Cell Therapy With Treg Cells Obtained From Thymic Tissue (thyTreg) to Prevent Rejection in Heart Transplant Children

NCT ID: NCT04924491

Last Updated: 2025-02-03

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

PHASE1/PHASE2

Total Enrollment

11 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2020-09-10

Study Completion Date

2026-12-31

Brief Summary

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The investigators developed a protocol to isolate Treg cells from thymic tissue (thyTreg) discarded in pediatric cardiac surgeries. After completing the pre-clinical studies, the investigators have initiated a phase I/II clinical trial to test the safety and efficacy of the adoptive transfer of autologous thyTreg to prevent rejection in heart transplant children.

Condition or disease: Heart Transplantation Intervention/treatment: Regulatory T Cell (Treg) Infusion

Detailed Description

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Current transplant practice is far from guaranteeing the life expectancy of patients, particularly if the patients are children. THYTECH aims to revolutionize the field of clinical immunology developing a new approach to govern the regulatory skills of immune system, preventing graft rejection and opening a new frontier in the treatment of immune diseases.

Transfer of regulatory T cells (Treg) has acquired growing interest in the race to achieve indefinite transplant survival. Up to now, the use of Treg therapy to prevent solid graft rejection in humans has demonstrated that this therapy is safe, but the clinical efficacy is limited. The small Treg numbers that can be purified from peripheral blood along with the low survival and limited suppressive capacity of differentiated Tregs obtained from adults have probably compromised the efficacy of this therapy.

The investigators have developed an innovative approach to overcome current barriers and make Treg transfer a reality equipped to achieve indefinite graft survival. The major innovation of THYTECH is the employment of thymic tissue, the site of Treg generation, as a new source of Tregs to obtain massive amounts of thymus-derived Tregs (thyTreg) with very high purity (\>95% of CD 25+ Foxp3+ cells) and improved survival and suppressive capacities. The investigators are recruiting patients in a clinical trial transferring autologous Tregs in heart-transplanted children to prevent graft rejection.

Conditions

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Heart Transplantation

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

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10.000.000 thyTreg /kg

Autologous thyTreg 10.000.000

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Autologous thyTreg

Intervention Type BIOLOGICAL

Treg lymphocytic cells, differentiated, autologous, of thymic tissue, expanded and stimulated with Interleukin (IL-) 2 (thyTreg)

20.000.000 thyTreg /kg

Autologous thyTreg 20.000.000

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Autologous thyTreg

Intervention Type BIOLOGICAL

Treg lymphocytic cells, differentiated, autologous, of thymic tissue, expanded and stimulated with Interleukin (IL-) 2 (thyTreg)

Interventions

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Autologous thyTreg

Treg lymphocytic cells, differentiated, autologous, of thymic tissue, expanded and stimulated with Interleukin (IL-) 2 (thyTreg)

Intervention Type BIOLOGICAL

Other Intervention Names

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thyTreg cells

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

1. Patient under two years of age, who meets all the necessary requirements to undergo a heart transplant.
2. Patients without contraindication to immunosuppressive drugs.
3. Parents and/or guardians must be willing and able to understand the purpose and risks of the study and must sign the informed consent document

Exclusion Criteria

1. Patients with DiGeorge Syndrome, since their thymic function is affected.
2. Human immunodeficiency virus positive serology
3. Epstein-Barr virus active infection
4. Patients hyperimmunized with cytotoxic anti-human leukocyte antigen antibodies
5. Patients with a history of previous malignancy
6. Patients who have participated in other intervention studies in the last month.
7. Patients who have received induction therapy with Basiliximab or Thymoglobulin.
8. Patients who have previously been thymectomized or transplanted.
9. Patients who have been diagnosed with severe autoimmune disease (celiac disease, autoimmune hypothyroidism, autoimmune diabetes)
10. Patients who will receive an asystole heart
Maximum Eligible Age

2 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Instituto de Salud Carlos III

OTHER_GOV

Sponsor Role collaborator

Rafael Correa-Rocha

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Rafael Correa-Rocha

Group Leader

Responsibility Role SPONSOR_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Rafael Correa-Rocha, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon

Locations

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Hospital General Universitario Gregorio Marañon

Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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Spain

Central Contacts

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Rafael Correa-Rocha, PhD

Role: CONTACT

34 915866455

Diana Hernandez Florez, PhD

Role: CONTACT

34 915290019

Facility Contacts

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Rafael Correa-Rocha, PhD

Role: primary

References

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Bernaldo-de-Quiros E, Cozar B, Lopez-Esteban R, Clemente M, Gil-Jaurena JM, Pardo C, Pita A, Perez-Caballero R, Camino M, Gil N, Fernandez-Santos ME, Suarez S, Pion M, Martinez-Bonet M, Correa-Rocha R. A Novel GMP Protocol to Produce High-Quality Treg Cells From the Pediatric Thymic Tissue to Be Employed as Cellular Therapy. Front Immunol. 2022 May 16;13:893576. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.893576. eCollection 2022.

Reference Type DERIVED
PMID: 35651624 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

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2024-519845-30

Identifier Type: EUDRACT_NUMBER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

2018-003574-28

Identifier Type: OTHER

Identifier Source: secondary_id

THYTECH1-2018-005

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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