Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trial: An Opportunity to Prevent Dementia. A Study of Potential Disease Modifying Treatments in Individuals With a Type of Early Onset Alzheimer's Disease Caused by a Genetic Mutation (DIAN-TU)

Dementia Clinical Trial

— DIAN-TU  

Official title:

A Phase II/III Multicenter Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Platform Trial of Potential Disease Modifying Therapies Utilizing Biomarker, Cognitive, and Clinical Endpoints in Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer's Disease

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05269394
• Other study ID #: DIAN-TU-001 (E2814)
• Secondary ID: The Alzheimer's
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: Phase 2/Phase 3
• Start date: December 22, 2021
• Est. completion date: October 2027

Study information

• Verified date: February 2024
• Source: Washington University School of Medicine
• Contact: Ellen Ziegemeier, MA
• Phone: 844-DIANEXR (342-6397)
• Email: dianexr[@]wustl.edu
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

To assess the safety, tolerability, biomarker, cognitive, and clinical efficacy of investigational products in participants with an Alzheimer's disease-causing mutation by determining if treatment with the study drug improves disease-related biomarkers and slows the rate of progression of cognitive or clinical impairment.

Description:

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is characterized pathologically by the presence of accumulation of amyloid plaques and tau-containing neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) in the brain. Amyloid plaques can be detectable within the brain some years before symptoms manifest whereas tau-mediated toxicity has been hypothesized to appear later during the course of disease. Physiologically, tau is predominantly a neuronal microtubule-associated protein that plays a fundamental role in the stabilization of microtubules. Under pathological conditions however, short motifs in the microtubule binding region (MTBR) domains of tau adopt a beta-sheet conformation, inducing self-assembly with other tau molecules that lead to the formation of insoluble aggregates. Insoluble tau is also a feature of a number of different neurodegenerative diseases collectively termed tauopathies. The accumulation of insoluble deposits has been suggested to result in altered distribution and function of organelles to adversely affect neuronal cell function as well as causing synapse loss, ultimately leading to cell death. In AD, evidence also suggests a direct correlation between the number of NFTs found in the brain at postmortem and the degree of dementia observed in subjects with AD at the time of death.

The microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) gene is located on chromosome 17 of the human genome. Through alternative splicing, 6 possible tau protein isoforms are expressed from this gene in the adult brain. A number of studies have suggested that pathological forms of tau protein transmit from neuron to neuron in human brain to cause disease, including AD. It has also been reported that tau can form seeds, which when applied extracellularly, can cause the initiation and propagation of intracellular tau aggregation. To form tau seeds, the MTBR of the protein is required. Furthermore, the tau MTBR is important in initiating the tau aggregation process and forming the core of fibrils pathologically associated with disease. Together, these observations suggest that therapeutic intervention with an antibody that binds to the MTBR region of tau in the brain, thereby disrupting tau aggregation may prevent initiation or slow down the neurodegeneration in AD or other tauopathies.

Upcoming Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network Trials Unit (DIAN-TU) trials are designed to investigate therapies targeting tau in combination with amyloid as pre-specified in the approved and NIH-funded NexGen Prevention Trial grants. As with other amyloid lowering drug trials, clinical benefit was not definitively demonstrated in the symptomatic population after tau pathology has been established. Determining the role of tau in disease biology and progression is critically important. Based on beneficial effects on amyloid, tau, and neurodegeneration markers associated with amyloid removal in the gantenerumab trial arm in DIAN-TU, the DIAN-TU will now implement amyloid removal treatment in mutation carriers and add placebo- controlled tau treatment arms. The platform trial design is exceptionally well-suited for the investigation of treatments used in combination because of ongoing multiple arms in a single trial and operational platform.

The current DIAN-TU amyloid removal drug arm has been extended to open-label extension (OLE) periods for prior participants. All enrolled participants who opted-in for OLE were unblinded to genetic status and offered open-label gantenerumab treatment. New treatment- naive mutation positive participants will be started on amyloid removal treatment with genetic counseling and testing. Therefore, all participants will be required to be positive for a dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease (DIAD) mutation and will receive open-label treatment with lecanemab, an investigational amyloid removal drug, in combination with E2814, an anti-tau drug or placebo. Mutation non-carriers will not be enrolled. Specifically, all E2814 blinded drug arm participants will be treated with the lecanemab and randomized to either active E2814 tau therapy, or placebo.

