Study to Investigate the Efficacy and Safety of QGE031 in Adolescent Patients With Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU)

A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Phase 2b Dose-finding Study to Investigate the Efficacy and Safety of Ligelizumab (QGE031) in Adolescent Patients With Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria (CSU)

This clinical study was designed to evaluate the pharmacokinetics, safety and efficacy of ligelizumab in children from 12 to < 18 years of age, with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU). The participants were treated with ligelizumab as an add-on therapy to approved doses of H1 antihistamines (H1AH) following the guideline on treatment of CSU.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Ligelizumab; Drug: Placebo

Detailed Description

This was a Phase IIb dose-finding, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled, multicenter study in adolescent patients. The study consisted of 3 distinct study periods: Screening, Treatment and Follow-up period.

After the screening period (up to 4 weeks), at Day 1 participants were randomized into one of the three treatment arms in 1:2:1 fashion to ligelizumab high dose (120 mg every four weeks (q4w)) versus ligelizumab low dose (24 mg q4w) versus placebo. During the 24 weeks of treatment period, doses were administered on Day 1 then on weeks 4, 8, 12, 16, and 20 weeks after randomization. Participants randomized to placebo received placebo on Day 1, Weeks 4 and 8; thereafter they received 120 mg ligelizumab (high dose) on Weeks 12, 16 and 20 such that by the end of the study, the same number of participants received ligelizumab high dose as low dose. The treatment period was followed by a treatment-free follow-up period of 16 weeks to a maximum of Week 40.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 49
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Argentina
  • Bahia Blanca, Argentina, B8000JRB
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Buenos Aires, Argentina, C1125ABE
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Santa Fe
    • Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina, S2000BRH
      • Novartis Investigative Site
• Belgium
  • Bruxelles, Belgium, 1200
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• Canada
  • Quebec, Canada, G1V 4W2
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Quebec
    • Montreal, Quebec, Canada, H3H 1P3
      • Novartis Investigative Site
• Germany
  • Berlin, Germany, 13353
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Mainz, Germany, 55131
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• Hungary
  • HUN
    • Budapest, HUN, Hungary, 1037
      • Novartis Investigative Site
• India
  • Delhi
    • New Delhi, Delhi, India, 110 060
      • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Maharashtra
    • Nashik, Maharashtra, India, 422 101
      • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Rajasthan
    • Bikaner, Rajasthan, India, 334001
      • Novartis Investigative Site
• Russian Federation
  • Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, 191123
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Smolensk, Russian Federation, 214019
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • St Petersburg, Russian Federation, 191015
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• Spain
  • Barcelona, Spain, 08006
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Barcelona
    • Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona, Spain, 08950
      • Novartis Investigative Site
• Taiwan
  • Taipei, Taiwan, 10002
    • Novartis Investigative Site
• Turkey
  • Ankara, Turkey, 06100
    • Novartis Investigative Site
  • Aydin, Turkey, 09100
    • Novartis Investigative Site

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 10 years to 15 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Parent or legal guardian's written informed consent and child's assent, if appropriate, must be obtained before any study related activity or assessment is performed. Of note, if the subject reaches age of consent (age as per local law) during the study, they will also need to sign the corresponding study ICF (Informed Consent Form) at the next study visit.
• Male and female adolescent patients aged ≥ 12 to <18 years at the time of screening.

• Diagnosis of CSU refractory to approved doses of H1-antihistamines at the time of randomization, as defined by all of the following:

  • The presence of itch and hives for at least 6 consecutive weeks at any time prior to enrollment despite current use of non-sedating H1-antihistamines during this time period
  • UAS7 score (range 0 - 42) ≥ 16 and HSS7 (range 0 - 21) ≥ 8 during 7 days prior to randomization (Day 1)
  • In-clinic UAS ≥ 4 on at least one of the screening visit days or Day 1 or a medical record of the presence of hives (confirmed and documented by a physician); patients must have been on H1-antihistamines for treatment of CSU at the time of in-clinic UAS at screening visit and/or time of the medical record of hives (for at least 3 days prior to the in-clinic UAS or medical record) • Patients must have been on H1-antihistamines for treatment of CSU for at least the 3 consecutive days immediately prior to the first screening visit and must have documented current use on the day of the initial screening visit
  • CSU diagnosis for ≥ 6 months
• Willing and able to complete a daily symptom e-Diary for the duration of the study and adhere to the study visit schedules.
• Demonstration of compliance with the e-Diary: patients should not have had any missing e-Diary entries in the 7 days prior to randomization. Re-screening may be considered.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Clearly defined underlying etiology for chronic urticarias other than CSU. This includes the following:

  • Inducible urticaria: urticaria factitia, cold-, heat-, solar-, pressure-, delayed pressure-, aquagenic-, cholinergic-, or contact-urticaria
  • Diseases with possible symptoms of urticaria or angioedema such as urticarial vasculitis, erythema multiforme, cutaneous mastocytosis (urticaria pigmentosa), and hereditary or acquired angioedema (e.g., due to C1 inhibitor deficiency)
• Any other skin disease associated with chronic itching that might confound the study evaluations and results (e.g. atopic dermatitis, bullous pemphigoid, dermatitis herpetiformis etc.)
• Previous exposure to omalizumab
• History of anaphylaxis

