Nasally and sc Administered Teriparatide in Healthy Volunteers — NINTTO  

Clinical Trial Summary

Osteoporosis is a reduction in bone density that increases the risk of fractures; particularly of the spine, hip and wrist. Osteoporosis is estimated to affect 200 million women worldwide - approximately one tenth of women aged 60, one-fifth of women aged 70, two-fifths of women aged 80 and two-thirds of women aged 90. Treating osteoporosis and the associated fractures costs the NHS more than two billion pounds per annum.

Teriparatide is a drug currently prescribed for some osteoporosis patients by their doctor to be taken by injection. It is currently the only drug available which promotes the deposition of new bone as opposed to preventing resorption. This is the drug treatment we will be studying in this clinical trial.

The drug is of a type that cannot normally be taken as a swallowed pill. This type of drugs tends to be delivered by injection, as is currently the case for teriparatide. Injections have numerous limitations and are disliked by patients.

This trial will assess how well the nasal spray devices work, how long the drug stays in the nose and also how well the drug enters the bloodstream.

This study aims to look at how teriparatide spreads through the nose and into the blood stream when it is given as a liquid with a nasal delivery system called CriticalSorb™. CriticalSorb has been developed by Critical Pharmaceuticals to improve the absorption of drugs through the nose into the blood stream in the hope that it will replace injections. For part of the study a radioactive compound (routinely used in the nuclear medicine clinic for diagnosis) will be added to the formulation in order to investigate how the formulation spreads through nose after it is sprayed.

The study is being carried out in postmenopausal females aged greater than 55 years of age as osteoporosis commonly affects these women. The study will involve 8 visits.

The first visit will be to assess eligibility. On visit 2 the participants will receive an injection of the teriparatide. On visits 2-6 the participants will receive a nasal dose of teriparatide via nasal devices at different dose levels, blood samples will be taken to measure drug levels following dosing.

For visits 5 and 6 the nasal dose will have a radioactive marker added and gamma camera imaging will also be carried out. These visits will also compare two different nasal devices.

Visit 7 will be a follow up visit. There will be one further visit during the study to acquire a MRI scan of the head that will assist analysis of the scintigraphic images. ;

Study Design

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Osteoporosis