A Study to Learn About Medicine Called Ritlecitinib in Children Aged Between 6 to 12 Years With Severe Alopecia Areata

NCT ID: NCT07029711

Last Updated: 2025-09-26

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

PHASE3

Total Enrollment

225 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2025-07-31

Study Completion Date

2027-05-18

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this study is to learn about the safety and effects of the study medicine (called ritlecitinib) for the possible treatment of severe alopecia areata. Alopecia areata is a condition that causes hair loss.

This study is seeking participants who have:

* at least 50% scalp hair loss due to alopecia areata.
* received varicella vaccination (2 doses) or have been infected by varicella zoster virus before based on blood test reports.
* history of clinical response failure to alopecia areata treatment (for children in EU/UK only).

All participants in this study will receive either study medicine (ritlecitinib) or placebo. A placebo does not have any medicine in it but looks just like the medicine being studied.

One-third of participants will receive ritlecitinib higher dose, one-third participants will receive ritlecitinib lower dose, and one-third participants will receive placebo.

The study medicine is a capsule that is taken by mouth. It is taken once each day at home.

The study will compare the experiences of participants receiving ritlecitinib to participants receiving placebo. This will help see if ritlecitinib is safe and effective.

Participants will take part in this study for 6 months. During this time, they will have 8 study visits at the study clinic. The study team will also call participants about 8 times over the phone.

Detailed Description

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Study B7981027 is being conducted to assess efficacy and safety of ritlecitinib in pediatric participants 6 to \<12 years of age with severe AA. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of ritlecitinib compared to placebo in pediatric participants with severe AA on regrowth of lost scalp hair. The secondary objectives are to evaluate safety, tolerability, acceptability and palatability of ritlecitinib and to evaluate the effect of ritlecitinib on patient centered outcomes.

This study will have 3 treatment arms, including 2 ritlecitinib dosage levels (higher and lower doses) and 1 placebo arm. The participants will be assessed for study eligibility at the screening visit after informed consent/assent is obtained (as applicable).

Participants will receive study medication for a duration of 24 weeks.

At least 225 participants will be enrolled in the study. At least 30% of total study population will be recruited from Europe.

The efficacy assessments include Severity of Alopecia Tool (SALT), eyebrow and eyelash assessments. Patient reported outcomes including Patient's Global Impression of Change (PGI-C), Alopecia Areata Patient Priority Outcomes (AAPPO), Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Parent Proxy - Anxiety Short Form 8a and Depressive Symptoms Short Form 6a, Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function®, Second Edition (BRIEF®2), and modified Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) will be assessed throughout the study. Pharmacokinetics of ritlecitinib will be evaluated using sparse sampling.

Safety monitoring will be performed to identify and monitor the known and potential risks of ritlecitinib.

Participants completing the 24-week treatment period of the study may have the option to enter the long-term extension (LTE) Study B7981028, if the eligibility criteria are met. Participants who complete the 24-week treatment period of the study but who are ineligible for the LTE study will undergo a 4-week off-treatment follow-up period.

Conditions

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Severe Alopecia Areata

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

QUADRUPLE

Participants Caregivers Investigators Outcome Assessors
Participants and their caregivers, Investigators and other site staff will be blinded to their assigned study intervention. Sponsor staff will be blinded to participants' assigned study intervention, except for sponsor staff involved in the assignment or distribution of study intervention and the provision noted below.

Sponsor staff who are not directly involved with the conduct of this study will prepare analyses and documentation containing unblinded data while the study is ongoing

Study Groups

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Ritlecitinib higher dose

Participants will receive

1 ritlecitinib higher dose capsule once a day (QD) and 1 placebo lower dose capsule once a day (QD) orally for 24 weeks.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Ritlecitinib higher dose

Intervention Type DRUG

Study intervention will be provided as oral capsules centrally by the sponsor in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles.

Ritlecitinib lower dose

Participants will receive

1 ritlecitinib lower dose capsule QD and 1 placebo higher dose capsule QD orally for 24 weeks.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Ritlecitinib lower dose

Intervention Type DRUG

Study intervention will be provided as oral capsules centrally by the sponsor in HDPE bottles.

