Safety Study of Ornithine Phenylacetate to Treat Patients With Acute Liver Failure/Severe Acute Liver Injury

NCT ID: NCT01548690

Last Updated: 2018-10-30

Study Results

Results available

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Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE2

Total Enrollment

47 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2012-06-30

Study Completion Date

2017-02-23

Brief Summary

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This Phase 2a clinical study is designed to provide data on OCR-002 in patients with acute liver failure/acute liver injury (ALF/ALI) in regard to:

* safety and tolerability;
* metabolism of the compound to glutamine and phenylacetylglutamine (PAGN);
* its effect on circulating ammonia levels and neurological function in patients with and without impaired renal function after continuous infusion at different infusion rates.

Subjects will receive up to 120 hours (5 days) of drug infusion, followed by a 30 day follow-up visit post infusion. It is anticipated that this early safety and tolerability study, with appropriate PK/PD data, will lead to a development program for the use of OCR-002 in the treatment of hyperammonemia either due to ALF or possibly other liver conditions. The hypotheses are:

* Treatment with OCR-002 is safe and tolerable in patients with acute liver failure/acute liver injury due to acetaminophen overdose or drug-induced liver injury, autoimmune hepatitis, viral hepatitis or indeterminate etiologies.
* A dose of 10-20g/24h (0.42-.83g/h) will achieve steady state plasma concentrations within 6-12h with little additional accumulation in the ALI/ALF setting.
* Treatment with OCR-002 will reduce ammonia and improve neurological function in patients with acute liver failure/severe acute liver injury.

Detailed Description

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There is strong experimental and clinical rationale for the use of ammonia-lowering therapies in ALF. Ammonia is normally produced in the gut and transformed by the liver into urea. As the liver fails, ammonia increases in the systemic circulation and enters into the brain. The result of a rapid rise in ammonia or related compounds in the cerebral circulation is hepatic encephalopathy (HE), a reversible neuropsychiatric condition that ranges in severity from mild impairment in attention, to delirium, the development of cerebral edema, coma and death. This is a Phase 2a, multi-center, open-label study, conducted in two cohorts in patients diagnosed with acute liver failure/acute liver injury (ALF/ALI) who meet inclusion/exclusion criteria. This study is designed to provide data on OCR-002 with regards to

* the effect on circulating ammonia levels in patients with acute liver failure with and without impaired renal function at different doses after single and continuous infusion
* safety and dose tolerability as well as
* providing data on the metabolites, glutamine and phenylacetylglutamine in this patient population.

It is anticipated that this early efficacy, safety, tolerability, Pharmacokinetic/Pharmacodynamic (PK/PD) and dose-ranging study will lead to a Phase 3 development program for the use of OCR-002 in the treatment of hyperammonemia due to ALF. No clinical outcome measures will be formally studied because of the small sample size.

Conditions

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Acute Liver Failure Acute Liver Injury

Study Design

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Allocation Method

NA

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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Ornithine·Phenylacetate

Ornithine Phenylacetate is administered intravenously, through a peripheral venous catheter. Each infusion should will be administered over a period of 120 hours.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Ornithine Phenylacetate

Intervention Type DRUG

Up to 36 patients will be enrolled into 2 groups \[\~18 with minimal renal dysfunction (Cohort 1) \& \~18 w/ comprised renal function (Cohort 2)\] and receive OCR-002 infusion for at least 72 hrs. OCR-002 will be administered in the vein and pharmacokinetics (pk) assessed for all subjects who receive the infusion.

The first 24 enrolled subjects received OCR-002 at 3 ascending dose levels (DLs 1-3) with a maximum target infusion rate equivalent to 10g/24h.

The remaining 12 patients (\~6 Cohort 1 \& \~6 Cohort 2) will be enrolled and receive identical quantities of OCR-002 at 20g/24hr continuously for 5 days (Dose Level 4).

Interventions

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Ornithine Phenylacetate

Up to 36 patients will be enrolled into 2 groups \[\~18 with minimal renal dysfunction (Cohort 1) \& \~18 w/ comprised renal function (Cohort 2)\] and receive OCR-002 infusion for at least 72 hrs. OCR-002 will be administered in the vein and pharmacokinetics (pk) assessed for all subjects who receive the infusion.

The first 24 enrolled subjects received OCR-002 at 3 ascending dose levels (DLs 1-3) with a maximum target infusion rate equivalent to 10g/24h.

