A Safety and Biomarker Study of ALZT-OP1a in Subjects With Mild-Moderate ALS Disease

A Phase IIa, Randomized, Open-label, Multi-Center, Multi-Dose Study to Evaluate the Effects of ALZT-OP1a in Subjects With Mild-Moderate Stage Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS)

This is a Phase IIa, randomized, open-label, multi-center, multi-dose study for subjects with mild to moderate ALS. The protocol is designed to determine whether ALZT-OP1a treatment will positively impact neuro-inflammatory biomarkers and slow down or arrest functional decline in subjects with mild to moderate ALS.

Study Overview

• Status: Terminated
• Conditions: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: ALZT-OP1a (cromolyn)

Detailed Description

This Phase IIa study is designed as a randomized, open-label, multi-center, multi-dose study for subjects with mild to moderate ALS. The study will evaluate 1) safety, 2) tolerability, 3) changes in physical function measured using the ALSFRS-R, 4) two doses of ALZT-OP1a in order to determine an optimal and effective dose that could positively impact neuro-inflammatory biomarkers, and 5) to demonstrate preliminary evidence if this treatment could potentially slow down or arrest functional decline in subjects with mild to moderate ALS.

Up to 80 evaluable subjects will be randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups: Group I (n=40) will consist of low dose ALZT-OP1a, administered via dry powder inhalation; OR Group II (n=40), which will consist of high dose ALZT-OP1a, administered via dry powder inhaler.

Subjects will dose for 12 weeks and will be asked to return to the site for scheduled visits and biomarker collection at Week 4, Week 8, and Week 12.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 12
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • California
    • La Jolla, California, United States, 92037
      • UCSD Altman Clinical and Translational Research Institute
  • Florida
    • Jacksonville, Florida, United States, 32224
      • Mayo Clinic
  • New York
    • New York, New York, United States, 10032
      • Columbia University Medical Center
    • New York, New York, United States, 10021
      • Hospital for Special Surgery
  • North Carolina
    • Winston-Salem, North Carolina, United States, 27157
      • Wake Forest School of Medicine
  • Oregon
    • Portland, Oregon, United States, 97239
      • Oregon Health & Science University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 14 years to 71 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female subjects aged 18-75 years, both inclusive;
• Must provide written informed consent before any study related procedures;
• Should be capable to complete all trial related procedures, assessments and visits in the judgement of Investigator;
• Familial or sporadic ALS diagnosed as possible, laboratory-supported probable, probable, or definite as defined by revised El Escorial criteria;
• Disease duration from ALS diagnosis ≤24 months;
• ALSFRS-R total score ≥ 36 at screening visit;
• ALSFRS-R Breathing sub-score should be ≥9 at the time of screening;
• ALSFRS-R Bulbar sub-score should be ≥9 at the time of screening;
• Peak inspiratory flow rate (PIFR) ≥ 100 L/minute;
• Forced vital capacity (FVC) >70% of predicted value;
• Participant must be receiving treatment with stable dose of standard of care treatment for ≥30 days prior to signing informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Subjects with bulbar-onset ALS;
• Any use of non-invasive ventilation (e.g., continuous positive airway pressure, non-invasive bi-level positive airway pressure or non-invasive volume ventilation) for any portion of the day, or mechanical ventilation via tracheostomy, or on any form of oxygen supplementation;
• Any other significant neurological disorder which can interfere with study assessments, e.g., significant cognitive impairment and/or clinical dementia;
• Significant psychiatric illness like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder etc. Subjects with depression can be included, only if the depression has been stable and no episode of major depression has occurred in past one year;
• Severe cardiac disease (e.g.,corrected QT interval > 500ms), Torsade de Pointes, evidence of significant heart failure (New York Heart Association [NYHA] Class 3 or greater, myocardial infarction or unstable angina in the 6 months prior to screening);
• Any moderate-to-severe pulmonary disease or difficulty taking inhaled drugs;
• Inability to tolerate the administration of an oral inhaled powder via dry powder inhaler (DPI);
• Has taken any investigational study drug within 30 days or five half-lives of the drug, whichever is longer, prior to dosing;
• Currently taking cromolyn, or has taken cromolyn, within the past 12 months;
• Allergy to cromolyn or cromolyn products, such as Intal®, Nasalcrom®, Opticrom®, Gastrocrom®, etc.;
• Taking inhaled protein products on a chronic basis (such as insulin, parathyroid hormone [PTH], etc.);
• Subjects who weigh 88 lb (40 kg) or less, or, body mass index (BMI) of <17.5 or >35.0 at screening;
• Moderate-to-severe liver disease: aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), or bilirubin concentrations >3 times the upper limit of normal; patients with hepatic diseases such as hepatic cirrhosis, hepatic cancer and active hepatitis
• Moderate-to-severe renal disease: creatinine clearance <45 mL/min/1.73 m2 (by Cockcroft-Gault calculation);
• Any clinically significant disorder or laboratory abnormality that, in the investigator's opinion, could interfere with the subject's participation in the study, place the subject at increased risk, or confound interpretation of the study results;
• Pregnant or breast-feeding females or sexually active females with childbearing potential, if no adequate contraceptive measures are used.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Group I (Low Dose); Group I (n=40) will receive treatment regimen of ALZT-OP1a (cromolyn) 17.1 mg/twice a day (bid) (total of 34.2 mg/day)	Drug: ALZT-OP1a (cromolyn); Mast cell stabilizer; Neuroinflammatory microglial modulator; anti-inflammatory; Other Names: Cromolyn; Cromolyn sodium; Sodium cromoglycate
Experimental: Group II (High Dose); Group II (n=40) will receive treatment regimen of ALZT-OP1a (cromolyn) 34.2 mg/bid (total of 68.4 mg/day)	Drug: ALZT-OP1a (cromolyn); Mast cell stabilizer; Neuroinflammatory microglial modulator; anti-inflammatory; Other Names: Cromolyn; Cromolyn sodium; Sodium cromoglycate