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: Ligelizumab 120 mg; Participants received a dose of ligelizumab 120 mg (high dose) which consisted of one injection of 1 ml of ligelizumab 120 mg/ 1 ml vial every 4 weeks from Day 1 to Week 20 (inclusive).	Drug: Ligelizumab; Ligelizumab comes in 120 mg per 1 ml liquid vials. Participants received one injection every 4 weeks at a dose of 120 mg or 24 mg, high and low doses respectively.; Other Names: QGE031
Experimental: Ligelizumab 24 mg; Participants received a dose of ligelizumab 24 mg (low dose) which consisted of one injection of 0.2 ml of ligelizumab 120 mg/ 1 ml vial every 4 weeks from Day 1 to Week 20 (inclusive).	Drug: Ligelizumab; Ligelizumab comes in 120 mg per 1 ml liquid vials. Participants received one injection every 4 weeks at a dose of 120 mg or 24 mg, high and low doses respectively.; Other Names: QGE031
Placebo Comparator: Placebo + Ligelizumab 120 mg; Participants received Placebo which consisted of one injection of 1 ml placebo every 4 weeks from Day 1 to Week 8 (inclusive). From week 12 to week 20 (inclusive), participants received a dose of ligelizumab 120 mg (high dose) which consisted of one injection of 1 ml of ligelizumab 120 mg/ 1 ml vial.	Drug: Ligelizumab; Ligelizumab comes in 120 mg per 1 ml liquid vials. Participants received one injection every 4 weeks at a dose of 120 mg or 24 mg, high and low doses respectively.; Other Names: QGE031; Drug: Placebo; Placebo 0 mg per 1 ml liquid injection once every 4 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline of Weekly Urticaria Activity Score (UAS7) at Week 24	UAS7 is a self-reported scoring system to evaluate urticaria signs and symptoms. UAS7 is the sum of daily urticaria activity scores (UAS) over a seven-day period. The possible range of UAS7 score is 0 to 42 (0 to 6 for daily UAS x 7 days). A higher urticaria activity score indicates more severe symptoms. A negative change score from baseline indicates improvement. Baseline was calculated using data from the 7 days prior to the first treatment date. To handle the missing data, if a participant had at least 4 non-missing daily scores within the 7 days prior to a study visit, the weekly score was calculated as the sum of the available scores in that week, divided by the number of days with daily scores available, multiplied by 7. However, if there were less than 4 non-missing daily scores within the prior 7 days, then the weekly score was missing for the week.	Baseline, week 24

