NEXAGON for the Treatment of Corneal Persistent Epithelial Defects Following Severe Ocular Injuries (EXPEDE)

A Phase 2, Randomized, Prospective, Double-masked, Vehicle-controlled Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Nexagon® (NEXAGON) in Subjects With Corneal Persistent Epithelial Defects

This study will enroll participants with a non-infected, corneal persistent epithelial defect (PED) resulting from an ocular chemical and/or thermal ocular injury which is non-responsive or refractory to current standard of care for at least 14 days. It will assess the efficacy and safety of Nexagon® (lufepirsen) plus standard of care versus NEXAGON-vehicle (placebo) plus standard of care. The recovery of the corneal epithelium will be the primary outcome measure, defined as a cornea that re-epithelializes by Day 28 of treatment and remains re-epithelialized for at least a further 28 days.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Corneal Persistent Epithelial Defect
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Nexagon® (lufepirsen) High Dose Concentration; Drug: Open-label Nexagon® (lufepirsen); Drug: Nexagon® (lufepirsen) Low Dose Concentration; Drug: Vehicle

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 35
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • Los Angeles, California, United States, 90095
      • Jules Stein Eye Institute

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Male and female of any age.
2. The presence of a non-infected, corneal persistent epithelial defect (PED) which has resulted from a severe chemical and/or thermal (burn) injury to one or both eyes.
3. The PED is non-responsive to current standard of care for at least 14 days from injury.
4. The PED measures at least 2 mm along the largest diameter at Day 1 of the Treatment Period.
5. Providing written informed consent and ability to comply with the visit and dosing schedule.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Have active ocular infection.
2. Subjects with corneal perforation or impending corneal perforation.
3. Subjects with any other past or present ophthalmic disease or medical condition that, in the Investigator's opinion, may affect the safety of the subject or the outcome of the study.
4. Subjects with severe lid abnormalities or ocular conditions that contribute to the persistence of the epithelial defect.
5. Female subjects of childbearing potential who are pregnant, nursing, planning a pregnancy or not using an adequate and medically acceptable form of birth control.
6. Subjects who have participated in an interventional clinical trial within 30 days prior to Day 1.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Placebo Comparator: Vehicle	Drug: Open-label Nexagon® (lufepirsen); Open-label Nexagon® (lufepirsen) for participants who do not heal (re-epithelialize) at the end of the 28-day treatment phase.; Drug: Vehicle; Vehicle is administered topically in the affected eye three (3) times over 28 days.; Other Names: Placebo
Experimental: Nexagon® (lufepirsen) High Dose Concentration	Drug: Nexagon® (lufepirsen) High Dose Concentration; Nexagon® (lufepirsen) is administered topically in the affected eye three (3) times over 28 days.; Drug: Open-label Nexagon® (lufepirsen); Open-label Nexagon® (lufepirsen) for participants who do not heal (re-epithelialize) at the end of the 28-day treatment phase.
Experimental: Nexagon® (lufepirsen) Low Dose Concentration	Drug: Open-label Nexagon® (lufepirsen); Open-label Nexagon® (lufepirsen) for participants who do not heal (re-epithelialize) at the end of the 28-day treatment phase.; Drug: Nexagon® (lufepirsen) Low Dose Concentration; Nexagon® (lufepirsen) is administered topically in the affected eye three (3) times over 28 days.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The Proportion of Subjects Achieving Corneal Epithelial Recovery, as Assessed by Slit Lamp Examination.	Corneal epithelial recovery, defined as corneal reepithelialization and maintenance of a durable epithelium for at least 28 days, will be assessed by slit lamp examination.	Up to 56 days.
Incidence of Treatment Emergent Adverse Events as Assessed by CTCAE v 5.0	Incidence of Treatment Emergent Adverse Events as assessed by CTCAE v 5.0.	Up to 30 days after last application of intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Time to corneal epithelial recovery, as assessed by slit lamp examination.	The time (number of days) from randomization to the time of initial re-epithelialization for a cornea that remains re-epithelialized and durable for at least 28 days will be recorded following confirmation by slit lamp examination.	Within 28 days
Improvement from baseline of visual acuity measured by the Snellen scale.	Improvement of visual acuity on the Snellen scale from baseline until study exit will be measured.	Up to 56 days
The number of NEXAGON treatment doses required to achieve recovery of the corneal epithelium will be assessed.	The number of NEXAGON dose applications required to achieve corneal epithelial recovery will be recorded. Corneal epithelial recovery is defined as corneal reepithelialization and maintenance of a durable epithelium for at least 28 days and will be confirmed by slit lamp examination.	Within 56 days

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Glaukos Corporation
• Collaborators: Amber Ophthalmics, Inc.
• Investigators: Study Director: Maria Feldman, Amber Ophthalmics

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): June 30, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 7, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): February 7, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 29, 2019
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 4, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): September 9, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 14, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 10, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: NEX-PED-005

Drug and device information, study documents

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