Safety, Tolerability and Performance of the NucleoCapture Extracorporeal Therapeutic Apheresis Device in the Reduction of Circulating cfDNA/NETs in Subjects With Pancreatitis (NUC-SAP1)

This is a single-centre, randomised-controlled, open-label, feasibility study to assess the safety, tolerability and performance of the NucleoCapture extracorporeal apheresis device in the reduction of circulating cell-free DNA (cfDNA)/Neutrophil Extracellular Traps (NETs) in patients with severe acute pancreatitis.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Acute Pancreatitis; Organ Failure, Multiple
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: NucleoCapture device

Detailed Description

This study investigates the safety, tolerability and performance of the NucleoCapture extracorporeal apheresis device in patients with acute pancreatitis. Acute pancreatitis is one of the leading gastrointestinal disorders that require urgent clinical care and is increasing in incidence.

cfDNA/NET therapeutic apheresis with NucleoCapture is indicated for the treatment of diseases in which excessive levels of cfDNA/NETs are found, such as acute pancreatitis. Participants will be randomised to receive either standard of care (SOC) alone or SOC plus NucleoCapture treatment. SOC will be according to the current guidelines described by the European Society of Intensive Medicine (ESICM). Participants in the SOC plus NucleoCapture arm will receive one treatment session with NucleoCapture per day, for the first three days. Each treatment session with NucleoCapture will last for up 6 hours, aiming to treat 4.5 plasma volumes. Treatment sessions with NucleoCapture treating less than 3.5 plasma volumes will be counted as incomplete and the treatment session will be repeated on the following day, up to day 5 maximum.

Assessments will take place for all participants whilst in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) on days 1 to 5, 7, 14, 21 and 28, and at 90 days post discharge to ward-based care. Participants transferred to ward-based care before day 28 will receive no further study assessment visits from the point of transfer to ward-based care, apart from day 28 in which participants will receive a final study assessment visit and a patient reported outcome assessment (PROM) 90 days post discharge to ward-based care.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 20
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Heather Rogers; Phone Number: +44 151 706 3702; Email: Heather.Rogers@liverpoolft.nhs.uk

Study Locations

• United Kingdom
  • Liverpool, United Kingdom
    • Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
    • Contact: Peter Szatmary; Email: Peter.Szatmary@liverpoolft.nhs.uk

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Adult patients aged 18 or over
2. Acute pancreatitis (following revised Atlanta definition of 2 out of typical pain, serum amylase >3x normal range and/or CT/MRI imaging consistent with pancreatitis)
3. Any aetiology
4. Acute respiratory (PaO2/FiO2 <300), cardiovascular (systolic BP <90 or any inotropic therapy) or renal failure (serum creatinine >170 µmol/l, or deterioration of >50% eGFR if pre-existing renal disease or urine output <0.5ml/kg/hr for 3 consecutive hours) presenting at any point during the index admission and persistent after 12 h of fluid resuscitation, but for not more than 72 hours

5. Have provided written informed consent or consent is given by the patient's legally designated representative or an independent physician (if possible, according to local law).

   Exclusion Criteria:

6. The use of other non-routine extracorporeal treatments such as very high flux renal replacement therapy (>60ml/kg/h total exchange), use of high cut off filters or other non-routine extracorporeal treatment columns such as Cytosorb, Toramyxcin, etc).

7. Presence of severe multiple organ failure at the point of enrolment as evidenced by:

   • Severe refractory vasoplegic failure

     • Norepinephrine dose > 0.60 μg/kg/min
     • Use of epinephrine

   • Concomitant cardiogenic shock, clinically suspected or cardiac index <2.2 L/min/m2 if measured

     • Use of dobutamine, epinephrine, phosphodiesterase inhibitors or levosimendan
   • Coagulopathy as defined by Platelet count <50x10^9/L

8. Calculated Plasma Volume greater than 5000ml as determined by the following formula:

   Vplasma = Vblood x (1 - haematocrit)

   Where:

   Vplasma = PV Vblood = an estimation of total blood volume (TBV; according to Nadler's formula, incorporating height, weight and sex).