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline of Weekly Urticaria Activity Score (UAS7) at Weeks 12 and 40	UAS7 is a self-reported scoring system to evaluate urticaria signs and symptoms. UAS7 is the sum of daily urticaria activity scores (UAS) over a seven-day period. The possible range of UAS7 score is 0 to 42 (0 to 6 for daily UAS x 7 days). A higher urticaria activity score indicates more severe symptoms. A negative change score from baseline indicates improvement. Baseline was calculated using data from the 7 days prior to the first treatment date. To handle the missing data, if a participant had at least 4 non-missing daily scores within the 7 days prior to a study visit, the weekly score was calculated as the sum of the available scores in that week, divided by the number of days with daily scores available, multiplied by 7. However, if there were less than 4 non-missing daily scores within the prior 7 days, then the weekly score was missing for the week.	Baseline, weeks 12 and 40
Percentage of Participants With Complete Response in Weekly Urticaria Activity Score (UAS7)	UAS7 is a self-reported scoring system to evaluate urticaria signs and symptoms. UAS7 is the sum of daily urticaria activity scores (UAS) over a seven-day period. The possible range of UAS7 score is 0 to 42 (0 to 6 for daily UAS x 7 days). A higher urticaria activity score indicates more severe symptoms. A complete UAS7 response is defined as UAS7=0, no wheals neither pruritus. Participants with post-baseline missing data were considered as non-responders.	Weeks 12, 24 and 40
Change From Baseline of Weekly Itch Severity Score (ISS7)	ISS7 is the sum of daily Itch Severity Score (ISS) over a seven-day period. The possible range of ISS7 score is 0-21 (0-3 for daily ISS x 7 days), where 0 is defined as complete ISS7 response (no itching) and 21 is the worst score. A negative change score from baseline indicates improvement. Baseline was calculated using data from the 7 days prior to the first treatment date. To handle the missing data, if a participant had at least 4 non-missing daily scores within the 7 days prior to a study visit, the weekly score was calculated as the sum of the available scores in that week, divided by the number of days with daily scores available, multiplied by 7. However, if there were less than 4 non-missing daily scores within the prior 7 days, then the weekly score was missing for the week.	Baseline, weeks 12, 24 and 40
Percentage of Participants With Complete Response in Weekly Itch Severity Score (ISS7)	ISS7 is the sum of daily Itch Severity Score (ISS) over a seven-day period. The possible range of ISS7 score is 0-21 (0-3 for daily ISS x 7 days), where 0 is defined as complete ISS7 response (no itching) and 21 is the worst score. Participants with post-baseline missing data were considered as non-responders.	Weeks 12, 24 and 40
Change From Baseline of Weekly Hives Severity Score (HSS7)	HSS7 is the sum of daily Hives Severity Score (HSS) over a seven-day period. The possible range of HSS7 score is 0-21 (0-3 for daily HSS x 7 days), where 0 is defined as complete HSS7 response (no wheals) and 21 is the worst score. A negative change score from baseline indicates improvement. Baseline was calculated using data from the 7 days prior to the first treatment date. To handle the missing data, if a participant had at least 4 non-missing daily scores within the 7 days prior to a study visit, the weekly score was calculated as the sum of the available scores in that week, divided by the number of days with daily scores available, multiplied by 7. However, if there were less than 4 non-missing daily scores within the prior 7 days, then the weekly score was missing for the week.	Baseline, weeks 12, 24 and 40
Percentage of Participants With Complete Response in Weekly Hives Severity Score (HSS7)	HSS7 is the sum of daily Hives Severity Score (HSS) over a seven-day period. The possible range of HSS7 score is 0-21 (0-3 for daily HSS x 7 days), where 0 is defined as complete HSS7 response (no wheals) and 21 is the worst score. Participants with post-baseline missing data were considered as non-responders.	Weeks 12, 24 and 40
Change From Baseline of the Children Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI)	The children dermatology life quality index questionnaire is a 10-item dermatology- specific health-related quality of life measure designed for use in children. Participants rated their dermatology symptoms as well as the impact of their skin condition on various aspects of their lives. The CDLQI total score is a sum of all 10 item responses, each individual response ranging from 0 (not at all) to 3 (very much). Total score ranges from 0 to 30 with higher scores indicating greater health-related quality of life impairment. A negative change score from baseline indicates improvement. Baseline was defined as the last non-missing value prior to or on the first treatment date. To handle the missing data, if a participant had only one item missing score per visit, then it was imputed to 0 and total score was calculated accordingly. If there were 2 or more item missing scores per visit, then the total score for the visit was considered as missing.	Baseline, weeks 12, 24 and 40
Change From Baseline in Total Human Immunoglobulin E (IgE)	Change from baseline in IgE (free IgE plus IgE bound to ligelizumab) at weeks 12, 24 and 40 as a pharmacodynamic measurement.	Baseline, weeks 12, 24 and 40
Apparent Clearance (CL/F) of Ligelizumab Estimated With a PopPK Model	Model-based estimate of apparent clearance (CL/F) was derived using compartmental pharmacokinetic population (PopPK) modelling using non-linear mixed effects model for ligelizumab. Apparent clearance population estimate was derived through fitting individual drug administration history and collected ligelizumab concentrations at the specified data points (listed in Time Frame).	Weeks 0 (baseline), 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 (all pre-dose) and weeks 24, 32 and 40
Apparent Volume of Distribution of Ligelizumab Estimated With a PopPK Model	Model-based estimate of apparent volume of distribution was derived using compartmental pharmacokinetic population (PopPK) modelling using non-linear mixed effects model for ligelizumab. Apparent volume of distribution population estimate was derived through fitting individual drug administration history and collected ligelizumab concentrations at the specified data points (listed in Time Frame).	Weeks 0 (baseline), 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 (all pre-dose) and weeks 24, 32 and 40
Number of Participants With Adverse Events (AEs) and Serious Adverse Events (SAEs)	Number of participants with AEs and SAEs, including significant changes from baseline in vital signs (blood pressure, pulse rate), electrocardiograms and laboratory values qualifying and reported as AEs. The number of participants in each category is reported in the table.	From the start of treatment to 20 weeks after end of treatment, assessed up to maximum duration of 40 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• A Plain Language Trial Summary is available on novctrd.com

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): August 1, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 23, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): February 3, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 31, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 12, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): February 19, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 29, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 27, 2022
• Last Verified: April 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Chronic spontaneous urticaria; Anti-IgE
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Skin Diseases; Immune System Diseases; Hypersensitivity, Immediate; Skin Diseases, Vascular; Hypersensitivity; Urticaria; Chronic Urticaria
• Other Study ID Numbers: CQGE031C2202; 2017-004207-52 (EudraCT Number)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

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

IPD Plan Description

Novartis is committed to sharing with qualified external researchers, access to patient-level data and supporting clinical documents from eligible studies. These requests are reviewed and approved by an independent review panel on the basis of scientific merit. All data provided is anonymized to respect the privacy of patients who have participated in the trial in line with applicable laws and regulations.

This trial data availability is according to the criteria and process described on www.clinicalstudydatarequest.com

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: Yes
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No