Trientine Tetrahydrochloride Administered Once a Day for the First Line Treatment of Wilson's Disease Patients. (TRADITiONAL)

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a new trientine tetrahydrochloride (TETA 4HCl) formulation administered once a day compared to d-Penicillamine (DPA) as a first line treatment for people living with Wilson's disease (WD) is effective and safe. The study is enrolling children aged 8 years and older weighing at least 55 lb (25 kg) and adults with a recent diagnosis of WD. People recently diagnosed with WD, may be eligible for the study if they have either not started copper chelating treatment (such as DPA or trientine) or have been taking zinc salts for less than 28 days. Participants will be randomly allocated (like tossing a coin) to receive either DPA or TETA 4HCL for 48 weeks. During this time period participants will have up to 12 visits for health checks and assessments including blood and urine testing. In addition, at some visits participants may be asked to complete questionnaires on treatment satisfaction, and overall well-being.

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Wilson's Disease
• Intervention / Treatment: Drug: TETA 4HCl formulation; Drug: D-Penicillamine

Detailed Description

Wilson's disease (WD) is a rare, autosomal recessive genetic disorder of copper metabolism leading to progressive copper accumulation primarily in the liver and brain. Chelators are drugs that bind and remove copper from the body in the urine. d-Penicillamine (DPA) is currently the only approved first line chelator for the treatment of WD with trientine, an alternative copper chelator, only indicated for second line use. DPA is associated with numerous side effects which may lead to drug discontinuation in approximately 30% of people living with WD. Trientine is used following intolerance to DPA. All current WD therapies have to be taken multiple times a day. This can be challenging for people living with WD who have to take treatment every day and lifelong.

A new formulation of trientine tetrahydrochloride (TETA 4HCl) has been developed to be administered once a day.

Recently diagnosed consenting people with WD will enter a 28-day screening period (as required for confirmation of WD diagnosis, detailed neurological evaluation, and results of tests for eligibility) and a 48-week follow-up post-randomization. Symptomatic and asymptomatic WD patients 8 years of age and older with a body weight of at least 25 kg who are either naïve to all WD therapies (treatment-naïve) or naïve to chelator WD therapy (chelator-naïve) will be enrolled.

Participants will receive treatment with either DPA or TETA 4HCl for the 48 week post-randomization period.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 38
• Phase: Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Omar Kamlin; Email: clinicaloperations@orphalan.com
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Carla Bennett, Bsc. Hons; Phone Number: +44 (0) 7918380893; Email: clinicaloperations@orphalan.com

Study Locations

• United States
  • Colorado
    • Denver, Colorado, United States, 80045
      • University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine
      • Contact: Jon Rice
      • Contact: Malory Truelson; Phone Number: 303-724-9143; Email: Mallory.truelson@cuanschutz.edu
  • Connecticut
    • New Haven, Connecticut, United States, 06519
      • Yale University School of Medicine
      • Contact: Michael Schilsky
      • Contact: Cameron Groshek, MS, CCRP; Phone Number: 203-737-7683; Email: Cameron.groshek@yale.edu
  • Michigan
    • Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States, 48109-2029
      • University of Michigan Medical Centre
      • Contact: Ashley Page; Phone Number: 734-998-9966; Email: ashpage@med.umich.edu
      • Contact: Fred Askari

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Participant is aged 8 years or older and is willing and able to give informed consent for participation in the study, or by a parent/legally authorized representative (LAR) and assent obtained (in accordance with local regulations) for any participant less than the age of majority (e.g. less than 18 years of age, depending on local requirements).
2. Participant has a body weight of at least 25 kg at screening.
3. Participant has a diagnosis of WD, as defined by a Leipzig score of greater than or equal to 4. Note that historical test results can be used for the diagnosis.

4. Participant has either:

   1. Received no prior prescribed therapy [a] for the treatment of WD (treatment-naïve), or
   2. Received no prescribed chelator therapy [a] for the treatment of WD (chelator-naïve); zinc salts are permitted for no more than 28 days prior to the start of screening assessments, and these participants must be symptomatic.

   [a] prescribed therapy for WD refers to the authorized chelator treatments of trientine (TETA 2HCl or TETA 4HCl) and DPA, or zinc salts.