Placebo

Participants will receive

1 placebo higher dose capsule QD and 1 placebo lower dose capsule QD orally for 24 weeks.

Group Type PLACEBO_COMPARATOR

Placebo

Intervention Type DRUG

Study intervention will be provided as oral capsules centrally by the sponsor in HDPE bottles.

Interventions

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Ritlecitinib higher dose

Study intervention will be provided as oral capsules centrally by the sponsor in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles.

Intervention Type DRUG

Ritlecitinib lower dose

Study intervention will be provided as oral capsules centrally by the sponsor in HDPE bottles.

Intervention Type DRUG

Placebo

Study intervention will be provided as oral capsules centrally by the sponsor in HDPE bottles.

Intervention Type DRUG

Other Intervention Names

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Active Treatment Active Treatment

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* A diagnosis of AA (including alopecia totalis (AT) and alopecia universalis (AU)) with at least 50% scalp hair loss due to AA (ie, SALT score of ≥50) at both screening and baseline visits, without evidence of terminal hair regrowth within the previous 12 months.
* For study participants in the EU/UK only: History of clinical response failure to AA treatment (such as topical, off-label pharmacologic, or hairpiece prosthetics)
* Documented evidence of having received varicella vaccination (2 doses), OR evidence of prior exposure to varicella zoster virus (VZV) based on serological testing (ie, a positive VZV Immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibody (Ab) result) at screening.

Exclusion Criteria

* Other (non-AA) types of alopecia, including any known congenital cause of AA.
* Pre-existing hearing loss.
* Any present or history of malignancies or lymphoproliferative disorder such as Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) related lymphoproliferative disorder, history of lymphoma, history of leukemia, or signs and symptoms suggestive of current lymphatic or lymphoid disease.
* Clinically significant depression per PROMIS Parent Proxy Short Form - Depressive symptoms (T-score ≥70).
* Any evidence of untreated or inadequately treated active or latent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) infection; history (one or more episodes) of severe or serious cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, herpes zoster (shingles) or disseminated herpes simplex; infection with hepatitis B virus (HBV) or hepatitis C virus (HCV).
* Vaccination with live attenuated replication-competent vaccine within 6 weeks of first dose of study intervention.
Minimum Eligible Age

6 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

11 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Pfizer

INDUSTRY

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Responsibility Role SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

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Pfizer CT.gov Call Center

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Pfizer

Locations

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Pediatric Skin Research

Miami, Florida, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

D&H Tamarac Research Center

Tamarac, Florida, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Dawes Fretzin Clinical Research Group, LLC

Indianapolis, Indiana, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Ear, Nose and Throat Consultants, LLC

Omaha, Nebraska, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Skin Specialists, PC dba Schlessinger MD

Omaha, Nebraska, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Complete Behavior Health (Dr. Brittany Marshall, Licensed Psychologist)

Papillion, Nebraska, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Northwest Dermatology Institute

Portland, Oregon, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

3A Research - West Location

El Paso, Texas, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Austin Institute for Clinical Research

Pflugerville, Texas, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

Texas Dermatology and Laser Specialists

San Antonio, Texas, United States

Site Status RECRUITING

AMR Clinical

Layton, Utah, United States

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Huashan Hospital, Fudan University

Shanghai, Shanghai Municipality, China

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Tohoku University Hospital

Sendai, Miyagi, Japan

Site Status RECRUITING

Niigata University Medical & Dental Hospital

Niigata, Niigata, Japan

Site Status RECRUITING

Hamamatsu University Hospital

Hamamatsu, Shizuoka, Japan

Site Status RECRUITING

Kyorin University Hospital

Mitaka, Tokyo, Japan

Site Status NOT_YET_RECRUITING

Osaka Metropolitan University Hospital

Osaka, , Japan

Site Status RECRUITING

Countries

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United States China Japan

Central Contacts

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Pfizer CT.gov Call Center

Role: CONTACT

1-800-718-1021

Related Links

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https://pmiform.com/clinical-trial-info-request?StudyID=B7981027

To obtain contact information for a study center near you, click here.

Other Identifiers

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2024-515438-33-00

Identifier Type: REGISTRY

Identifier Source: secondary_id

B7981027

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

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