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A Study of the Efficacy and Safety of Rituximab in Participants With Systemic Sclerosis

Phase 2
Completed
Conditions
Scleroderma, Systemic
Skin Sclerosis
Lung Fibrosis
Autoimmune Diseases
Collagen Diseases
Interventions
Drug: Double-Blind Placebo
Drug: Double-Blind Rituximab
Registration Number
NCT04274257
Lead Sponsor
Tokyo University
Brief Summary

This study evaluates the efficacy and safety of rituximab compared with placebo in SSc patients. This study consists of a 24-week, double-blind, placebo-controlled period followed by a 24-week active drug treatment period.

Detailed Description

Not available

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
56
Inclusion Criteria
  1. Fulfill the diagnostic criteria for systemic sclerosis defined in the 2016 edition of the Clinical Practice Guidelines for Systemic Sclerosis and have an mRTSS of 2 (moderate) or higher for skin sclerosis

  2. Aged 20 or older and younger than 80 at the time of consent

  3. Have an expected survival of at least 6 months (and expected to allow 6 months of observation)

  4. Fulfill the following criteria related to concomitant medications/therapies:

    • Not received corticosteroids equivalent to more than 10 mg/day of prednisolone within 2 weeks before the start of study treatment; and
    • Not received antifibrotic agents (like nintedanib, pirfenidone, tocilizumab), other investigational products, immunosuppressants (cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate mofetil, ciclosporin, tacrolimus, azathioprine, and mizoribine), high-dose intravenous immunoglobulin, or imatinib 4 weeks prior to the start of study treatment.
  5. Provided written consent to participate in the study

Exclusion Criteria
  1. Present with pulmonary hypertension* associated with systemic sclerosis

    *: The patient will undergo echocardiography during the pre-treatment observation period to exclude pulmonary hypertension. The patient will be required to undergo examination by an expert (eg, at the Department of Cardiovascular Medicine) if systolic pulmonary artery pressure exceeds 35 mmHg.

  2. Have serious complications (eg, renal crisis) associated with systemic sclerosis (excluding interstitial pneumonia**)

    **: Patients with interstitial pneumonia will be excluded if the criterion 3) below is met.

  3. Have only poor respiratory reserve (%VC or %DLco, both calculated using the "estimation equation more suitable for Japanese," is less than 60% or 40%, respectively)

  4. Known to have HIV antibodies

  5. Have a positive result for any of the following: HBs antigen, HBs antibody, HBc antibody, and HCV antibody (this criterion does not apply to a positive test for hepatitis B clearly attributable to hepatitis vaccination)

  6. Have serious bacterial/fungal infections

  7. Have a serious liver disease (AST [GOT] or ALT[GPT] of ≥ 300 IU)

  8. Have a serious renal disease (serum creatinine ≥ 2.0 mg/dL)

  9. Have severe heart disease

  10. Have active tuberculosis

  11. Have any known malignancy or a history of malignancy within the past 5 years

  12. Have a history of serious infections

  13. Have a history of serious hypersensitivity or anaphylactic reactions to any component of rituximab or to mouse proteins

  14. Pregnant, postpartum, and lactating women

  15. Refuse to practice contraception from the time of consent to at least 12 months after study completion

  16. Have any disease or physical/psychiatric conditions that make study participation difficult/inappropriate

  17. Received other investigational products within 12 weeks prior to the study treatment or are participating in other clinical research/studies

  18. Smoked within 12 weeks prior to the date of consent

  19. Is determined by the investigator (or sub-investigator) to be ineligible for the study for any other reason

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
Double-Blind PlaceboDouble-Blind PlaceboParticipants will receive double-blind matching placebo from baseline until week 24. Participants may then receive open-label rituximab from weeks 24 to 48.
Double-Blind RituximabDouble-Blind RituximabParticipants will receive double-blind rituximab from baseline until week 24. Participants may then receive open-label rituximab from weeks 24 to 48.
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in Modified Rodnan Total Skin Thickness Score (mRTSS) during double-blind periodFrom baseline to week 24

Absolute change from pre-treatment observation period in skin sclerosis at week 24 of treatment in the double-blind phase, assessed by mRTSS. mRTSS ranging from 0 (normal) to 3 (severe skin thickening) across 17 different body parts. The total score is the sum of the individual skin scores for all these sites, and ranges from 0 to 51 units.

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in serum levels of SP-DFrom baseline to week 24
Change in QOL index of SSc patients, assessed using the Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI)From baseline to week 24
Change in serum antinuclear antibody titersFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-centromere antibodiesFrom baseline to week 24
Change in percent FVC measured in respiratory function testFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of KL-6From baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of SP-AFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-RNA polymerase III antibodiesFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-ssDNA antibodiesFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-dsDNA antibodiesFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-CL antibodiesFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-β2-GP1 antibodiesFrom baseline to week 24
Change in percent DLco measured in respiratory function testFrom baseline to week 24
Change in percentage of interstitial shadow in lungs by high-resolution computed tomographyFrom baseline to week 24
Change in TLC measured in respiratory function testFrom baseline to week 24
Change in HRQOL index measured using MOS 36 Item Short-Form Health SurveyFrom baseline to week 24
Change in skin thickness measured following biopsy specimenFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-Scl-70 antibodiesFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of lupus anticoagulantFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-SS-A antibodiesFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-SS-B antibodiesFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-cANCAFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-p-ANCAFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of anti-U1-RNP antibodiesFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of IgGFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of IgMFrom baseline to week 24
Change in serum levels of IgAFrom baseline to week 24
Change in blood CD19+ B cell countFrom baseline to week 24
Change in blood CD20+ B cell countFrom baseline to week 24
Change in blood CD3+ T cell countFrom baseline to week 24
Expression of human anti-rituximab antibodiesFrom baseline to week 24
Overall incidence, severity, causal relationship, and outcome of adverse eventsFrom baseline to week 48
Incidence of rituximab infusion reactionsFrom baseline to week 48
PK profile of rituximab: Area under concentration-time curve from time 0 to final observation (AUC0-t)From baseline to week 48
PK profile of rituximab: maximum serum concentration after dosing (Cmax)From baseline to week 48
PK profile of rituximab: time to maximum concentration (tmax)From baseline to week 48
PK profile of rituximab: terminal half-life (t1/2)From baseline to week 48
PK profile of rituximab: mean residence timeFrom baseline to week 48
PK profile of rituximab: clearanceFrom baseline to week 48
PK profile of rituximab: volume of distributionFrom baseline to week 48

Trial Locations

Locations (4)

Chukyo Hospital

🇯🇵

Nagoya, Japan

University of Tsukuba Hospital

🇯🇵

Tsukuba, Japan

University of Fukui Hospital

🇯🇵

Fukui, Japan

The University of Tokyo Hospital

🇯🇵

Tokyo, Japan

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