The goal of the study is to investigate potential benefits of anti-tau therapy while anti-amyloid treatment is given as a background therapy. Furthermore, from ethical and participant recruitment perspectives, launching drug trials using amyloid and tau targeting therapies in combination may be essential, as participants and their families have expressed the need to have a drug that changes amyloid disease pathology in addition to being randomized to an investigational anti-tau drug (E2814) with uncertain benefit.

This record represents an analysis study portion of the Master Protocol Research Program (MPRP) under NCT01760005

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 168
• Est. completion date: October 2027
• Est. primary completion date: July 2027
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 18 Years to 80 Years

Eligibility

Key Inclusion Criteria:

• Between 18-80 years of age

• Individuals who know they have an Alzheimer's disease-causing mutation.

• Are within -10 to + 10 years of the predicted or actual age of cognitive symptom onset.

• Cognitively normal or with mild cognitive impairment or mild dementia, Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) of 0-1 (inclusive)

• Fluency in DIAN-TU trial approved language and evidence of adequate premorbid intellectual functioning

• Able to undergo Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Lumbar Puncture (LP), Positron Emission Tomography (PET), and complete all study related testing and evaluations.

• For women of childbearing potential, if partner is not sterilized, participant must agree to use effective contraceptive measures (hormonal contraception, intra-uterine device, sexual abstinence, barrier method with spermicide).

• Adequate visual and auditory abilities to perform all aspects of the cognitive and functional assessments.

• Has a Study Partner who in the investigator's judgment is able to provide accurate information as to the subject's cognitive and functional abilities, who agrees to provide information at the study visits which require informant input for scale completion.

Key Exclusion Criteria:

• Significant neurologic disease (other than AD) or psychiatric disease that may currently or during the course of the study affect cognition or participant's ability to complete the study.

• At high risk for suicide, e.g., significant suicidal ideation or attempt within last 12 months. Current stable mild depression or current use of antidepressant medications is not exclusionary.

• History or presence of brain MRI scans indicative of any other significant abnormality

• Substance or alcohol use disorder currently or within the past 1 year

• Presence of pacemakers, aneurysm clips, artificial heart valves, ear implants, or foreign metal objects in the eyes, skin or body which would preclude MRI scan.

• History or presence of clinically significant cardiovascular disease, hepatic/renal disorders, infectious disease or immune disorder, or metabolic/endocrine disorders

• Anticoagulants except low dose (= 325 mg) aspirin.

• Have been exposed to a monoclonal antibody targeting beta amyloid peptide within the past six months.

• History of cancer within the last 5 years, except basal cell carcinoma, non-squamous skin carcinoma, prostate cancer or carcinoma in situ with no significant progression over the past 2 years.

• Positive urine or serum pregnancy test or plans or desires to become pregnant during the course of the trial.

• Subjects unable to complete all study related testing, including implanted metal that cannot be removed for MRI scanning, required anticoagulation and pregnancy.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Alzheimer Disease
• Alzheimers Disease
• Alzheimers Disease, Familial
• Dementia

Intervention

Drug:
• E2814
Administered intravenously in a blinded fashion
• Lecanemab
Administered intravenously
• Matching Placebo (E2814)
Placebo administered intravenously in a blinded fashion.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Argentina	Instituto de Investigaciones Neurologicas Raul Carrea, FLENI	Ciudad Autonoma de Buenos Aire
Australia	Mental Health Research Institute	Melbourne	Victoria
Australia	Neuroscience Research Australia	Randwick	New South Wales
Brazil	Hospital das Clínicas da Faculdade de Medicina da USP	São Paulo
Canada	CHU de Quebec - Hôpital de l' Enfant Jésus	Québec
Canada	Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre	Toronto	Ontario
Canada	UBC Hospital	Vancouver	British Columbia
Canada	McGill Center for Studies in Aging	Verdun	Quebec
Colombia	Grupo de Neurociencias Sede de la Universidad de Antioquia	Medellín
France	Hopital Neurologique Pierre Wertheimer	Bron cedex	Rhone
France	Hopital Roger Salengro - CHU Lille	Lille	Nord
France	Groupe Hospitalier Pitie-Salpetriere	Paris cedex 13	Paris
France	CHU de Rouen - Hôpital Charles Nicolle	Rouen	Seine Maritime
France	CHU de Toulouse - Hôpital Purpan	Toulouse	Haute Garonne
Germany	LMU-Campus Grosshadern	Muenchen	Bayern
Germany	Universitaetsklinikum Tubingen	Tübingen	Baden Wuerttemberg
Ireland	St Vincent's University Hospital	Dublin
Italy	IRCCS Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli	Brescia
Italy	Azienda Ospedaliera Universitaria Careggi	Firenze
Japan	University of Tokyo Hospital	Bunkyo-Ku	Tokyo-To
Japan	Niigata University Medical & Dental Hospital	Niigata-shi	Niigata-Ken
Mexico	Instituto Nacional de Neurologia y Neurocirugia Manuel Velasco Suarez	Mexico	Distrito Federal
Netherlands	Brain Research Center	Amsterdam
Puerto Rico	University of Puerto Rico, School of Medicine	San Juan
Spain	Hospital Clínic I Provincial de Barcelona	Barcelona
United Kingdom	The National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery	London	Greater London
United States	Emory University	Atlanta	Georgia
United States	University of Alabama in Birmingham	Birmingham	Alabama
United States	Kerwin Research Center,	Dallas	Texas
United States	Indiana University School of Medicine	Indianapolis	Indiana
United States	University of California San Diego Medical Center	La Jolla	California
United States	USC Keck School of Medicine	Los Angeles	California
United States	Yale University School of Medicine	New Haven	Connecticut
United States	Advocate Lutheran General Hospital	Park Ridge	Illinois
United States	University of Pittsburgh	Pittsburgh	Pennsylvania
United States	Butler Hospital	Providence	Rhode Island
United States	Washington University in St. Louis	Saint Louis	Missouri
United States	University of Washington	Seattle	Washington