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Plasma Biomarkers	To measure the effect of ALZT-OP1a treatment on selected plasma biomarkers in ALS patients. Candidate biomarkers in ng/mL include: Beta-tryptase, Beta-Hexosaminidase Candidate biomarkers in pg/mL include: CXCL1, interferon-y, interleukin (IL)-1a, IL-1b, IL-2, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IL-15, IL-17, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-1a, MIP-1b, monocyte chemoattractant protein (MCP)-1, neurofilament light protein (NfL), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-a, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)	up to 12 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Changes from baseline in ALS disease progression	Measured by ALS Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) - Questionnaire	up to 12 weeks
Time to Event Requiring Respiratory Support	Measured by the time to event requiring full-time or nearly full-time respiratory support from baseline by treatment arm.	up to 12 weeks
Changes from baseline in pulmonary function (forced vital capacity)	Measured by changes in forced vital capacity (FVC) in percent predicted value from baseline by treatment arm.	up to 12 weeks
Changes from baseline in pulmonary function (peak inspiratory flow rate)	Measured by changes in peak inspiratory flow rate (PIFR) in liters per minute from baseline by treatment arm.	up to 12 weeks
Incidence of adverse event (tolerability) related to ALZT-OP1a	Evaluated by number and percentage of unexpected adverse events by treatment arm.	up to 12 weeks
Number of participants with abnormal vital signs	Measured by changes in systolic / diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, respiratory rate, and body temperature from baseline by treatment arm. The data will also be presented in shift tables as within normal limits, clinically significant, not clinically significant.	up to 12 weeks
Number of participants with abnormal physical or neurological examinations	Review of all body systems and changes evaluated for clinical significance from baseline by treatment arm. The data will also be presented in shift tables as within normal limits, clinically significant, not clinically significant.	up to 12 weeks
Number of participants with abnormal electrocardiograms (ECGs)	Measured by changes in heart rate, PR interval, QRS complex, and QT interval from baseline by treatment arm. The data will also be presented in shift tables as within normal limits, clinically significant, not clinically significant.	up to 12 weeks
Number of participants with treatment emergent clinically significant laboratory assessments	The abnormal values will be presented by treatment arm from baseline. The data will also be presented in shift tables as within normal limits, clinically significant, not clinically significant.	up to 12 weeks
Changes from baseline in suicidal ideation and behavior	Measured by changes in Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) from baseline; minimum score: 0 maximum score: 10; lower values represent a better outcome.	up to 12 weeks
The number of study dropouts due to serious, unanticipated treatment emergent adverse events	The dropouts will be presented by treatment arm from baseline.	up to 12 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: AZTherapies, Inc.
• Investigators: Study Director: David R. Elmaleh, PhD, AZTherapies, Inc.

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Granucci EJ, Griciuc A, Mueller KA, Mills AN, Le H, Dios AM, McGinty D, Pereira J, Elmaleh D, Berry JD, Paganoni S, Cudkowicz ME, Tanzi RE, Sadri-Vakili G. Cromolyn sodium delays disease onset and is neuroprotective in the SOD1G93A Mouse Model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Sci Rep. 2019 Nov 27;9(1):17728. doi: 10.1038/s41598-019-53982-w.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 8, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): October 1, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): October 1, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 3, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 10, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): June 11, 2020

Study Record Updates

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

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; ALS; Lou Gehrig's disease; mild ALS; moderate ALS; mild to moderate ALS
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Metabolic Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Neuromuscular Diseases; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Spinal Cord Diseases; TDP-43 Proteinopathies; Proteostasis Deficiencies; Sclerosis; Motor Neuron Disease; Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis; Physiological Effects of Drugs; Anti-Inflammatory Agents; Immunologic Factors; Anti-Asthmatic Agents; Respiratory System Agents; Mast Cell Stabilizers; Cromolyn Sodium
• Other Study ID Numbers: AZT-006

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