Evaluation of Safety and Tolerability of Libella Gene Therapy for Alzheimer's Disease: AAV- hTERT

Evaluation of Safety and Tolerability of Libella Gene Therapy (LGT) for Alzheimer's Disease: AAV- hTERT

Using gene therapy to express active telomerase (hTERT) in human cells has the potential to treat many neurodegenerative diseases related to aging, including Alzheimer's disease (AD).

This study will entail treating subjects with hTERT delivered via transduction using AAV. The goal is to extend the telomeres to prevent, delay, or even reverse the development of the pathology of AD. It is expected to have a direct consequence on cognitive function and quality of life in patients with neurodegenerative diseases, such as AD.

Study Overview

• Status: Unknown
• Conditions: Alzheimer Disease
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: AAV-hTERT

Detailed Description

Patients diagnosed with AD who meet with the inclusion - exclusion criteria, will be treated with a single dose of LGT delivered intravenously (IV) and intrathecally (IT).

Baseline will be performed within 8 weeks of beginning the treatment regimen. The treatment regimen will begin with IV delivery of AAV-hTERT, defined as "Day 0." Safety and efficacy analyses will be conducted at Weeks 1, 4, 13, 26, 39, and 52 post-treatment.

Study objectives

Primary: Safety and Tolerability

1. Investigate the safety and tolerability of AAV-hTERT by IV and IT administration.

Secondary: Provisional Efficacy

1. Investigate LGT's ability to deliver hTERT to human cells and lengthen telomeres.
2. Investigate the effects of lengthening telomeres on AD.
3. Investigate other benefits provided by lengthening telomeres.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Anticipated): 5
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Jeff Mathis, PhD; Phone Number: 1 785 4100223; Email: jmathis@libellagt.com
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Osvaldo Martinez-Clark; Phone Number: 1 786 4717814; Email: ozclark@libellagt.com

Study Locations

• Colombia
  • Cundinamarca
    • Zipaquirá, Cundinamarca, Colombia, 250251
      • Recruiting
      • IPS Arcasalud SAS
      • Contact: Wiston Pernet, MD; Phone Number: 57 3006840951; Email: wirapeca@gmail.com
      • Principal Investigator: Jorge Ulloa, MD

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 43 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria

Subjects must meet the following inclusion criteria at the screening visit.

1. Age of 45 years or older.
2. Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease or early signs of dementia.
3. Subjects, or their authorized representatives, must be adequately informed and understand the nature and risks of the study and must be able to provide a signature and date in the Informed Consent Form (ICF).
4. Women must undergo a negative serum pregnancy test at the screening assessment.
5. Subjects, or their representatives, must be able to communicate effectively with the study staff.
6. Subjects, or their authorized representatives, must certify that they are able and willing to follow all protocol requirements and study restrictions.

Exclusion Criteria

Subjects are not eligible for the study if they meet any of the following criteria at the screening visit, unless otherwise specified.

1. Subjects who have a history of allergy, hypersensitivity, or intolerance to any medications, components, or excipients of the investigational product, which cannot be resolved by the staff conducting the study.
2. Female subjects who are pregnant, expected to become pregnant, or lactating/nursing.
3. Subjects who are sexually active and who are unwilling or unable to use a method of effective contraception (e.g., hormonal and/or barrier) during their participation in the study.
4. Subjects who are intolerant of, or do not wish to receive, IV or IT injections.
5. Subjects who are currently alcoholics and/or use psychoactive substances.
6. Subjects who cannot tolerate venipuncture and/or venous access.
7. Subjects who have donated or had a significant loss of whole blood (480 ml or more) within 30 days, or donated plasma or platelets within 14 days prior to screening.
8. Subjects who have received blood or blood products within 30 days prior to screening.
9. Subjects who have been treated with another research product 30 days prior to the screening assessment, or plan to participate in another clinical trial, while in this study if in the opinion of the principal investigator, may place the subject at risk due to participation in the study, or may influence the results of the study or the subject's ability to complete the study. If more than 30 days have passed since participation in another clinical trial, the study staff must ensure that the subject has recovered from any adverse event (AE) associated with the research product used.
10. Subjects who have a history or evidence of active infection or febrile illness within 7 days prior to the screening assessment.
11. Subjects who have a history of any other clinically significant disease or disorder that, in the opinion of the principal investigator, may place the subject at risk due to participation in the study, or may influence the results of the study or the subject's ability to complete the study.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: subjects treated with LGT; subjects will be treated with a single dose of LGT (AAV-hTERT)	Drug: AAV-hTERT; subjects will receive a single LGT (AAV-hTERT) treatment via IV and IT administration; Other Names: LGT

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Incidence of adverse events	Incidence of serious adverse events and adverse events throughout the study	12 months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
hTERT expression and telomerase activity	Change from baseline of the telomere length	12 months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Libella Gene Therapeutics
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jorge Ulloa, MD, IPS Arcaslud SAS

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): October 10, 2019
• Primary Completion (Anticipated): January 1, 2021
• Study Completion (Anticipated): January 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 28, 2017
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 17, 2019
• First Posted (Actual): October 21, 2019

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 28, 2019
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 24, 2019
• Last Verified: October 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Dementia; Alzheimer Disease; AAV; Gene therapy; Cognition Disorders; telomere; telomerase
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neurocognitive Disorders; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Dementia; Tauopathies; Alzheimer Disease
• Other Study ID Numbers: Libella CO-02

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