The remaining 12 patients (\~6 Cohort 1 \& \~6 Cohort 2) will be enrolled and receive identical quantities of OCR-002 at 20g/24hr continuously for 5 days (Dose Level 4).

Intervention Type DRUG

Other Intervention Names

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OCR-002

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

1. Men and women, ages 18-65 (have not reached their 66th birthday).
2. Acute liver failure, defined as the development of coagulopathy (International normalized ratio \[INR\] ≥1.5) with encephalopathy in a patient with no prior history of liver disease, with onset of symptoms within 28 days of the inciting event. Patients may have either a history of acetaminophen overdose (defined as \>4 g/day within 7 days of presentation) and/or detectable acetaminophen levels in the serum, with a pattern of liver function tests typical for acetaminophen toxicity (bilirubin \< 10 mg/dL and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≥1000 IU/L), or a diagnosis of hepatitis A, hepatitis B, drug-induced liver injury, autoimmune hepatitis or indeterminate cause based on standard criteria.
3. ALI patients may also be enrolled (those meeting the above criteria plus coagulopathy (INR ≥ 2.0) and no evidence of encephalopathy)
4. Written informed consent from the patient (ALI) or patient's legally authorized representative or family member if he/she is considered encephalopathic (ALF).
5. Ammonia level ≥60 μmol/L at baseline (within 8h prior to T0/initiation of infusion).
6. Serum creatinine levels as follows:

1. Cohort 1: Creatinine ≤1.5 mg/dL; and
2. Cohort 2: Creatinine \>1.5 mg/dL and \<10mg/dL.
7. Mean arterial pressure of \>65 mmHg.

Exclusion Criteria

1. History of chronic liver disease.
2. Signs of overt cerebral herniation, or uncontrolled intracranial hypertension by intracranial pressure (ICP) monitoring (if applicable).
3. Evidence of Wilson's disease, alcoholic hepatitis, biliary obstruction, ischemic hepatitis, severe acute renal tubular necrosis (ATN) due to shock, or any patient with ongoing hypotension.
4. Significant gastrointestinal bleeding (coffee grounds per nasogastric tube and/or melena).
5. Hemodynamic instability, defined by a mean arterial pressure of \<65 mmHg.
6. Cardiopulmonary complications such as pulmonary edema, aspiration pneumonia, heart failure.
7. QT interval of \>500msec at baseline EKG.
8. Pregnancy.
9. History of malignancy that has not been cured or any cancer in remission for less than 1 within the past 5 year. Non-melanoma skin cancers do not preclude participation in the trial.
10. Concomitant administration of drugs known to interfere with renal excretion of phenylacetylglutamine or those medications that may induce hyperammonemia such as haloperidol, valproic acid and systemic corticosteroids (prohibited during the study). Alternative ammonia modifying agents such as lactulose and rifaximin are not considered standard of care and are prohibited during the study period.
11. Any other health condition that would preclude participation in the study in the judgment of the principal investigator.
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

65 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Medical University of South Carolina

OTHER

Sponsor Role collaborator

National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

Ocera Therapeutics

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role collaborator

William Lee

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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William Lee

Professor

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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William M Lee, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

UT Southwestern Medical Center

Locations

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University of California, San Francisco

San Francisco, California, United States

Site Status

Yale University School of Medicine

New Haven, Connecticut, United States

Site Status

Emory University

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Site Status

Northwestern University

Chicago, Illinois, United States

Site Status

University of Kansas Medical Center

Kansas City, Kansas, United States

Site Status

University of Michigan Medical Center

Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States

Site Status

The Ohio State University

Columbus, Ohio, United States

Site Status

Medical University of South Carolina

Charleston, South Carolina, United States

Site Status

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Dallas, Texas, United States

Site Status

Virginia Commonwealth University

Richmond, Virginia, United States

Site Status

University of Washington

Seattle, Washington, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

References

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Stravitz RT, Fontana RJ, Karvellas C, Durkalski V, McGuire B, Rule JA, Tujios S, Lee WM; Acute Liver Failure Study Group. Future directions in acute liver failure. Hepatology. 2023 Oct 1;78(4):1266-1289. doi: 10.1097/HEP.0000000000000458. Epub 2023 May 16.

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Provided Documents

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Document Type: Study Protocol and Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Related Links

Access external resources that provide additional context or updates about the study.

http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/labs/acute-liver/

Acute Liver Failure Study Website

http://youtu.be/WUKZWx3Qa7U

Instructional STOP-ALF YouTube Video

Other Identifiers

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U01DK058369

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

ALFSG-OCR-002

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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