A Futility Trial of Sirolimus in Multiple System Atrophy

A Single Center Randomized,Double Blind, Placebo-controlled Futility Trial to Determine if Sirolimus is of Sufficient Promise to Slow the Progression of Multiple System Atrophy

Single-center, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase-II, futility clinical trial to determine if oral sirolimus is of sufficient promise to slow disease progression in MSA, prior to embarking on a large-scale and costly phase III study to assess its efficacy. A futility design under the null hypothesis assumes that sirolimus will slow the progression of the disease, whereas the alternative hypothesis assumes no benefit of sirolimus. If the null hypothesis is rejected (i.e., futility of sirolimus to slow progression of MSA), a major phase III study will be discouraged, whereas non-futility will offer strong support for a phase III trial to detect clinical efficacy.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Multiple System Atrophy
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Sirolimus 2 MG; Other: Placebo

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 47
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10016
      • New York University School of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 30 years to 80 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Participants aged 30-80 years old with a diagnosis of MSA based on clinical criteria and standardized autonomic testing. This approach allows for identification of patients with MSA with very high specificity and is yet sensitive enough to allow for enrollment of patients at a disease stage at which an intervention on the natural disease course has a meaningful impact on patient outcome. Patients therefore have to fulfill current consensus criteria (1) for probable MSA of the parkinsonian subtype (MSA-P) or cerebellar subtype (MSA-C) and have findings on autonomic function testing suggestive of MSA.
• Participants who are less than 4 years from the time of documented MSA diagnosis.
• Participants who are still able to walk with or without assistance.
• Participants with an anticipated survival of at least 3 years in the opinion of the investigator.
• Participants who are willing and able to give informed consent.
• Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) > 20.
• Ability to take oral medication and be willing to adhere to the study drug regimen
• For females of reproductive potential: use of highly effective contraception for at least 1 month prior to screening and agreement to use such a method during study participation and for an additional 8 weeks after the end of study drug administration
• For males of reproductive potential: use of condoms or other methods to ensure effective contraception with partner
• Agreement to adhere to Lifestyle Considerations (see section 5.3) throughout study duration

Exclusion Criteria:

