025
      • The Cystic Fibrosis Center of Chicago
  • Kansas
    • Kansas City, Kansas, United States, 66160
      • University of Kansas Medical Center
  • Kentucky
    • Lexington, Kentucky, United States, 40536
      • University of Kentucky Cystic Fibrosis Clinic
    • Louisville, Kentucky, United States, 40202
      • University of Louisville
  • Massachusetts
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02114
      • Massachusetts General Hospital Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Center
    • Boston, Massachusetts, United States, 02115
      • Boston Children's Hospital Cystic Fibrosis Center
  • Michigan
    • Detroit, Michigan, United States, 48201
      • Wayne State University, Harper Hospital, Children's Hospital of Michigan
  • Missouri
    • Saint Louis, Missouri, United States, 63110
      • Washington University School of Medicine
  • New Jersey
    • New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States, 08901
      • Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
  • New York
    • New Hyde Park, New York, United States, 11040
      • Hofstra North Shore - Long Island Jewish School of Medicine
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • Columbia University Medical Center
  • North Carolina
    • Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, 27599
      • University of North Carolina
    • Durham, North Carolina, United States, 27710
      • Duke University Medical Center
  • Ohio
    • Cleveland, Ohio, United States, 44106
      • Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital / University Hospitals Case Medical Center
    • Columbus, Ohio, United States, 43205
      • Nationwide Children's Hospital
    • Dayton, Ohio, United States, 45404
      • The Children's Medical Center of Dayton
  • Oklahoma
    • Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States, 73112
      • Santiago Reyes, MD
  • Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
      • University of Pennsylvania
    • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States, 15224
      • Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
  • South Carolina
    • Charleston, South Carolina, United States, 29425
      • Medical University of South Carolina
  • Tennessee
    • Nashville, Tennessee, United States, 37232
      • Vanderbilt University Medical Center
  • Texas
    • Austin, Texas, United States, 78723
      • Dell Children's Medical Center of Central Texas
    • Dallas, Texas, United States, 75390
      • University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
    • Houston, Texas, United States, 77030
      • Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital
    • Tyler, Texas, United States, 75708
      • University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler
  • Utah
    • Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, 84132
      • University of Utah, Intermountain Cystic Fibrosis Center
  • Washington
    • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98195
      • University of Washington Medical Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 12 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Adults ≥18 years old (and the legally authorized representatives of children ≥12 but <18 years old): Able to communicate with site personnel and to understand and voluntarily sign the Informed Consent Form (ICF). Children ≥12 but <18 years old: Able to communicate with site personnel and to understand and voluntarily sign the Assent Form.
2. Able and willing to comply with the protocol, including availability for all scheduled study visits.
3. Have a confirmed diagnosis of CF, determined by having clinical features consistent with the CF phenotype, plus one of the following: a) Positive sweat chloride test (value ≥60 mEq/L), or b) Genotype with two mutations consistent with CF (ie, a mutation in each of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator [CFTR] genes).
4. Be ≥12 years old at time of ICF/Assent Form signing.
5. Have sputum culture positive for MRSA at Screening, with at least 10,000 CFUs/mL of MRSA.
6. In addition to the screening sample, have at least two historical respiratory tract cultures (i.e., sputum and/or throat swab) positive for MRSA prior to Screening and evidence that the MRSA lung infection has persisted for at least 6 months prior to Screening.
7. Have forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) ≥30% and ≤100% of predicted that is normalized for age, gender, and height at Screening.

8. Evidence, defined as one or both of the following, that the persistent MRSA lung infection is suspected to be causing health consequences.

   • Have had at least one episode of acute pulmonary infection treated with non-maintenance antibiotics within 12 months from Screening. Initiation of treatment with intermittent inhaled anti-Pseudomonas therapy will not qualify as treatment with non-maintenance antibiotics.
   • Requires anti-MRSA treatment as part of a maintenance regimen to prevent pulmonary exacerbations or other respiratory symptoms.
9. Be able to perform all the techniques necessary to use the AeroVanc inhaler and measure lung function.
10. Be able to produce expectorated sputum samples or be able and willing to undergo standardized sputum induction.
11. Agree not to smoke from Screening through the end of the study.
12. Female patients of child-bearing potential are eligible to participate in this study only if they are NOT pregnant or lactating, and if the patient is using a highly effective method of birth control.
13. Patients with P. aeruginosa co-infection must either be stable on a regular suppression regimen of inhaled antibiotics or must be, in the opinion of the investigator, stable despite the lack of such treatment. Patients on a Cayston based therapy must have received at least 2 cycles of Cayston prior to Baseline (can be 2 consecutive months or 2 cycles over 4 months).

