Miltefosine/Paromomycin Phase III Trial for Treatment of Primary Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) Patients in Eastern Africa

An Open Label, Phase III, Randomized Controlled, Multicentre Non-Inferiority Trial to Compare Efficacy and Safety of Miltefosine and Paromomycin With SSG and PM Combination for Treatment of Primary Visceral Leishmaniasis (VL) Patients in Eastern Africa

This is an open label, Phase III, randomized, controlled, parallel arm multicentre non-inferiority clinical trial to compare the efficacy and safety of two combination regimens of Miltefosine and Paromomycin with the standard SSG-PM for the treatment of primary adult and children VL patients in Eastern Africa.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Visceral Leishmaniasis
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Miltefosine; Drug: Paromomycin; Drug: Sodium stibogluconate

Detailed Description

The 2 treatment regimens to be tested are:

• Arm 1: Paromomycin 20 mg/kg/d IM for 14 days combined with oral miltefosine allometric dosing for 14 days
• Arm 2: Paromomycin 20 mg/kg/d IM for 14 days combined with oral miltefosine allometric dosing for 28 days (recruitment in this arm was discontinued under protocol v4.0 dated 22 Jul 2019)

The reference arm is the current standard treatment for VL:

• Arm 3: Sodium Stibogluconate 20 mg/kg/day IM/IV combined with Paromomycin 15 mg/kg/day IM for 17 days

The target population will be VL patients from 4 to 50 years old in order to cover both paediatric and adult population.

Patients will be hospitalized for 14 days of PM and MF treatment for both arm 1 and arm 2. MF treatment will start at the same time as PM treatment and for arm 2 it will continue on an out-patient basis until completion of the 28 days treatment.

SSG&PM combination therapy will be administered for 17 days according to routine VL treatment guidelines and patients will remain hospitalized for the entire duration of the treatment.

All patients will be asked to return to the hospital for a full assessment on day 28, and for followup visits on day 56 and at six months.

To respond to the objectives, study assessments will be carried out at screening and on days 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 56 (one-month post-treatment) and 210 (six-month post-treatment). These assessments will include clinical, parasitological, haematological, biochemistry, safety, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamics assessments.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 439
• Phase: Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Ethiopia
  • Gondar, Ethiopia
    • University Hospital of Gondar
  • Amhara
    • Ābderafī, Amhara, Ethiopia
      • Abdurafi MSF Health Center
• Kenya
  • West Pokot
    • Kapenguria, West Pokot, Kenya, 30601
      • Kacheliba Hospital
• Sudan
  • Gedaref, Sudan
    • Um El Kher Hospital
  • Gedaref
    • Doka, Gedaref, Sudan
      • El Hassan Centre for Tropical Medicine
    • Gadarif, Gedaref, Sudan
      • Tabarak Allah MSF Hospital
• Uganda
  • Karamoja
    • Amudat, Karamoja, Uganda
      • Amudat Hospital

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 4 years to 50 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Patients with clinical signs and symptoms of VL and confirmatory parasitological microscopic diagnosis
• Patients aged 4 to < 50 years who are able to comply with the study protocol.
• Patients for whom written informed consent has been obtained (if aged 18 years and over) or signed by parents(s) or legal guardian for patients under 18 years of age. In the case of minors, assent from the children also needs to be obtained as per each country regulatory requirements

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients who are relapse cases
• Patients with Para-Kala azar dermal leishmaniasis grade 3
• Patients who have received any anti-leishmanial drugs in the last 6 months
• Patients with severe malnutrition (for children aged <5 years: weight-for-height WHO reference curves by sex, z score <-3; for children patients 5-18 years: BMI-for-age WHO reference curves by sex, z score < -3; for adults >18 years: BMI < 16)*
• Patients with positive HIV diagnosis
• Patients with previous history of hypersensitivity reaction or known drug class allergy to any of the study treatments
• Patients with previous history of cardiac arrhythmia or with a clinically significant abnormal ECG
• Patients suffering from a concomitant severe infection such as TB, schistosomiasis or any other serious underlying disease (e.g. cardiac, renal, hepatic) or chronic condition which would preclude evaluation of the patient's response to study medication
• Pregnant or lactating women
• Female patients of child bearing age who do not accept to have a pregnancy test done at screening and/or who do not agree to use contraception from treatment period until 5 months after the end of treatment (see section 15.2)
• Patients with haemoglobin < 5g/dl
• Patients with signs of severe VL according to Investigator's judgement, requiring an indication for AmBisome therapy based on the clinical manifestations (such as jaundice, bleeding, edema) and clinically significant abnormalities in the following laboratory parameters: haemoglobin, WBC, platelets, liver enzymes (ALT and AST), total bilirubin and creatinine
• Patients with pre-existing hearing loss based on audiometry at baseline

• Patients who cannot comply with the planned scheduled visits and procedures of the study protocol

