Efficacy and Safety of Riociguat in Incipient Pulmonary Vascular Disease as an Indicator for Early PAH

NCT ID: NCT05339087

Last Updated: 2026-01-21

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: TERMINATED
• Clinical Phase: PHASE2
• Total Enrollment: 35 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2022-10-24
• Study Completion Date: 2025-07-31

Brief Summary

This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicenter, multinational study investigating the effect of riociguat (MK-4836) in patients with early pulmonary vascular disease.

Detailed Description

Chronic pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is associated with impaired exercise capacity, quality of life and right ventricular function characterized by an increase of pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) and pulmonary arterial pressure, leading to right heart insufficiency.

Riociguat tratment is approved for both PAH and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH).

Data on early treatment of patients with mildly elevated pulmonary arterial pressures is still scarce but there is evindence that such patients may benefit from early targeted therapy.

For instance, in a trial on systemic sclerosis (SSc)-patients with mildly elevated mean pulmonary artery pressure (mPAP) and/or exercise pulmonary hypertension, without significant left heart or lung disease, ambrisentan, an endothelin receptor antagonist resulted in an improvement of PVR as secondary endpoint, which may be of prognostic relevance in this patient cohort and requires further research.

Besides its prognostic significance among patients with SSc-APAH, PVR may be an indicator of early pulmonary vascular disease and previous studies proved the positive effects of riociguat on right heart size and PVR (secondary endpoint in phase III studies). Thus, PVR was chosen as primary endpoint of this study aiming to investigate the effect of riociguat (MK-4836) on PVR, clinical parameters, safety and tolerability in patients with early pulmonary vascular disease.

Eligible subjects will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either riociguat or placebo.

Medical examinations include medical history, physical examination, electrocardiogram, blood gas analyses, lung function tests, laboratory testing (including NT-proBNP), echocardiography at rest, and right heart catheterization.

The prospective period of data collection comprises a 24-week treatment phase diveded into an 8-week titration phase followed by a 16-week main study phase as well as a safety follow-up of 30±14 days.

Conditions

Pulmonary Vascular Disorder; Primary Pulmonary Hypertension; Systemic Sclerosis; Other Systemic Involvement of Connective Tissue

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: TREATMENT
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Riociguat

patients will undergo a titration phase starting with 1mg riociguat oral tablets tid (three times daily) up to a maximum dosage of 2.5mg tid that will be continued for the remainder of the study.

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Riociguat Oral Tablet

Intervention Type: DRUG

Riociguat Oral Tablet (1 mg, 1.5 mg, 2.0 mg or 2.5 mg three times daily) Titration phase: dose will be individually adjusted in accordance with the in-label titration regimen. Dose adjustment will be performed every two weeks by phone taking the systemic blood pressure of the patient, the subjects and physicians' subjective estimation and occurrence of adverse reactions into account. At week 8 the maintenance dose will be established and continued for the rest of the study

Placebo

Placebo tablets with the same treatment regimen (tid) as the verum therapy will be provided. Patients will undergo a sham titration phase with sham doses individually adjusted as in the experimental arm

Group Type: PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Placebo

Intervention Type: OTHER

Sham titration and adjustment to maintenance dose will be performed according to individual tolerability as in the experimental arm.

Interventions

Riociguat Oral Tablet

Riociguat Oral Tablet (1 mg, 1.5 mg, 2.0 mg or 2.5 mg three times daily) Titration phase: dose will be individually adjusted in accordance with the in-label titration regimen. Dose adjustment will be performed every two weeks by phone taking the systemic blood pressure of the patient, the subjects and physicians' subjective estimation and occurrence of adverse reactions into account. At week 8 the maintenance dose will be established and continued for the rest of the study

Intervention Type: DRUG

Placebo

Sham titration and adjustment to maintenance dose will be performed according to individual tolerability as in the experimental arm.

Intervention Type: OTHER

Other Intervention Names

MK-4836; ATC Code: C02KX05

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. ≥18 years of age at time of inclusion.