Sponsors (5)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Washington University School of Medicine	Accelerating Medicines Partnership (AMP), Alzheimer's Association, Eisai Inc., National Institute on Aging (NIA)

Countries where clinical trial is conducted

United States,  Argentina,  Australia,  Brazil,  Canada,  Colombia,  France,  Germany,  Ireland,  Italy,  Japan,  Mexico,  Netherlands,  Puerto Rico,  Spain,  United Kingdom, 

References & Publications (12)

Barghorn S, Zheng-Fischhofer Q, Ackmann M, Biernat J, von Bergen M, Mandelkow EM, Mandelkow E. Structure, microtubule interactions, and paired helical filament aggregation by tau mutants of frontotemporal dementias. Biochemistry. 2000 Sep 26;39(38):11714-21. doi: 10.1021/bi000850r. — View Citation

Braak H, Braak E. Neuropathological stageing of Alzheimer-related changes. Acta Neuropathol. 1991;82(4):239-59. doi: 10.1007/BF00308809. — View Citation

Falcon B, Cavallini A, Angers R, Glover S, Murray TK, Barnham L, Jackson S, O'Neill MJ, Isaacs AM, Hutton ML, Szekeres PG, Goedert M, Bose S. Conformation determines the seeding potencies of native and recombinant Tau aggregates. J Biol Chem. 2015 Jan 9;290(2):1049-65. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M114.589309. Epub 2014 Nov 18. — View Citation

Falcon B, Zhang W, Murzin AG, Murshudov G, Garringer HJ, Vidal R, Crowther RA, Ghetti B, Scheres SHW, Goedert M. Structures of filaments from Pick's disease reveal a novel tau protein fold. Nature. 2018 Sep;561(7721):137-140. doi: 10.1038/s41586-018-0454-y. Epub 2018 Aug 29. — View Citation

Fitzpatrick AWP, Falcon B, He S, Murzin AG, Murshudov G, Garringer HJ, Crowther RA, Ghetti B, Goedert M, Scheres SHW. Cryo-EM structures of tau filaments from Alzheimer's disease. Nature. 2017 Jul 13;547(7662):185-190. doi: 10.1038/nature23002. Epub 2017 Jul 5. — View Citation

Goedert M, Spillantini MG. Propagation of Tau aggregates. Mol Brain. 2017 May 30;10(1):18. doi: 10.1186/s13041-017-0298-7. — View Citation

Jack CR Jr, Knopman DS, Jagust WJ, Petersen RC, Weiner MW, Aisen PS, Shaw LM, Vemuri P, Wiste HJ, Weigand SD, Lesnick TG, Pankratz VS, Donohue MC, Trojanowski JQ. Tracking pathophysiological processes in Alzheimer's disease: an updated hypothetical model of dynamic biomarkers. Lancet Neurol. 2013 Feb;12(2):207-16. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(12)70291-0. — View Citation

Kopeikina KJ, Hyman BT, Spires-Jones TL. Soluble forms of tau are toxic in Alzheimer's disease. Transl Neurosci. 2012 Sep;3(3):223-233. doi: 10.2478/s13380-012-0032-y. — View Citation