  • Note: for Ethiopia only: Patients with severe malnutrition (for patients 4-18 years: MUAC cut-off based on MUAC-for-height reference table; for patients > 18 years: MUAC < 170 mm)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Arm 1 - MF/PM 14d; Paromomycin 20 mg/kg/d IM for 14 days combined with oral miltefosine allometric dosing for 14 days	Drug: Miltefosine; Miltefosine 10mg and 50mg capsules; Other Names: Impavido; Drug: Paromomycin; Paromomycin sulfate equiv to 750mg paromomycin / 2ml amp; Other Names: Paromomycin sulfate
Experimental: Arm 2 - MF 28d/PM 14d; Paromomycin 20 mg/kg/d IM for 14 days combined with oral miltefosine allometric dosing for 28 days	Drug: Miltefosine; Miltefosine 10mg and 50mg capsules; Other Names: Impavido; Drug: Paromomycin; Paromomycin sulfate equiv to 750mg paromomycin / 2ml amp; Other Names: Paromomycin sulfate
Active Comparator: Arm 3 - SSG/PM 17d; Sodium Stibogluconate 20 mg/kg/day IM/IV combined with Paromomycin 15 mg/kg/day IM for 17 days	Drug: Paromomycin; Paromomycin sulfate equiv to 750mg paromomycin / 2ml amp; Other Names: Paromomycin sulfate; Drug: Sodium stibogluconate; Sodium stibogluconate 33% 30 ml inj.; Other Names: SSG

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Definitive Cure	Cure at 6 months follow up defined as absence of clinical signs and symptoms of VL at D210 and no requirement for rescue treatment during the trial (e.g. no relapse or initial treatment failure).	6 months follow-up (Day 210)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events	Frequency of SAEs and AEs requiring treatment discontinuation; Frequency and severity of adverse events from the start of treatment through the last visit, at day 210.	From Screening to day 210
Initial cure at day 28	Initial cure: cure at the end of treatment (Day 28), defined as recovery of clinical signs and symptoms; absence of parasites (microscopy) and no rescue treatment administered up to and including Day 28. Probable cure: absence of clinical signs and symptoms of VL at D56 and no prior requirement for rescue medication.	Initial cure: day 28; Probable cure: day 56
Pharmacokinetics of paromomycin and miltefosine	Total and partial blood plasma exposure to paromomycin and miltefosine defined as the area under the concentration-time curve	During treatment, at 1 month (day 56) and 6 months (day 210) follow-up
Pharmacodynamics	Blood parasite clearance over time (qualitative and quantitative), as measured by qPCR from blood samples	From baseline until day 210, and at any suspicion of relapse during the trial.
Compliance to miltefosine treatment in an outpatient setting	Compliance to MF treatment in an outpatient setting will be assessed through patients' hospital records history, drug accountability and PK measurements.	Day 15 to day 28 miltefosine treatment

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Drugs for Neglected Diseases
• Collaborators: Makerere University; The Netherlands Cancer Institute; Kenya Medical Research Institute; University of Gondar; The Institute of Endemic Diseases (IEND), University of Khartoum
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jane Mbui, MD, Kenya Medical Research Institute; Principal Investigator: Joseph Olobo, MD, Prof, College of Health Sciences, Makerere University, Uganda; Principal Investigator: Ahmed M Musa, MD, Prof, Institute of Endemic Diseases, Sudan; Principal Investigator: Rezika Mohammed, MD, University Hospital of Gondar, Ethiopia

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Musa AM, Mbui J, Mohammed R, Olobo J, Ritmeijer K, Alcoba G, Muthoni Ouattara G, Egondi T, Nakanwagi P, Omollo T, Wasunna M, Verrest L, Dorlo TPC, Musa Younis B, Nour A, Taha Ahmed Elmukashfi E, Ismail Omer Haroun A, Khalil EAG, Njenga S, Fikre H, Mekonnen T, Mersha D, Sisay K, Sagaki P, Alvar J, Solomos A, Alves F. Paromomycin and Miltefosine Combination as an Alternative to Treat Patients With Visceral Leishmaniasis in Eastern Africa: A Randomized, Controlled, Multicountry Trial. Clin Infect Dis. 2023 Feb 8;76(3):e1177-e1185. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciac643.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 24, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 11, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): December 11, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 21, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 21, 2017
• First Posted (Actual): April 26, 2017

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): February 29, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 27, 2024
• Last Verified: July 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Skin Diseases; Infections; Vector Borne Diseases; Parasitic Diseases; Protozoan Infections; Skin Diseases, Parasitic; Skin Diseases, Infectious; Euglenozoa Infections; Leishmaniasis; Leishmaniasis, Visceral; Anti-Infective Agents; Antineoplastic Agents; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antifungal Agents; Antiprotozoal Agents; Antiparasitic Agents; Anthelmintics; Schistosomicides; Antiplatyhelmintic Agents; Miltefosine; Paromomycin; Antimony Sodium Gluconate
• Other Study ID Numbers: DNDi-MILT/PM-01-VL

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: UNDECIDED

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