   A TBV calculator is available at https://www.omnicalculator.com/health/blood-volume

9. Known liver cirrhosis (histologically proven or clinically suspected)
10. Active bleeding
11. Known citrate intolerance if citrate is required for therapeutic apheresis
12. Known heparin allergy if heparin is required for therapeutic apheresis
13. Known metastatic disease with life expectancy of <12 months and ECOG score of at least 2
14. Known haematological malignancy if not in remission
15. Known solid organ transplant and concomitant use of immunosuppression
16. Known long term oxygen therapy or Home oxygen use
17. Dialysis dependent Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD Stage 5-D)
18. Planned or impending dialysis
19. Prior use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in current admission
20. Requirement for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO)
21. Patient expected to die within 48 hours of admission to ICU
22. Known allergy to components of NucleoCapture (Sepharose beads and linker histone H1.3)
23. Pre-existing disease of the exocrine pancreas including chronic pancreatitis, recurrent acute pancreatitis, pancreatic malignancy and/or history of pancreatic surgery
24. Chronic neuromuscular disease affected breathing
25. Current Participation in another interventional clinical study
26. Pregnancy (as established by the presence of beta human chorionic gonadotropin in urine or blood)

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: SOC plus NucleoCapture; Participants in the treatment arm will receive SOC plus three apheresis treatment sessions with the NucleoCapture device. The device consists of 100ml NucleoCapture selective adsorber.	Device: NucleoCapture device; 100ml NucleoCapture selective DNA adsorber.
No Intervention: SOC; Participants in the SOC arm will receive SOC alone, in accordance with ESICM guidelines.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The amount of cfDNA/NETs in the plasma of patients with severe acute pancreatitis after each NucleoCapture treatment.	The change in the levels of cfDNA/NETs across the NucleoCapture column at the end of each NucleoCapture treatment session.	Within 6 hours from the baseline once 4.5 plasma volumes has been treated.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The amount of cfDNA/NETs in the circulating blood in patients after treatment with NucleoCapture compared to standard of care.	The change in the levels of circulating cfDNA/NETS at the end of each NucleoCapture treatment session.	Within 6 hours from the baseline once 4.5 plasma volumes has been treated.
Change in organ in support	Change in organ support will be assessed by the combined change in Inotrope e.g. norepinephrine dose, lactate, urine output, Horowitz index and oxygenation index compared to standard of care	From date of randomisation to Day 5
28-day survival	Survival up to 28 days	28 days
ICU length of stay	The length of stay in the ICU	Up to 28 days.
Hospital length of stay	The length of stay in up to hospital discharge	Up to 28 days

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Exploratory evaluation of the correlation between NucleoCapture treatment and levels of routine biomarkers.	Routine organ function, haematology, coagulation and inflammation biomarkers will be measured.	At baseline, days 1 to 5, 7, 14 and 21.
Exploratory evaluation of the correlation between NucleoCapture treatment and levels of non-routine biomarkers.	Non-routine biomarkers of inflammation and coagulation will be measured.	At baseline, days 1 to 5, day 7 and day 14.
Device handling and usability.	Usability and handling of the device will be assessed in the intervention arm using a questionnaire.	Day 1 to day 5.
Patient reported outcome (PROMs) - PAN PROMISE acute pancreatitis symptom scale	Quantify the symptoms of acute pancreatitis via PROM.	Baseline, at discharge from the ICU up to day 28, and at 90 days post discharge from the ICU.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Collaborators: Santersus AG
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Peter Szatmary, Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): December 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 5, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): April 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 7, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 21, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): August 22, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 17, 2025
• Last Verified: July 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Apheresis; Acute pancreatitis; Extracorporeal; Neutrophil extracellular traps; NucleoCapture
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pathologic Processes; Digestive System Diseases; Pancreatic Diseases; Shock; Pancreatitis; Multiple Organ Failure
• Other Study ID Numbers: LHS0096

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