Salloway S, Farlow M, McDade E, Clifford DB, Wang G, Llibre-Guerra JJ, Hitchcock JM, Mills SL, Santacruz AM, Aschenbrenner AJ, Hassenstab J, Benzinger TLS, Gordon BA, Fagan AM, Coalier KA, Cruchaga C, Goate AA, Perrin RJ, Xiong C, Li Y, Morris JC, Snider BJ, Mummery C, Surti GM, Hannequin D, Wallon D, Berman SB, Lah JJ, Jimenez-Velazquez IZ, Roberson ED, van Dyck CH, Honig LS, Sanchez-Valle R, Brooks WS, Gauthier S, Galasko DR, Masters CL, Brosch JR, Hsiung GR, Jayadev S, Formaglio M, Masellis M, Clarnette R, Pariente J, Dubois B, Pasquier F, Jack CR Jr, Koeppe R, Snyder PJ, Aisen PS, Thomas RG, Berry SM, Wendelberger BA, Andersen SW, Holdridge KC, Mintun MA, Yaari R, Sims JR, Baudler M, Delmar P, Doody RS, Fontoura P, Giacobino C, Kerchner GA, Bateman RJ; Dominantly Inherited Alzheimer Network-Trials Unit. A trial of gantenerumab or solanezumab in dominantly inherited Alzheimer's disease. Nat Med. 2021 Jul;27(7):1187-1196. doi: 10.1038/s41591-021-01369-8. Epub 2021 Jun 21. — View Citation

Sandusky-Beltran LA, Sigurdsson EM. Tau immunotherapies: Lessons learned, current status and future considerations. Neuropharmacology. 2020 Sep 15;175:108104. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2020.108104. Epub 2020 Apr 28. — View Citation

von Bergen M, Barghorn S, Li L, Marx A, Biernat J, Mandelkow EM, Mandelkow E. Mutations of tau protein in frontotemporal dementia promote aggregation of paired helical filaments by enhancing local beta-structure. J Biol Chem. 2001 Dec 21;276(51):48165-74. doi: 10.1074/jbc.M105196200. Epub 2001 Oct 17. — View Citation

von Bergen M, Friedhoff P, Biernat J, Heberle J, Mandelkow EM, Mandelkow E. Assembly of tau protein into Alzheimer paired helical filaments depends on a local sequence motif ((306)VQIVYK(311)) forming beta structure. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2000 May 9;97(10):5129-34. doi: 10.1073/pnas.97.10.5129. — View Citation

* Note: There are 12 references in all — Click here to view all references

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	The primary end point is the change from Week 24 to Week 104 and Week 208 in tau PET in the Symptomatic Population (Cohort 1).	To determine whether E2814 is superior to placebo, when each is concurrently administered with lecanemab, in the change from Week 24 to Week 104 (interim analysis) and Week 208 (final analysis) in tau spread as measured by tau PET in the symptomatic population (Cohort 1).	Weeks 24, 104, and 208
Secondary	Symptomatic Population (Cohort 1): Key Secondary: Change from Week 24 to Week 208 in Clinical Dementia Scale - Sum of Boxes (CDR-SB).	To determine whether E2814 is superior to placebo, when each is concurrently administered with lecanemab, in change from Week 24 to Week 208 in CDR-SB; Scores range from 0-18 with lower scores showing better outcomes	Weeks 24, 52, 104, 156 and 208
Secondary	Asymptomatic Population (Cohort 2): Key Secondary: Change from Week 0 to Week 104 and Week 208 in CSF ptau217/total tau	To determine whether E2814 is superior to placebo, when each is administered alone and then concurrently with lecanemab, in change from Week 0 to Week 104 (interim analysis) and Week 208 (final analysis) in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) phosphorylated tau (ptau217)/total tau	Weeks 0, 104 and 208
Secondary	Symptomatic Population (Cohort 1): Change from Week 24 to Week 104 and Week 208 in the cognitive composite score		Weeks 24, 52, 76, 104, 128, 156, 180 and 208
Secondary	Symptomatic Population (Cohort 1): Change from Week 0 to Week 24 in amyloid PET		Week 0 to Week 24
Secondary	Asymptomatic Population (Cohort 2): Change from Week 0 to Week 52 in CSF ptau217/total tau		Week 0 to Week 52
Secondary	Symptomatic population (Cohort 1): Change from Week 24 to Week 104 and Week 208 in CSF neurofilament light chain (NfL)		Weeks 24, 104 and 208
Secondary	Asymptomatic Population (Cohort 2): Change from Week 52 to Week 104 and Week 208 in CSF neurofilament light chain (NfL)		Weeks 52, 104 and 208

External Links

•   Expanded registry