Safety, Blood Levels and Effects of AUT00201 in Patients With MEAK (AUT022201)

A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Crossover Study of the Effects of Single Doses of AUT00201 in Patients With Myoclonus Epilepsy and Ataxia Due to Potassium (K+) Channel Mutation (MEAK)

A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study to assess the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of single doses of AUT00201 at 100 mg or matching placebo in patients with myoclonus epilepsy and ataxia due to potassium channel mutation (MEAK).

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Myoclonus Epilepsies, Progressive
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: Placebo; Drug: AUT00201

Detailed Description

6 to 10 patients aged 18 years and older, diagnosed with MEAK will be enrolled in the study. Patients will be administered a single dose of AUT00201 and matching placebo in a crossover design. The study is comprised of an outpatient screening and procedure orientation followed by approximately 5 days of an inpatient stay at a clinical research unit. After screening/orientation (Visit 1), and baseline assessments (Visit 2), patients will be administered a single dose of 100 mg of AUT00201 or matching placebo the morning of Visit 3. PK assessments will be done at Visits 3, 4, 5, and 6 from predose and up to 27 hours postdose. Visit 4 will be a washout day for patients. At Visit 5 patients will be administered the crossover treatment. At Visit 6 patients will be discharged from the unit. Safety and tolerability assessments will be conducted throughout. PD parameters will also be assessed. Patients will be followed up by telephone 14 days after discharge.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 6
• Phase: Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Pennsylvania
    • Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19104
      • University of Pennsylvania, Penn Epilepsy Center

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Male or female patients aged 18 years or older at time of consenting.
• Diagnosed with MEAK, based on documented genetic evidence of the presence of the KCNC1 (c.959G>A; p.Arg320His) variant.
• If take anticonvulsants, must be on a stable anticonvulsant regiment for at least 30 days prior to Visit 1 and anticipated to remain stable throughout the study or if not on an anticonvulsant regimen, must be stable in regards to seizures for at least 30 days prior to Visit 1 and anticipated to remain stable throughout the study.
• Must be able to participate and willing to give written informed consent. If patient is unable to provide written informed consent, a legally authorized representative can sign on their behalf.
• Must be willing to perform study assessments and comply with the study protocol.
• If the patient is dependent on a caregiver and/or will need assistance either travelling to the site, whilst attending clinic visits and/or helping to document study assessment responses provided by the patient (eg, questionnaires administered on a tablet device), they must have an identified caregiver, considered reliable by the Investigator, to provide support to the patient for the duration of the study. The caregiver must be willing and able to provide support to the patient and, if required, stay for the duration of the study.
• Medically stable based on Investigator's judgement for at least 90 days prior to Visit 1.
• Women of childbearing potential must have a negative urine pregnancy test on Visit 2.
• If a vagal nerve stimulator is used, it must be implanted at least 150 days before Day. -1, and parameters must be stable for at least 30 days before Visit 1 and expected to remain stable throughout the study.
• If a ketogenic diet is followed, it must be stable for at least 30 days before Visit 1 and expected to remain stable throughout the study.
• Willing to comply with contraceptive requirements.
• Able to speak, read and understand English at a fluent level

Exclusion Criteria:

• Known pathogenic mutation in another gene that causes epilepsy or a different mutation in the KCNC1 gene than the c.959G>A variant.
• Clinically significant metabolic, hepatic, hematological, pulmonary, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, or urological disorder.
• Clinically significant abnormal vital signs or laboratory test results.
• Hypersensitivity to AUT00201 or any of the excipients.
• Any medical condition or other factors, as judged by the Investigator, which may interfere with the patient's participation in this study and/or compromise the patient's ability to safely complete the study.
• Known to abuse drugs or those who test positive on urine screen for drugs of abuse will be excluded based on Investigator's judgement.
• Positive hepatitis B surface antigen or hepatitis C antibody.
• Clinically significant abnormality on the 12-lead electrocardiogram.
• Having received an investigational product 90 days prior to Visit 1.
• Currently using felbamate <1 year prior to Visit 1, or any evidence of ongoing hepatic or bone marrow dysfunction associated with current/prior felbamate treatment. Patients who are currently using felbamate for >1 year prior to Visit 1 and have no evidence of ongoing hepatic or bone marrow dysfunction associated with felbamate treatment are allowed.
• Currently using vigabatrin and having received vigabatrin for <2 years prior to Visit 1.
• Suicidal ideation with some intent to act within 6 months prior to Visit 1 based upon response in the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (positive response to questions 4 or 5 of the suicidal ideation section) and as judged by the Investigator as having a significant impact on trial participation or patient safety. History of suicidal behavior within 1 year prior to Visit 1.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Basic Science
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
• Masking: Triple