2. Male and female patients with early pulmonary vascular disease, defined as either a) mean pulmonary arterial pressure (mPAP) ≥25 mmHg with pulmonary vascular resistance (PVR) ≥2 to <3 WU and pulmonary arterial wedge pressure (PAWP) ≤15 mmHg or b) mPAP 21-<25 mmHg with PVR ≥2 WU, and PAWP ≤15 mmHg associated with connective tissue disease (CTD) or as idiopathic/heritable form (see Group I / Nice Clinical Classification of Pulmonary Hypertension) (acc. to Simonneau et al. 2019). Patients with rheumatoid arthritis or connective tissue disease of any kind, except systemic lupus erythematosus, may also be included. Patients in group b will be mainly enrolled as long as patients in group a are not defined as having pulmonary arterial hypertension according to European pulmonary hypertension guidelines.

3. Treatment naïve patients (with respect to PAH specific medication)

4. Unspecific treatments which may also be used for the treatment of pulmonary hypertension such as oral anticoagulants, diuretics, digitalis, calcium channel blockers or oxygen supplementation are permitted. Permitted are also treatments of the rheumatologic disease. However, these drugs must have been started at least 1 month before right heart catheterization.

5. Right-heart catheterization results must not be older than 1 month at Visit 1 (will be considered as baseline values, the time frame can be prolonged up to 6 months, if the patient has had no signs of clinical changes defined as >10% change of 6MWD, WHO FC, > 30% change in NT-proBNP) and must have been measured in the participating center under standardized conditions (refer to the study specific Swan Ganz catheterization manual). If the respective measurements have not been performed in context with the patient's regular diagnostic work up, they have to be performed as a part of the study during the pre-study phase (after the patient signed the informed consent).

6. Women without childbearing potential defined as postmenopausal women aged 55 years or older, women with bilateral tubal ligation, women with bilateral ovariectomy, and women with hysterectomy can be included in the study.

7. Women of childbearing potential can only be included in the study if all of the following applies (listed below):

1. Negative serum pregnancy test at screening and at study start (visit 1).

2. Agreement to undertake monthly urine pregnancy tests during the study and up to at least 30 days after study treatment discontinuation. These tests should be performed by the patient at home.

3. Agreement to use a highly effective contraception method as specified from screening until at least 30 days after last dose of study medication.

8. Patients who are able to understand and follow instructions and who are able to participate in the study for the entire period.

9. Patients must have given their written informed consent to participate in the study after having received adequate previous information and prior to any study-specific procedures.

Exclusion Criteria

1. Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

2. Concomitant PAH-targeted treatment is not allowed during the study.

3. Concomitant treatment with phosphodiesterase 5 inhibitors, endothelin receptor antagonists and prostacyclin analogues due to digital ulcers is contraindicated and must not be taken during the study period. Such drugs must have a washout-phase of 3 days at the time of right heart catheterization at screening. Intravenous treatment with prostacyclin analogues should not be performed within 1 week of right heart catheterization. Any decision to discontinue above-mentioned drugs will be made by the clinicians and the patient at screening, which takes part during the patients' regular routine visit. The discontinuation of above-mentioned drugs will be evaluated by considering the presence or absence of digital ulcers and their frequency of appearance in the patient's medical history.

4. Pulmonary hypertension explained by other cause including group 2, 3, 4 and 5 PH according to the current guidelines.

5. Cardiac comorbidity, defined with three or more of the following conditions: uncontrolled arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, body mass index >35, left atrial enlargement >20 cm², atrial fibrillation, left ventricular ejection fraction <50%.

6. Pulmonary comorbidity, defined as forced vital capacity (FVC) ≤70; forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) ≤50%; diffusion capacity of the lung (DLCO) ≤40%. FVC may be <70/ if high resolution computed tomography shows <20% lung fibrosis.

7. Patients with a medical disorder, condition, or history of such that would impair the patient's ability to participate or complete this study in the opinion of the investigator.

8. Patients with underlying medical disorders with an anticipated life expectancy below 2 years (e.g. active cancer disease with localized and/or metastasized tumor mass).

9. Patients with a history of severe or multiple drug allergies (defined as allergic reactions to three or more structurally unrelated drugs).

