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Clinical Trial Details — Status: Active, not recruiting

Administrative data

NCT number NCT04720326
Other study ID # EnGraft
Secondary ID 2020-000796-20
Status Active, not recruiting
Phase Phase 4
First received
Last updated
Start date December 23, 2020
Est. completion date October 2026

Study information

Verified date February 2024
Source University of Regensburg
Contact n/a
Is FDA regulated No
Health authority
Study type Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

Trial participants are randomised within 14 days after liver transplantation surgery in a 1:1 ratio to two alternative treatment arms containing either Envarsus® (test arm) or Advagraf® (comparator arm) as first-line calcineurin inhibitor within a standard-of-care immunosuppressive regimen. Tacrolimus blood trough levels and drug doses are monitored at regular intervals to assess drug bioavailability and the ease and accuracy of achieving the targeted blood concentration range. Dose-normalised trough level (concentration/dose ratio) is measured at 12 weeks post-randomisation as an estimate of tacrolimus bioavailability. It is hypothesised that treatment with Envarsus® will confer a superior (higher) C/D ratio after 12 weeks of therapy owing to the superior bioavailability of this galenic drug formulation (proprietary MeltDose® technology). To test whether an elevated C/D ratio is also associated with improved clinical outcomes, a range of other pharmacokinetic, efficacy and safety variables are evaluated at 10 study visits spanning a period of 3 years.


Recruitment information / eligibility

Status Active, not recruiting
Enrollment 268
Est. completion date October 2026
Est. primary completion date January 25, 2024
Accepts healthy volunteers No
Gender All
Age group 18 Years and older
Eligibility Inclusion Criteria: 1. Signed and dated written informed consent 2. Adult (=18 years old) male or female 3. Recipient of a whole liver transplant from a deceased donor or a split liver transplant from a deceased or living donor 4. ABO blood type compatible with the organ donor 5. Able to swallow an oral formulation of tacrolimus in tablet or capsule form Exclusion Criteria: 1. Multi-organ transplantation 2. Any previous organ allograft transplantation 3. Biopsy-proven acute rejection that is ongoing at the time of randomisation 4. Occurrence of post-transplant thrombosis, occlusion or stent placement in any major hepatic arteries, hepatic veins, portal vein or inferior vena cava 5. History of extra-hepatic malignancy that could not be curatively treated 6. Hepatocellular carcinoma with extra-hepatic spread or macrovascular invasion 7. Uncontrolled systemic infection 8. Requirement of life support measures such as ventilation or vasopressor agents (>20 µg/kg body weight/h) at the time of randomisation 9. Known contraindication or hypersensitivity to tacrolimus, and/or to any of the excipients listed in section 6.1 of the Summary of Product Characteristics of both Envarsus® and Advagraf®, and/or to any other macrolides 10. Ongoing, planned or foreseeable use of cyclosporine or any tacrolimus preparation other than Envarsus® or Advagraf® (except for immediate-release formulations administered before randomisation) 11. Any prolonged-release tacrolimus treatment prior to randomisation 12. Pregnant or nursing (lactating) female, where pregnancy is defined as the state of a female after conception and until the termination of gestation, confirmed by a positive human chorionic gonadotropin laboratory test 13. Female of child-bearing potential, defined as physiologically capable of becoming pregnant, unless using a reliable method of contraception 14. Participation in another interventional clinical trial during the time period from randomisation to study end, if the trial is testing an Investigational Medicinal Product or if the intervention and/or follow-up requirements of the trial impede or interfere with either the objectives of EnGraft or the treatment / follow-up requirements of EnGraft 15. Any condition or factor which, in the judgement of the investigator, would place the subject at undue risk, invalidate communication with the investigator or study team, or hamper compliance with the trial protocol or follow-up schedule 16. Inability to freely give informed consent (e.g. individuals under legal guardianship)

Study Design


Related Conditions & MeSH terms

  • Prophylaxis Against Liver Transplant Rejection

Intervention

Drug:
Tacrolimus Pill
Envarsus® tablets dosed to achieve and maintain whole blood trough levels of tacrolimus within a patient-specific therapeutic range (interval of 3 ng/ml) that lies within a wider reference range of 3-12 ng/ml.
Tacrolimus capsule
Advagraf® capsules dosed to achieve and maintain whole blood trough levels of tacrolimus within a patient-specific therapeutic range (interval of 3 ng/ml) that lies within a wider reference range of 3-12 ng/ml.

