Two Arm, Double-blind, Phase III Study Assessing Efficacy and Safety of Ianalumab Versus Placebo, in Participants With Sjögren's Disease With High Symptom Burden (THALASSA)

May 26, 2026 updated by: Novartis Pharmaceuticals

A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, 2-arm Multicenter Phase III Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Ianalumab in Participants With Sjogren's Disease With High Symptom Burden (THALASSA)

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of ianalumab (VAY736) 300 mg administered subcutaneously (s.c.) monthly for 52 weeks in adult participants with Sjögren's disease who have high symptom burden.

Study Overview

Status

Not yet recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled multicenter 2-arm Phase III study, evaluating 300 mg ianalumab s.c. against placebo s.c. in adult participants with Sjögren's disease with high symptom burden.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

570

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Novartis Pharmaceuticals
  • Phone Number: +41613241111

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Male or female participants ≥ 18 years of age or as per country-specific legal adult age, whichever is higher
  • Classification of Sjögren's disease according to ACR/EULAR 2016 criteria.
  • Seropositive for anti-Ro/SSA antibodies at screening
  • SSSD oral dryness score ≥ 5 and overall SSSD summary score ≥5 collected over 14 consecutive days during the Screening 2 period
  • Screening ESSDAI biologic and/or hematologic domain > 0 Note: laboratory abnormalities for scoring must be confirmed as associated with Sjögren's disease and not be due to other underlying conditions.
  • Stimulated whole salivary flow (sSF) rate > 0.3 mL/min at screening
  • Participants taking hydroxychloroquine (≤ 400 mg/day) are allowed to continue their medication, and must have been on a stable dose for at least 4 weeks prior to screening, which should be maintained throughout the 52 weeks of the blinded treatment period.
  • Predniso(lo)ne ≤ 5 mg/day or equivalent are allowed for up to 16 weeks post-randomization.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Presence of another autoimmune rheumatic disease that is active and constitutes the principal illness, specifically:
  • Systemic sclerosis (SSc)
  • Any other associated connective tissue disease (e.g., lupus nephritis (LN), large vessel vasculitis (LVV), Sharp syndrome (mixed connective tissue disease)) that is active and requires immunosuppressive treatment outside the scope of this trial and would impede on Sjögren's disease organ domain assessments.
  • Concurrent diagnosis or history of fibromyalgia or overlapping inflammatory diseases
  • Prior treatment with B-cell-depleting therapy (e.g., rituximab, other anti-CD20 mAb, anti-CD22 mAb, or anti-CD52 mAb) within:
  • 36 weeks prior to randomization, or
  • As long as B-cell count is less than the lower limit of normal (LLN) or baseline value prior to receipt of previous B-cell-depleting therapy (whichever is lower) at Screening.
  • Prior treatment with ianalumab
  • Prior treatment with any of the following within the given period prior to Screening:
  • Within 5 half-lives prior to Screening: iscalimab (anti-CD 40 mAb), belimumab (anti-BAFF mAb), abatacept (CTLA4-Fc Ig), anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) biologic agents, immunoglobulins (i.v./s.c.), plasmapheresis, any other investigational biologic medicines under investigation for Sjögren's disease
  • Within 4 weeks OR drug-specific 5 half-lives elimination period (if longer than 4 weeks) prior to screening: i.v. or oral cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), methotrexate, azathioprine, i.v. or oral cyclosporine A or any other immunosuppressants (e.g., JAK inhibitors or other kinase inhibitors).
  • History of hypersensitivity to any of the study drugs or their excipients, or to drugs of similar chemical classes (e.g., mAb of IgG1 class) or to any of the constituents of the study drug formulation (sucrose, L-histidine hydrochloride/L-histidine, polysorbate 20).

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: VAY736 - 300 mg
VAY736 once monthly solution for injection for subcutaneous use.
Drug: VAY736
VAY736 once monthly solution for injection for subcutaneous use.
Other Names:
  • ianalumab
Placebo Comparator: Placebo
Placebo once monthly solution for injection for subcutaneous use.
Drug: Placebo
Placebo once monthly solution for injection for subcutaneous use.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline in SSSD oral dryness score
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 52
The Sjögren's Syndrome Symptom Diary (SSSD) oral dryness score is a patient-reported measure assessing severity of mouth dryness. The mouth dryness symptom is scored daily on a numerical scale (higher scores = worse symptoms).
Baseline to Week 52

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change from baseline in SSSD summary score
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 52
The SSSD summary score is calculated over a defined time window. Each symptom is scored daily on a numerical scale (higher scores = worse symptoms).
Baseline to Week 52
Change from baseline in ESSPRI score
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 52
The EULAR Sjögren's Syndrome Patient Reported Index (ESSPRI) score is a validated patient-reported outcome assessing three symptom domains: dryness, pain and fatigue. Scores range from 0 (no symptoms) to 10 (worst imaginable symptoms).
Baseline to Week 52
Change from baseline in stimulated whole salivary flow (sSF)
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 52
The stimulated whole salivary flow rate, is an objective functional assessment of salivary gland activity, measuring saliva production under stimulation. Higher values indicate better salivary gland function.
Baseline to Week 52
Change from baseline in Patient's Global Assessment (PaGA) NRS score
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 52
The Patient's Global Assessment of disease activity captures the patient's overall perception of disease activity. It is assessed using a Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) from 0 to 10. Higher scores indicate worse perceived disease activity.
Baseline to Week 52
Proportion of participants achieving SSSD response
Time Frame: Week 52
Proportion of participants achieving a clinically meaningful improvement in the SSSD summary score at Week 52.
Week 52
Proportion of participants achieving ESSPRI response
Time Frame: Week 52
Proportion of participants achieving a clinically meaningful improvement in the ESSPRI score at Week 52.
Week 52
Change from baseline in SSSD eye dryness score
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 52
The SSSD eye dryness item score is a patient-reported measure assessing severity of eye dryness. The eye dryness symptom is scored daily on a numerical scale (higher scores = worse symptoms).
Baseline to Week 52
Change from baseline in FACIT-Fatigue score
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 52
The Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Fatigue (FACIT-Fatigue) score is a 13-item questionnaire assessing fatigue and its impact on daily activities over the previous 7 days. Higher scores indicate less fatigue / better functioning.
Baseline to Week 52
Change from baseline in Sjögren's-Related Quality of Life (SRQoL) score
Time Frame: Baseline to Week 52
The Sjögren's-Related Quality of Life (SRQoL) score is a disease-specific quality-of-life instrument evaluating the impact of Sjögren's disease on physical, emotional, social and daily functioning. Lower scores indicate better quality of life.
Baseline to Week 52

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Estimated)

July 15, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

August 14, 2029

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 13, 2033

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 26, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 26, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

June 2, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 2, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 26, 2026

Last Verified

May 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • CVAY736A22301

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Novartis is committed to sharing with qualified external researchers, access to patient-level data and supporting clinical documents from eligible studies. These requests are reviewed and approved by an independent review panel on the basis of scientific merit. All data provided is anonymized to respect the privacy of patients who have participated in the trial in line with applicable laws and regulations.

This trial data availability is according to the criteria and process described on www.clinicalstudydatarequest.com

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

Yes

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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