10. Patients with hypersensitivity to the investigational drug or any of the excipients.

11. Contraindications according to summary of product characteristics of riociguat (e.g. arterial hypotension with systolic blood pressure <95 mmHg; nitrates)

12. Participation in any clinical drug trial within 4 weeks prior to screening of this study and/or patient, who is scheduled to receive an investigational medicinal product (IMP) during the course of this study

13. Background therapy with highly anti-fibrotic drugs (pirfenidone) or nintedanib, prednisolone >10 mg/day

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Merck Sharp & Dohme LLC

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Heidelberg University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Prof. Dr. med. Ekkehard Gruenig

Head of section for pulmonary hypertension, Thoraxklinik Heidelberg gGmbH

Responsibility Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Ekkehard Grünig, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Thoraxklinik at the University of Heidelberg

Locations

LKH-Univ. Klinikum Graz Universitätsklinik für Innere Medizin Klinische Abteilung für Pulmonologie

Graz, , Austria

Ordensklinikum Linz GmbH Elisabethinen

Linz, , Austria

Centre de référence des Maladies Auto-Immunes Systémiques rares du Nord et Nord-Ouest (CeRAINO) Service de Médecine Interne et Immunologie Clinique Hôpital Claude Huriez, CHU

Lille, , France

Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital at the TU Dresden, Medical Department I, Center for PH

Dresden, , Germany

Centre for Pulmonary Hypertension at the Thoraxklinik Heidelberg, Heidelberg University Hospital Heidelberg

Heidelberg, , Germany

Università Degli Studi Di Napoli Federico II Scuola Di Medicina E Chirurgia

Napoli, , Italy

Universitätsspital Zürich Pulmonale Hypertonie, Klinik für Pneumologie

Zurich, , Switzerland

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust

London, , United Kingdom

Countries

Austria; France; Germany; Italy; Switzerland; United Kingdom

References

Galie N, Humbert M, Vachiery JL, Gibbs S, Lang I, Torbicki A, Simonneau G, Peacock A, Vonk Noordegraaf A, Beghetti M, Ghofrani A, Gomez Sanchez MA, Hansmann G, Klepetko W, Lancellotti P, Matucci M, McDonagh T, Pierard LA, Trindade PT, Zompatori M, Hoeper M. 2015 ESC/ERS Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension. Rev Esp Cardiol (Engl Ed). 2016 Feb;69(2):177. doi: 10.1016/j.rec.2016.01.002. No abstract available.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 26837729 (View on PubMed)

Grunig E, Barner A, Bell M, Claussen M, Dandel M, Dumitrescu D, Gorenflo M, Holt S, Kovacs G, Ley S, Meyer JF, Pabst S, Riemekasten G, Saur J, Schwaiblmair M, Seck C, Sinn L, Sorichter S, Winkler J, Leuchte HH. [Non-invasive diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension: ESC/ERS Guidelines with commentary of the Cologne Consensus Conference 2010]. Dtsch Med Wochenschr. 2010 Oct;135 Suppl 3:S67-77. doi: 10.1055/s-0030-1263314. Epub 2010 Sep 22. German.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 20862623 (View on PubMed)

Ghofrani HA, D'Armini AM, Grimminger F, Hoeper MM, Jansa P, Kim NH, Mayer E, Simonneau G, Wilkins MR, Fritsch A, Neuser D, Weimann G, Wang C; CHEST-1 Study Group. Riociguat for the treatment of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension. N Engl J Med. 2013 Jul 25;369(4):319-29. doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1209657.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 23883377 (View on PubMed)

Pan Z, Marra AM, Benjamin N, Eichstaedt CA, Blank N, Bossone E, Cittadini A, Coghlan G, Denton CP, Distler O, Egenlauf B, Fischer C, Harutyunova S, Xanthouli P, Lorenz HM, Grunig E. Early treatment with ambrisentan of mildly elevated mean pulmonary arterial pressure associated with systemic sclerosis: a randomized, controlled, double-blind, parallel group study (EDITA study). Arthritis Res Ther. 2019 Oct 26;21(1):217. doi: 10.1186/s13075-019-1981-0.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 31655622 (View on PubMed)

Rubin LJ, Galie N, Grimminger F, Grunig E, Humbert M, Jing ZC, Keogh A, Langleben D, Fritsch A, Menezes F, Davie N, Ghofrani HA. Riociguat for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension: a long-term extension study (PATENT-2). Eur Respir J. 2015 May;45(5):1303-13. doi: 10.1183/09031936.00090614. Epub 2015 Jan 22.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

PMID: 25614164 (View on PubMed)

Provided Documents

Document Type: Study Protocol

View Document

Document Type: Statistical Analysis Plan

View Document

Other Identifiers

2020-01RCT

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id