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Experimental: AUT00201; Single dose (oral, capsule) of AUT00201	Drug: AUT00201; Single oral dose
Placebo Comparator: Experimental: Placebo; Single dose matching placebo oral capsules	Drug: Placebo; Single oral dose

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Number of Participants With Treatment-Related Adverse Events After Single Dose Treatment of AUT00201 Compared to Placebo	19 Days

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change From Baseline in Cortical Inhibition; as Measured by Paired-pulse Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (ppTMS) at Short Interval Cortical Inhibition (SICI) Inter-stimulus-intervals (ISI): the Outcome is the Average %-Inhibition at SICI 2.5 and 3ms ISI	ppTMS allows measurement of cortical inhibitory circuit functions. In ppTMS protocols 2 consecutive pulses are delivered to the hand motor region at a fixed interstimulus interval such that the motor-evoked potential, captured by surface EMG sensors, resultant from the second (test) stimulus is modulated by an conditioning stimulus. First resting motor threshold is recorded, which is defined as the lowest stimulus intensity (expressed as a percentage of maximal stimulator output, %MSO) required to induce motor evoked potentials of 50μV. SICI will be elicited with a conditioning stimulus of 70% of resting motor threshold at 2.5ms ISI and 3ms ISI. SICI at each ISI will be reported in %-inhibition and the average calculated for this outcome measure. An increase (positive change from baseline) would indicate a normalisation in this population. Post-dose collected 2-4h post dose on Day1 and Day3 (active vs placebo randomised crossover).	2 - 4 hours post dose
Pharmacokinetics: Maximum Plasma Concentrations (Cmax) of AUT00201		27 hours
Pharmacokinetics: Area Under the Plasma Concentration-time Curve (AUC) of AUT00201 to the Last Observed Quantifiable Concentration	AUCt	27 hours
Change From Baseline in Measures of Dysarthria as Assessed by Speaking Rate Metric From Automated Standardized Speech Test.	Baseline data were collected on Study Day -1 (V2); post-dose data were collected 1 hour post dose on Day 1 (V3) and Day 3 (V5) (active vs placebo randomised crossover). An increase (positive change from baseline) in syllables/sec would indicate an improvement in this population.	1 hour post dose
Change From Baseline in Myoclonus Index (MI; a Measure of Positive Myoclonus) Evaluated With EMG and Accelerometer	Average MI from 0 to 4 hours postdose, calculated during hourly finger-to-nose tasks and Unified Myoclonus Rating Scale Section 4 and 5 tasks, averaged across arms. The Myoclonus Index (MI) is a novel methodology for objectively measuring severity of positive myoclonus. The MI is calculated from positive myoclonus detected using surface electromyography (EMG) and accelerometry data, as described in the publication by Rissanen et al (Clin Neurophysiol. 2021). People who do not experience myoclonus would be expected to have a score of '0' on the Myoclonus Index; there is no maximum score, although higher scores indicate more severe myoclonus. A reduction of MI (negative change from baseline) would indicate an improvement in this population. Baseline data are collected on Study Day -1 (V2); post-dose data are collected hourly from dosing to 4 hours post dose, then averaged, on Day 1 (V3) and Day 3 (V5) (active vs placebo randomised crossover).	0-4 hours post dose
Change From Baseline in Measures of Dysarthria as Assessed by Buttercup Count From Automated Standardized Speech Test.	Number of times the word "Buttercup" was correctly repeated within 30 seconds. An increase (positive change from baseline) in number of 'buttercups' would indicate an improvement in this population. Baseline data collected were collected on Study Day -1 (V2); post-dose data were collected 1-hour post-dose on Day 1 (V3) and Day 3 (V5) (active vs placebo randomised crossover).	1 hour post-dose

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Autifony Therapeutics Limited
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Michael Gelfand, MD, Penn Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 12, 2023
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 1, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): May 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 18, 2023
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 15, 2023
• First Posted (Actual): May 24, 2023

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 4, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: MEAK; EPM7
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Epileptic Syndromes; Neurologic Manifestations; Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Epilepsy, Generalized; Dyskinesias; Epilepsy; Epilepsies, Myoclonic; Myoclonus; Myoclonic Epilepsies, Progressive
• Other Study ID Numbers: AUT022201

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