Safety, Tolerability and Acceptability of Long-Acting Cabotegravir (CAB LA) for the Prevention of HIV Among Adolescent Females - A Sub-study of HPTN 084

This study will establish the minimum safety, tolerability and acceptability data needed to support the use of cabotegravir long-acting injection (CAB LA) in an adolescent population, potentially transforming the field of HIV prevention for young people.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: HIV Infections
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Oral cabotegravir (CAB); Drug: CAB LA; Drug: Oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC)

Detailed Description

This study will enroll sexually-active, healthy, HIV-uninfected adolescents assigned female sex at birth. Total participant commitment for the entire study is approximately 1.5 years.

This study will take place in three steps. In Step 1, participants will receive daily oral CAB tablets for 5 weeks. In Step 2, participants will receive a series of five intramuscular (IM) injections of CAB LA, administered at 8-week intervals after a 4-week loading dose (injections at Weeks 5, 9, 17, 25 & 33). A safety visit will follow each injection to ascertain safety data, including injection site reactions. In Step 3, all participants who have received at least one injection will be followed quarterly (every 3 months) for 48 weeks after their last injection. Participants will receive oral TDF/FTC for daily use for 48 weeks or join and open-label extension CAB study in their area, if available.

Participants will attend about 18 study visits throughout the study. Visits may include physical examinations, blood collection, urine collection, vaginal swab collection, risk reduction and adherence counseling, and behavioral or acceptability assessments.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 50
• Phase: Phase 2

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• South Africa
  • Gauteng
    • Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa, 2001
      • Ward 21 CRS
• Uganda
  • Kampala, Uganda, 23491
    • MU-JHU Research Collaboration (MUJHU CARE LTD) CRS
• Zimbabwe
  • Harare, Zimbabwe
    • Spilhaus CRS

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: No older than 17 years (Child)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Assigned female at birth
• At enrollment, below 18 years of age
• At enrollment, body weight ≥ 35 kg (77 lbs.)
• Willing and able to provide informed assent/consent for the study and/or able to obtain written parental/guardian informed consent
• Self-reported sexual activity with a male (oral, anal or vaginal) in the past 12 months
• Willing and able to undergo all study procedures

• In general, good health, as evidenced by the following laboratory values:

  • Non-reactive / negative HIV test results**,
  • Absolute neutrophil count > 799 cells/mm3,
  • Platelet count ≥ 100,000/mm3,
  • Hemoglobin ≥ 11g/dL,
  • Calculated creatinine clearance ≥ 60 mL/minute using the modified Schwartz equation,
  • Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) < 2.0 times the upper limit of normal (ULN) (≤ grade 1) and total bilirubin (Tbili) ≤ 2.5 x ULN,
  • Hepatitis B virus (HBV) surface antigen (HBsAg) negative) and accepts vaccination,
  • Hepatitis C virus (HCV) Antibody negative
• Must have a negative beta human chorionic gonadotropin (βHCG) pregnancy test (sensitivity of ≤ 25 mIU/mL) performed (and results known) on the same day as Enrollment and before initiating study product

• Must agree to use a reliable form of long acting contraception, during the trial and for 48 weeks after stopping the long acting injectable, or 30 days after stopping oral study product, from the list below:

  • Intrauterine device (IUD) or intrauterine system (IUS) that meets <1% failure rate as stated in the product label
  • Hormone-based contraceptive that meets <1% failure rate when used consistently and correctly as stated in the product label (implants or injectables only; this excludes combined oral contraception)
• If currently on PrEP from a non-study source, willing to stop said PrEP prior to enrollment and agree to switch to oral CAB for the lead-in period and CAB LA injections.
• HIV-uninfected, based on HIV test results obtained at Screening and at the Enrollment visit. All HIV test results from the Screening visit must be obtained and must all be negative/non-reactive. This includes testing for acute HIV infection, which must be performed within 14 days of Enrollment. Individuals who have one or more reactive or positive HIV test result(s) will not be enrolled, even if subsequent confirmatory testing indicates that they are not HIV-infected (see SSP Manual).

Exclusion Criteria:

• Co-enrollment in any other HIV interventional research study or other concurrent studies which may interfere with this study (as provided by self-report or other available documentation)
• Past or current participation in HIV vaccine trial with exception for participants who can provide documentation of receipt of placebo
• Exclusively had sex with biological females in lifetime

• In the last 6 months (at the time of screening):

  • active or planned use of any substance use which would, in the opinion of the site investigator, interfere with study participation (including herbal remedies), as described in the Investigator's Brochure (IB) or listed in the Study Specific Procedures (SSP), and/ or Protocol Section 4.4,
• Known history of clinically significant cardiovascular disease, as defined by history/evidence of symptomatic arrhythmia, angina/ischemia, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) surgery or percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) or any clinically significant cardiac disease
• Inflammatory skin conditions that compromise the safety of intramuscular (IM) injections
• Tattoo or other dermatological condition overlying the buttock region that may interfere with interpretation of injection site reactions
• Current or chronic history of liver disease (e.g., non-alcoholic or alcoholic steatohepatitis) or known hepatic or biliary abnormalities (with the exception of Gilbert's syndrome, asymptomatic gallstones, or cholecystectomy)
• Known history of clinically significant bleeding
• A history of seizure disorder, per self-report
• Medical, social or other condition that, in the opinion of the site investigator, would interfere with the conduct of the study or safety of the participant (e.g., provided by self-report, or found upon medical history and examination or in available medical records)
• Plans to move out of the geographic area within the next 18 months or otherwise unable to participate in study visits, according to the site investigator
• Pregnant or currently breastfeeding at the time of screening or intends to become pregnant and/or breastfeed while on study