5. Able and willing to comply with study procedures and requirements, as described in the informed consent.
6. Adequate venous access to allow collection of required blood samples.
7. Willing to comply with low copper diet for the duration of the study.
8. Participant requires treatment for WD, in the opinion of the Investigator.
9. Participant is able to take the study medication as prescribed, in the opinion of the Investigator.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Any known contraindications for treatment with DPA.
2. Any known contraindications for treatment with TETA 4HCl.
3. Unable to swallow tablets/capsules independently or considered high risk for aspiration, in the opinion of the Investigator
4. Acute liver failure (ALF) or at high risk of ALF, in the opinion of the Investigator.
5. Decompensated hepatic cirrhosis, in the opinion of the Investigator.
6. Participants 12 years or older at screening, Model for End stage Liver Disease (MELD) score of greater than or equal to 12.
7. Participants 8 to 11 years at screening, Model for Pediatric End stage Liver Disease (PELD) of greater than or equal to 10
8. Hemoglobin of less than or equal to 9 g/dL.
9. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of less than 30 mL/min/1.73m²
10. Nephritis or nephrotic syndrome, in the opinion of the Investigator.
11. Alanine aminotransferase greater than 5 times upper limit of normal (ULN).
12. Severe pulmonary disease requiring home nebulization and/or home oxygen therapy.
13. Clinically significant gastrointestinal bleed within past 6-months.
14. Neurological disease requiring either nasogastric feeding or intensive inpatient medical care.
15. Active or history of seizures requiring anti-epileptics within 6 months prior to informed consent.
16. Active infection with hepatitis B virus (positive hepatitis B surface antigen) or C virus or seropositivity for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
17. Major systemic disease or other illness that would, in the opinion of the Investigator, compromise patient safety or interfere with the collection or interpretation of the study results.
18. Female participants of childbearing potential, currently pregnant, currently nursing, or planning a pregnancy during study period.
19. Female participants of childbearing potential, unable or unwilling to use a reliable form of contraceptive throughout the study.
20. Male participants, unable or unwilling to use a reliable form of contraceptive throughout the study.
21. Participant is not willing to comply with the prohibited medication requirements for the study.
22. In the opinion of the Investigator, the participant is likely to be non-compliant or uncooperative for the required study visits or study assessments, or has any disease, disability, illness or abnormal laboratory values that could compromise patient safety or interfere with the collection or interpretation of study results.

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: TETA 4HCl formulation; Participants are planned to receive TETA 4HCl for the 48-week post-randomization period.	Drug: TETA 4HCl formulation; The new formulation of TETA 4HCl will be administered once a day. Each film-coated tablet is scored to enable halving, if required. Randomized participants are planned to receive TETA 4HCl for the 48-week post-randomization period.
Active Comparator: Standard of care d-Penicillamine (DPA); Participants are planned to receive DPA for the 48-week post-randomization period.	Drug: D-Penicillamine; Standard of care DPA is to be used, per the sites and treating physician's usual practice. To be administered in accordance with the product labelling and/or the institutions treatment practice guidelines. Randomised participants are planned to receive DPA for the 48-week post-randomization period.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Time Frame
Absolute value of serum NCC at Week 48 assessed using the NCC-speciation assay (serum NCC-Sp)	Week 48

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Serum NCC-Sp	Change from Baseline, within specified thresholds [>200, ≤ 200, ≤ 150, ≤ 100, ≤ 80, ≤ 50 μg/L and 50 to 80 μg/L]	Week 48
24-hour UCE	Absolute value, change from Baseline, within specified thresholds [< 100, <200, > 500, 150 to 500, and 200 to 500 μg/24h]	Week 48
Investigator's assessment of signs and symptoms	Assessment of of the signs and symptoms of WD using GAS for WD, comprising a 4-item Global Disability (Tier 1) and 10-item Neurological Assessment (Tier 2). Total score, Tier 1 score, Tier 2 score, each item score.	Week 48
Clinical Global Impression of Change	Investigator rating of change in the patients WD relating to the prior clinic visit on a 7-point scale by responding to the following statement "Please rate the change in the overall severity of the patients Wilson's disease compared to the previous clinic visit".	Week 48
Clinical stability	As assessed by Independent Adjudication Committee, including final determination of the endpoint of clinical stability (yes/no), including successful de-coppering (as applicable).	Week 48

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Orphalan

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): July 1, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): February 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: March 6, 2026
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 6, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): March 12, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 28, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 27, 2026
• Last Verified: May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: randomized controlled trial; Phase 3; trientine; d-Penicillamine
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Genetic Diseases, Inborn; Metabolic Diseases; Digestive System Diseases; Neurodegenerative Diseases; Liver Diseases; Movement Disorders; Heredodegenerative Disorders, Nervous System; Basal Ganglia Diseases; Brain Diseases, Metabolic, Inborn; Brain Diseases, Metabolic; Metal Metabolism, Inborn Errors; Congenital, Hereditary, and Neonatal Diseases and Abnormalities; Nutritional and Metabolic Diseases; Hepatolenticular Degeneration; Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins; Sulfur Compounds; Organic Chemicals; Amino Acids; Amino Acids, Sulfur; Penicillamine
• Other Study ID Numbers: ORPH-131-017

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