A Trial of Cardiac Injections of iMP Cells During CABG Surgery

January 24, 2020 updated by: Cell Therapy Ltd.

A Phase IIB, Randomised, Double-Blinded, Placebo-Controlled Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Intramyocardial Injection of Allogeneic Human iMP Cells in Patients Undergoing CABG Surgery.

Injury to the heart, which may occur following a heart attack or owing to the mechanical effect of high blood pressure, leads to scarring (fibrosis) of the heart muscle. Fibrosis of the muscle can cause impaired pumping of the heart, which can lead to heart failure, and the abnormal conduction of electrical signals through the heart. This may in turn lead to abnormal, potentially fatal, heart rhythms. Currently, scarring of the heart muscle cannot be reversed and is generally progressive.

A previous clinical study found that participants who received injections of immunomodulatory progenitor cells (iMP cells, "Heartcel") showed a reversal of heart muscle scarring when the cells were injected into heart muscle during coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. However, the previous trial was a small scale study and did not have a control group. The aim of this study is to perform a larger scale investigation with 50 participants compared to the previous trial of 11, and split the 50 participants into two groups - a test group and a control group, so that a direct comparison may be made between the two groups.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Detailed Description

Myocardial fibrosis is a currently untreatable medical condition. A previous trial reported that when iMP cells, a cell type of mesodermal lineage which is separate from, but shares characteristics with, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), were injected into the myocardium during CABG surgery, there was a reduction in the degree of scarring relative to baseline observed on 4 month and 12 month Single-Photon Emission Computed Tomography (SPECT) images.

The previous trial was open label with 11 participants and no control group, only historic comparisons. The proposed trial will be larger and will include a control group. The trial endpoints have been updated to take account of the findings of the first trial and late gadolinium enhanced (LGE) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scans (LGE-CMR), which have higher resolution than SPECT scans, will be used to assess the appearance of fibrosis.

iMP cells were developed by the sponsor as an allogeneic mesodermally derived cellular therapy for cardiac conditions. While iMPs are plastic adherent like MSCs, iMPs do not meet the International Society for Cellular Therapy's definition of MSCs, though like MSCs, markers indicate that iMPs are immune privileged and can therefore be employed allogeneically without inducing a significant immune response.

The trial is open to participants, male and female, who require CABG surgery and have 15% or greater left ventricular scarring. Unless part of normal clinical care, participants will be required to undergo a screening LGE-MRI to assess the degree of left ventricular scarring. The MRI however, may reveal that the individual is not eligible to participate in the study. If the individual is eligible, then the LGE-MRI will be used as the baseline recording and to plan the injection sites.

Each participant will be involved in the study for approximately 4.5 months. There will be two outpatient pre-operative hospital visits which will occur up to 6 weeks prior to surgery, though if a potential participant is an inpatient, the pre-operative eligibility/baseline tests can be performed over a shorter period of time as an inpatient. The CABG surgery will not differ from normal, except for the injections into the heart muscle, and participants will not miss out on any standard care. There will then be follow up visits at 1 week, 1 month and 15±2 weeks post surgery. The 1 week visit may occur as an inpatient depending on post-operative improvement. The follow up visits will not involve overnight stays. Follow up visits will mainly entail an ECG, an echocardiogram, a blood test, a urine test, health questionnaires and a discussion about the participant's health and any adverse events. Specific details are available from the chief investigator, see below. The 15±2 week visit will also involve a follow up LGE-MRI for primary endpoint assessment. After this visit, participation in the study will end and participants will receive only the normal post CABG care.

As this is a quadruple blind randomised controlled trial, neither participants nor care staff will know to which group a participant is allocated. Of the 50 participants, 30 will receive injections of cells and 20 will receive control injections.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

50

Phase

  • Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Greater than or equal to 15% LV scar volume measured by LGE-CMR.

LVEF ≤50%.

Ischaemic heart disease where CABG is the recommended revascularisation strategy.

Age range: 18 years of age and over with no history of congenital cardiac anomalies (men and women).

Able to provide written informed consent (including willingness to have two CMRs).

New York Heart Association (NYHA) class >=2 and/or Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS) class angina >=2.