• Women of childbearing potential who do not practice an acceptable method of birth control. Acceptable methods of birth control in this study are: surgical sterilization, intrauterine devices, partner's vasectomy, a double-protection method (condom or diaphragm with spermicide), hormonal contraceptive drug (i.e., oral contraceptive, contraceptive patch, long-acting injectable contraceptive) with a required second mode of contraception.
• Participants with a clinically significant or unstable medical or surgical condition that, in the opinion of the investigator, might preclude safe completion of the study or might affect the results of the study. These include conditions causing significant central nervous system (CNS) or autonomic dysfunction, including congestive heart failure, recent (<6 months) myocardial infarct, cardiopulmonary disease, severe, uncontrolled hypertension, thrombocytopenia (< 50 x 10(9)/L), severe anemia (< 8g/dl), immunocompromised state, liver or kidney disease (creatinine > 1.5 mg/dl or proteinuria > 20 mg/dl), uncontrolled diabetes mellitus (HbA1c >10g%), alcoholism, amyloidosis, uncontrolled hypothyroidism, sympathectomy, unstable peripheral neuropathies, concurrent infections, orthopedic problems that compromise mobility and activity of daily living, cerebrovascular accidents, neurotoxin or neuroactive drug exposure, parkinsonism due to drugs (including neuroleptics, alpha-methyldopa, reserpine, metoclopramide).
• Participants with high LDL cholesterol levels (LDL > 160 mg/dL) and/or high triglycerides levels (> 200 mg/dL).
• Participants with latent tuberculosis infection as defined as positive interferon-gamma release-assay (QUANTIferon®).
• Participants with history of tuberculosis
• Participants with a history of active, acute or chronic, or latent hepatitis B or hepatitis C.
• Participants with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, or other congenital or acquired causes of immunosuppression.
• Participants with active malignant neoplasms or history of malignant neoplasm in the last 5 years.
• Movement disorders other than MSA; e.g., Parkinson disease, dementia with Lewy bodies, essential tremor, progressive supranuclear palsy, spinocerebellar ataxia, spastic paraparesis, corticobasal degeneration, or vascular, pharmacological or post-encephalitic parkinsonism.
• Dementia (DSM-V criteria).
• History of electroconvulsive therapy.
• History of deep brain stimulation surgery.
• Patients with contraindication for MRI scanning, including those with MRI-incompatible pacemaker
• History of organ transplant
• Participants who have taken any investigational products within 60 days prior to baseline.
• Treatment with cyclosporine, corticosteroids, methotrexate, rituximab within 3 months prior to baseline.
• Treatment with inhibitors of CYP3A4 (which may decrease the metabolism of sirolimus and increase sirolimus levels): nicardipine, verapamil, clotrimazole, fluconazole, itraconazole, clarithromycin, erythromycin, troleandomycin, cisapride, metoclopramide, bromocriptine, cimetidine, danazol, HIV-protease inhibitors (e.g., ritonavir, indinavir); grapefruit.
• Treatment with inducers of CYP3A4 (which may increase the metabolism of sirolimus and decrease sirolimus levels): carbamazepine, phenobarbital, phenytoin, rifabutin, rifapentine.
• Inability or unwillingness of subject or legal guardian/representative to give written informed consent.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Sirolimus; 2 mg/day (one 2-mg tablet/day). The dose of sirolimus will be adjusted throughout the trial based on sirolimus plasma levels and the presence of drug-related adverse events. The maximum dose of sirolimus will be6 mg/day (three 2-mg tablets/day).	Drug: Sirolimus 2 MG; Dose will be adjusted throughout this trial based on sirolimus plasma levels and the presence of drug-related adverse events. The maximum dose will be 6mg/day.
Placebo Comparator: Placebo; Patients receiving placebo will undergo analog sham level measurements and the number of tablets will be also adjusted to maintain the blinding of the trial.	Other: Placebo; Patients receiving placebo will undergo analog sham level measurements and the number of tablets will be also adjusted to maintain the blinding of the trial.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline to 48 Weeks in United Multiple System Atrophy Rating Score (UMSARS) Total Score	UMSARS is a validated, disease-specific scale representing the diverse signs and symptoms in MSA. USMARS has an Activities of Daily Living score (UMSARS-1, 12 questions) that evaluates motor including autonomic activities and the Motor Examination score (UMSARS-2, 14 questions). UMSARS-3 measures supine/standing BP and UMSARS-4 is a disability scale. The total range of score is 1-109; Higher scores on the UMSARS scales mean poorer health.	Baseline, 48 Weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline to 48 Weeks in UMSARS-1	The Activities of Daily Living score (UMSARS-1, 12 questions) evaluates impact of symptoms, including autonomic, on activities of daily living. 12 functional situations are rated between 0-4. The total range of score is 0-48; the higher the score, the more problems conducting activities of daily living.	Baseline, 48 Weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: NYU Langone Health
• Collaborators: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jose-Alberto Palma, MD, PhD, NYU Langone Health

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Palma JA, Martinez J, Millar Vernetti P, Ma T, Perez MA, Zhong J, Qian Y, Dutta S, Maina KN, Siddique I, Bitan G, Ades-Aron B, Shepherd TM, Kang UJ, Kaufmann H. mTOR Inhibition with Sirolimus in Multiple System Atrophy: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Futility Trial and 1-Year Biomarker Longitudinal Analysis. Mov Disord. 2022 Apr;37(4):778-789. doi: 10.1002/mds.28923. Epub 2022 Jan 18.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2018
• Primary Completion (Actual): November 20, 2020
• Study Completion (Actual): January 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 5, 2018
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 5, 2018
• First Posted (Actual): July 18, 2018

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): December 7, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 8, 2021
• Last Verified: November 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Cardiovascular Diseases; Vascular Diseases; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Basal Ganglia Diseases; Movement Disorders; Synucleinopathies; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Pathological Conditions, Anatomical; Autonomic Nervous System Diseases; Primary Dysautonomias; Hypotension; Atrophy; Multiple System Atrophy; Shy-Drager Syndrome; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Anti-Infective Agents; Antineoplastic Agents; Immunosuppressive Agents; Immunologic Factors; Anti-Bacterial Agents; Antibiotics, Antineoplastic; Antifungal Agents; Sirolimus
• Other Study ID Numbers: 17-01392

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: Yes
• IPD Plan Description: Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this article, after deidentification (text, tables, figures, and appendices).
• IPD Sharing Time Frame: Beginning 3 months and ending 5 years following article publication.
• IPD Sharing Access Criteria: Researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal that has been approved by a local Institutional Review Board.
• IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type: Study Protocol

Drug and device information, study documents

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