Locations

Country Name City State
Germany University Hospital Aachen Aachen
Germany Charite - University Medicine Berlin Berlin
Germany University Hospital Essen Essen
Germany University Hospital Frankfurt Frankfurt
Germany University Hospital Hamburg Eppendorf Hamburg
Germany Hannover Medical School Hannover
Germany University Hospital Heidelberg Heidelberg
Germany University Hospital Jena Jena
Germany University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein - Campus Kiel Kiel
Germany University Hospital Leipzig Leipzig
Germany University Hospital Magdeburg Magdeburg
Germany University Hospital Mainz Mainz
Germany University Hospital Muenster Muenster
Germany University Hospital Regensburg Regensburg
Germany University Hospital Tuebingen Tuebingen

Sponsors (3)

Lead Sponsor Collaborator
Edward Geissler Chiesi Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Excelya

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Germany, 

Outcome

Type Measure Description Time frame Safety issue
Primary Dose-normalised blood trough level of tacrolimus (concentration/dose ratio) To calculate C/D ratio, "concentration" is the blood trough level of tacrolimus measured in a blood sample collected immediately prior to drug dosing on the day of the 12-week trial visit and "dose" is the daily dose taken by the patient on the day prior to the visit. C/D ratio is measured as a surrogate for tacrolimus bioavailability (i.e. systemic exposure per mg of drug). 12 weeks post-randomisation
Secondary Number of IMP dose adjustments Until 12 weeks post-randomisation
Secondary Time to reach the first defined range in target trough level Time period measured in days, assessed at 12 weeks post-randomisation
Secondary Number of measurements above and below the first defined range in target trough level Time period measured in days, assessed at 12 weeks post-randomisation
Secondary Dose-normalised trough level (C/D ratio) during long-term follow-up 1, 2 and 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Mean tacrolimus trough level and inter-patient variability (range) of tacrolimus trough levels 1, 2, 4 and 12 weeks post-randomisation
Secondary Inter-patient variability (range) of tacrolimus total daily dose Until 12 weeks post-randomisation
Secondary Proportion of patients with trough levels lower, within, or higher than the standard reference range 1, 2, 4 and 12 weeks post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence and severity of clinically-confirmed biopsy-proven acute rejection 12 weeks and 1, 2, 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence of graft failure (defined as necessity for re-transplantation) 12 weeks and 1, 2, 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence of death (for any reason) 12 weeks and 1, 2, 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Treatment failure rate (composite endpoint of biopsy-proven acute rejection, graft failure or death) 12 weeks and 1, 2, 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Time to treatment failure (composite endpoint of biopsy-proven acute rejection, graft failure or death) after randomisation 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence of acute rejections requiring treatment 12 weeks post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence of multiple rejection episodes 12 weeks post-randomisation
Secondary Change versus baseline in laboratory measures of liver function (aspartate transaminase, alanine transaminase, alkaline phosphatase, gamma-glutamyltransferase, bilirubin, albumin, cholinesterase, INR) 12 weeks and 1, 2, 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Change versus baseline in laboratory measures of metabolic profile (triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, HbA1c, fasting plasma glucose) 12 weeks and 1, 2, 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Change versus baseline in laboratory measures of renal function (creatinine, estimated glomerular filtration rate) 12 weeks and 1, 2, 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence and type of malignancies diagnosed in trial participants 1, 2 and 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence and type of infections (hepatitis C virus, hepatitis B virus, cytomegalovirus, Epstein-Barr virus) experienced by trial participants 1, 2 and 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Degree of liver fibrosis (fibroscan or biopsy) 12 weeks and 1, 2, 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence, type, severity, seriousness and causality of adverse events (AEs) 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Change versus baseline in heart rate 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Change versus baseline in blood pressure 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Change versus baseline in body weight 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence of de novo occurrence of tremor or vision impairments 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence of post-transplant diabetes mellitus and post-transplant hyperglycaemia 12 weeks and 1, 2, 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Dose-normalised trough level (C/D ratio) 12 weeks post-transplantation
Secondary Number and doses of immunosuppressive medications (incl. other tacrolimus formulations) At 12 weeks and after 12 weeks (if applicable)
Secondary Recurrence of primary hepatic disease 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence of donor-specific antibodies 12 weeks and 1, 2, 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Continuation rate 12 weeks post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence and time to study treatment discontinuation 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Incidence of patient withdrawal from the study 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Time to patient withdrawal from the study 3 years post-randomisation
Secondary Reason for patient withdrawal from the study 3 years post-randomisation