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Administration of any investigational drug or device within 28 days prior to ICF/Assent Form signing.
2. Use of iv or inhaled anti-MRSA drugs within 28 days or oral anti-MRSA drugs within 14 days prior to Visit 2 (ie, randomization, Baseline and AeroVanc/placebo treatment initiation).
3. A history of previous allergies or sensitivity to vancomycin, or other component(s) of the study drug or placebo except for a history of red-man syndrome.
4. History of severe cough/bronchospasm upon inhalation of dry powder inhalation product, or nebulized vancomycin.
5. Resistance to vancomycin at Screening (vancomycin resistant Staphylococcus aureus [VRSA], or vancomycin intermediate resistant Staphylococcus aureus [VISA], with minimum inhibitory concentration [MIC] ≥4 mcg/mL).
6. Oral corticosteroids in doses exceeding 10 mg prednisone per day or 20 mg prednisone every other day, or equipotent doses of another corticosteroid.
7. History of sputum culture or throat swab culture yielding B. cepacia or gladioli in the previous two years, or nontuberculosis mycobacteria in the previous six months.
8. An acute upper or lower respiratory infection, or pulmonary exacerbation within 7 days prior to Randomization.
9. Changes in antimicrobial, bronchodilator, anti-inflammatory or corticosteroid medications within 7 days prior to ICF/Assent Form signing.
10. Current daily continuous oxygen supplementation or requirement for more than 2 L/min at night.
11. Changes in physiotherapy technique or schedule within 7 days prior to ICF/Assent Form signing.
12. History of lung or other solid organ transplantation or currently on the list to receive lung or other solid organ transplantation.
13. A chest X-Ray at Screening with abnormalities indicating a significant acute finding (eg, pneumothorax, or pleural effusion).
14. Lactating female or female with a positive pregnancy test result. All women of childbearing potential will be tested.
15. Renal insufficiency, defined as creatinine clearance <50 mL/min using the Cockcroft-Gault equation for adults or Schwartz equation in children, at Screening.
16. Diagnosed with clinically significant hearing loss.
17. Abnormal liver function, defined as ≥4x upper limit of normal (ULN), of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST) or serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), or known cirrhosis at the time of Screening.
18. Serum hematology or chemistry screening results which in the judgment of the Investigator would interfere with completion of the study.
19. Positive for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV).
20. Other findings or medical history at screening that, in the Investigator's opinion, would compromise the safety of the patient or the quality of the study data.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Vancomycin hydrochloride inhalation powder; 32 or 64 mg twice daily (BID)	Drug: Vancomycin hydrochloride inhalation powder; There will be two treatment cohorts in this study, each comprised of 40 randomized (1:1 active to placebo) and treated patients (adults ≥18 and children ≥12 years of age). In Cohort 1, patients will be enrolled and randomized to receive the 32 mg dose of AeroVanc bid or placebo bid. Prior to starting enrollment in Cohort 2, a safety evaluation will be carried out by the Data Monitoring Committee (DMC) based on treatment data from the first 20 patients in Cohort 1. Subject to the Sponsor's written communication of the DMC's opinion of acceptable safety, the dose for the active arm in Cohort 2 will be escalated to 64 mg bid. Optionally, the active arm for Cohort 2 may also be kept the same (32 mg bid), or reduced to 16 mg bid, depending on the outcome of the DMC's safety evaluation.; Other Names: AeroVanc
Placebo Comparator: Placebo inhalation powder; Matching placebo inhalation powder BID	Drug: Placebo inhalation powder

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline in MRSA Sputum Density.	Change from Baseline at Day 29 of the dosing period (start of AeroVanc/Placebo administration is considered Day 1 of the dosing period) in the number of MRSA colony forming units (CFU) in sputum culture.	Day 29 of treatment period

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline in MRSA Sputum Density.		Day 8 of treatment period
Change From Baseline in MRSA Sputum Density.		Day 15 of treatment period
Change From Baseline in FEV1	Absolute change from baseline in FEV1 percent predicted	Day 29 of treatment period
Change From Baseline in FVC	Absolute change from baseline in FVC percent predicted	Day 29 of treatment period
Change From Baseline in Cystic Fibrosis Respiratory Symptom Diary (CFRSD-CRISS) Scores	Change from Baseline in Cystic Fibrosis Respiratory Symptom Diary (CFRSD) Chronic Respiratory Infection Symptom Scores (CRISS). The minimum score is 0 and the maximum is 100, where a higher score means a worse outcome.	Day 29 of treatment period
Time From Start of Dosing to First Administration of Other Antimicrobial Medications (Oral, Intravenous and/or Inhaled) Due to Respiratory Symptoms.		Entire study: Day 1 of treatment period through 8 week post-treatment follow up visit
Time From Start of Dosing to Exacerbation of Signs/Symptoms (Fuchs Criteria).		Entire study: Day 1 of treatment period through 8 week post-treatment follow up visit
Change From Baseline in High Sensitivity CRP		Day 29 of the dosing period
Change From Baseline in Blood Neutrophils		Day 29 of the dosing period

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Savara Inc.
• Collaborators: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation; Synteract, Inc.
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Elliott Dasenbrook, M.D., MHS, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• CFF.org - "MRSA and Cystic Fibrosis"

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: March 1, 2013
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 1, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): November 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 6, 2012
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 6, 2012
• First Posted (Estimate): December 10, 2012

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): January 13, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 23, 2019
• Last Verified: December 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: MRSA; Vancomycin; Cystic Fibrosis; Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus; Lung infection; AeroVanc
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Digestive System Diseases; Pathologic Processes; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Infant, Newborn, Diseases; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Pancreatic Diseases; Fibrosis; Infections; Cystic Fibrosis; Anti-Infective Agents; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Vancomycin
• Other Study ID Numbers: SAV005-02