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• 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: CAB LA; In Step 1, participants will receive one CAB tablet orally every day for 5 weeks. In Step 2, participants will receive an intramuscular (IM) injection of CAB LA at Weeks 5, 9, 17, 25, and 33. In Step 3, participants will receive a TDF/FTC tablet orally every day for 48 weeks or join an open-label extension CAB study in their area, if available.	Drug: Oral cabotegravir (CAB); 30 mg tablets; Drug: CAB LA; Administered as one 3 mL (600 mg) IM injection in the gluteal muscle at two time points 4 weeks apart and every 8 weeks thereafter; Drug: Oral tenofovir disoproxil fumarate/emtricitabine (TDF/FTC); 300 mg/200 mg fixed-dose combination tablets

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Safety endpoint: Proportion of participants experiencing any Grade 2 or higher clinical adverse events (AEs) and laboratory abnormalities among participants who receive at least one injection of CAB LA.	Measured through participant's last study visit, up to approximately 1.5 years after study entry.
Tolerability endpoint: Proportion of participants who receive at least 1 injection and who discontinue receiving injections prior to the full course of injections due to intolerability of injection, frequency of injections or burden of study procedures.	Measured through participant's last study visit, up to approximately 1.5 years after study entry.
Acceptability endpoint: Proportion of participants who complete all scheduled injections and proportion of participants who receive at least one injection whom would consider using CAB LA for HIV prevention in the future.	Measured through participant's last study visit, up to approximately 1.5 years after study entry.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Plasma CAB Drug Measurements	CAB drug concentrations will be measured in plasma to generate CAB-LA concentration-time profiles among study participants. Measurements will occur at study visits during the injection phase of the study as well as during the pharmacologic "tail" phase.	Measured through participant's last study visit, up to approximately 1.5 years after study entry.
Proportion of participant-study visits above the protein-adjusted inhibitor concentration (90%; PA-IC90)	CAB drug concentrations will be measured throughout the study, to determine the proportion of visits in which a participant remains above the 1x (0.166 mcg/mL), 4x (0.664 mcg/mL) and 8x (1.33 mcg/mL) PA-IC90. Concentrations above the 3 PA-IC90 are associated with rectal protection in a non-human primate study, and concentrations above the 8x PA-IC90 are expected to be associated with protection in humans.	Measured through participant's last study visit, up to approximately 1.5 years after study entry.
Measurement of pharmacokinetic parameters, mean and median drug concentrations at each injection visit.	CAB drug concentrations will be measured throughout the study, and the study team will characterize variability in concentrations at each visit by determining mean and median concentrations, as well as associated deviations and %CVs.	Measured through participant's last study visit, up to approximately 1.5 years after study entry.
Terminal half-life estimates for CAB-LA.	CAB drug concentrations will be measured during the tail phase of the study, up to one year after a participant's last injection visit. This will allow the study team to estimate the terminal half-life of CAB-LA.	Measured through participant's last study visit, up to approximately 1.5 years after study entry.
Characterize CAB drug concentrations in individuals who acquire HIV.	CAB drug measurements will be conducted in all participants, including those who acquire HIV; these data will be used to determine the CAB drug concentration at the first HIV positive visit, and serve as a possible explanatory variable in potential HIV acquisition. Drug concentrations will be evaluated within the context of CAB's PA-IC90.	Measured through participant's last study visit, up to approximately 1.5 years after study entry.
TFV and TFV-DP may be measured to evaluate oral PrEP use (F/TDF, F/TAF) in cases of incident infection after cessation of study product		Measured through participant's last study visit, up to approximately 1.5 years after study entry.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
• Investigators: Study Chair: Sybil Hosek, PhD, Stroger Hospital of Cook County; Study Chair: Lynda Stranix-Chibanda, MBChB, MMED, University of Zimbabwe College of Health Sciences

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 4, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 10, 2023
• Study Completion (Actual): January 10, 2023

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 6, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 26, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): April 1, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 22, 2023
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 20, 2023
• Last Verified: December 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Infections; Blood-Borne Infections; Communicable Diseases; Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Viral; Sexually Transmitted Diseases; Lentivirus Infections; Retroviridae Infections; Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes; Immune System Diseases; Urogenital Diseases; Genital Diseases; HIV Infections; Molecular Mechanisms of Pharmacological Action; Anti-Infective Agents; Antiviral Agents; Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors; Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors; Enzyme Inhibitors; Anti-HIV Agents; Anti-Retroviral Agents; HIV Integrase Inhibitors; Integrase Inhibitors; Tenofovir; Emtricitabine; Cabotegravir
• Other Study ID Numbers: HPTN 084-01; 38655 (Registry Identifier: DAIDS ES)

Drug and device information, study documents

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