For women of child bearing potential (WOCBP): Negative (non-pregnant) beta-human chorionic gonadotropin (beta-hCG) blood test.

Exclusion Criteria:

Previous cardiac surgery

Requirement for additional cardiac surgery including concomitant valve replacement surgery.

Estimated GFR of <30mL/min

Contraindication to performance of CMR

Clinical history of malignancy within 5 years

Comorbidities likely to influence the safety of performing the protocol

Liver disease including ALT 3 times or more the upper limit of normal

Low platelet count (<100,000) platelets per microliter of blood

Evidence of coagulopathy - International Normalised Ratio (INR) >2. Note: Elevated INR due solely to warfarin (or similar medication) is NOT an exclusion criterion.

Increased mortality risk over a 12-month period due to comorbidity

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: iMP cell injection
iMP cells injected in to the epicardial surface of the heart during coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Immunomodulatory progenitor cells
Other Names:
  • "Heartcel"
Placebo Comparator: Control injection
Control (cell suspension solution) injected in to the epicardial surface of the heart during coronary artery bypass graft surgery.
Cell suspension solution

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
LGE-CMR
Time Frame: Baseline and 15±2 weeks post surgery
Change in left ventricular LGE-CMR imaging (e.g. scar/fibrosis volume reduction), iMP group compared to control group.
Baseline and 15±2 weeks post surgery

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
LGE-CMR
Time Frame: Baseline and 15±2 weeks post surgery
Difference in Left Ventricular Ejection Fraction (LVEF), Left Ventricular End-Diastolic Volume Index (LVEDVi), Left Ventricular End-Systolic Volume Index (LVESVi), LV late gadolinium enhancement pattern, myocardial perfusion and myocardial strain.
Baseline and 15±2 weeks post surgery
Major Adverse Cardiac Events (MACE)
Time Frame: Recorded 1 month and 15±2 weeks post surgery
Comparison of MACE rates between the two groups - Cardiovascular death, non fatal MI, non fatal stroke and unplanned cardiovascular hospitalisation.
Recorded 1 month and 15±2 weeks post surgery
Major arrhythmic events
Time Frame: Recorded 1 month and 15±2 weeks post surgery
Comparison of rates between the two groups.
Recorded 1 month and 15±2 weeks post surgery
All cause mortality
Time Frame: Recorded 1 month and 15±2 weeks post surgery
Comparison of rates between the two groups.
Recorded 1 month and 15±2 weeks post surgery
New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class
Time Frame: Baseline and 15±2 weeks post surgery
Assessment of difference in NYHA class between groups.
Baseline and 15±2 weeks post surgery
Quality of life questionnaires
Time Frame: Baseline and 15±2 weeks post surgery
Kansas City Cardiomyopathy Questionnaire (KCCQ), the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure (MLHF) questionnaire and the EQ5D questionnaire - compared between the two groups.
Baseline and 15±2 weeks post surgery
Length of stay in intensive care/high dependency unit and time to discharge
Time Frame: Operation date until discharge from hospital date, assessed up to 30 days post surgery.
Comparison of length of stay in intensive care/high dependency unit and time to discharge - compared between the two groups.
Operation date until discharge from hospital date, assessed up to 30 days post surgery.
Blood biomarkers (routine and exploratory)
Time Frame: Baseline, 4 times during the post operative recovery period (12h, 24h, 48h and 72h) and at 1 week, 30 days and 15±2 weeks post surgery.
Blood biomarkers related to cardiac function. Routine - Urea and electrolytes, liver function tests and full blood count. Exploratory - Uric acid, lipid profile, high sensitivity C reactive protein, high sensitivity troponin, N terminal pro brain natriuretic peptide. Levels compared between the two groups.
Baseline, 4 times during the post operative recovery period (12h, 24h, 48h and 72h) and at 1 week, 30 days and 15±2 weeks post surgery.

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Investigators

  • Study Director: Nigel Scott, MB BChir PhD, Cell Therapy Ltd.

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Anticipated)

January 1, 2020

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

January 1, 2021

Study Completion (Anticipated)

July 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

April 20, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 2, 2018

First Posted (Actual)

May 3, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 27, 2020

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 24, 2020

Last Verified

January 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CLX003-IMP-2-170121

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

No

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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