Safety Study of Ornithine Phenylacetate to Treat Patients With Acute Liver Failure/Severe Acute Liver Injury

Summary

This Phase 2a clinical study is designed to provide data on OCR-002 in patients with acute liver failure/acute liver injury (ALF/ALI) in regard to: * safety and tolerability; * metabolism of the compound to glutamine and phenylacetylglutamine (PAGN); * its effect on circulating ammonia levels and neurological function in patients with and without impaired renal function after continuous infusion at different infusion rates. Subjects will receive up to 120 hours (5 days) of drug infusion, followed by a 30 day follow-up visit post infusion. It is anticipated that this early safety and tolerability study, with appropriate PK/PD data, will lead to a development program for the use of OCR-002 in the treatment of hyperammonemia either due to ALF or possibly other liver conditions. The hypotheses are: * Treatment with OCR-002 is safe and tolerable in patients with acute liver failure/acute liver injury due to acetaminophen overdose or drug-induced liver injury, autoimmune hepatitis, viral hepatitis or indeterminate etiologies. * A dose of 10-20g/24h (0.42-.83g/h) will achieve steady state plasma concentrations within 6-12h with little additional accumulation in the ALI/ALF setting. * Treatment with OCR-002 will reduce ammonia and improve neurological function in patients with acute liver failure/severe acute liver injury.

Timeline

Start

2012-06

Primary completion

2017-02-23

Completion

2017-02-23

Publications

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• Background Rose C, Michalak A, Rao KV, Quack G, Kircheis G, Butterworth RF. L-ornithine-L-aspartate lowers plasma and cerebrospinal fluid ammonia and prevents brain edema in rats with acute liver failure. Hepatology. 1999 Sep;30(3):636-40. doi: 10.1002/hep.510300311.
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• Background Jalan R, Wright G, Davies NA, Hodges SJ. L-Ornithine phenylacetate (OP): a novel treatment for hyperammonemia and hepatic encephalopathy. Med Hypotheses. 2007;69(5):1064-9. doi: 10.1016/j.mehy.2006.12.061. Epub 2007 Apr 27.
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• Background Jalan R, Olde Damink SW, Deutz NE, Hayes PC, Lee A. Moderate hypothermia in patients with acute liver failure and uncontrolled intracranial hypertension. Gastroenterology. 2004 Nov;127(5):1338-46. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2004.08.005.
• Background Stravitz RT, Larsen FS. Therapeutic hypothermia for acute liver failure. Crit Care Med. 2009 Jul;37(7 Suppl):S258-64. doi: 10.1097/CCM.0b013e3181aa5fb8.
• Background Randomised trial of steroid therapy in acute liver failure. Report from the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL). Gut. 1979 Jul;20(7):620-3. doi: 10.1136/gut.20.7.620.
• Background Kumar M, Satapathy S, Monga R, Das K, Hissar S, Pande C, Sharma BC, Sarin SK. A randomized controlled trial of lamivudine to treat acute hepatitis B. Hepatology. 2007 Jan;45(1):97-101. doi: 10.1002/hep.21486.
• Background Ichai P, Duclos-Vallee JC, Guettier C, Hamida SB, Antonini T, Delvart V, Saliba F, Azoulay D, Castaing D, Samuel D. Usefulness of corticosteroids for the treatment of severe and fulminant forms of autoimmune hepatitis. Liver Transpl. 2007 Jul;13(7):996-1003. doi: 10.1002/lt.21036.
• Background Makin AJ, Wendon J, Williams R. A 7-year experience of severe acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity (1987-1993). Gastroenterology. 1995 Dec;109(6):1907-16. doi: 10.1016/0016-5085(95)90758-0.
• Background Larson AM, Polson J, Fontana RJ, Davern TJ, Lalani E, Hynan LS, Reisch JS, Schiodt FV, Ostapowicz G, Shakil AO, Lee WM; Acute Liver Failure Study Group. Acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure: results of a United States multicenter, prospective study. Hepatology. 2005 Dec;42(6):1364-72. doi: 10.1002/hep.20948.
• Background Lee WM, Hynan LS, Rossaro L, Fontana RJ, Stravitz RT, Larson AM, Davern TJ 2nd, Murray NG, McCashland T, Reisch JS, Robuck PR; Acute Liver Failure Study Group. Intravenous N-acetylcysteine improves transplant-free survival in early stage non-acetaminophen acute liver failure. Gastroenterology. 2009 Sep;137(3):856-64, 864.e1. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2009.06.006. Epub 2009 Jun 12.
• Background Liou IW, Larson AM. Role of liver transplantation in acute liver failure. Semin Liver Dis. 2008 May;28(2):201-9. doi: 10.1055/s-2008-1073119.
• Background Stravitz RT, Kramer AH, Davern T, Shaikh AO, Caldwell SH, Mehta RL, Blei AT, Fontana RJ, McGuire BM, Rossaro L, Smith AD, Lee WM; Acute Liver Failure Study Group. Intensive care of patients with acute liver failure: recommendations of the U.S. Acute Liver Failure Study Group. Crit Care Med. 2007 Nov;35(11):2498-508. doi: 10.1097/01.CCM.0000287592.94554.5F.
• Background Acharya SK, Bhatia V, Sreenivas V, Khanal S, Panda SK. Efficacy of L-ornithine L-aspartate in acute liver failure: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled study. Gastroenterology. 2009 Jun;136(7):2159-68. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2009.02.050.
• Background Jalan R, Lee WM. Treatment of hyperammonemia in liver failure: a tale of two enzymes. Gastroenterology. 2009 Jun;136(7):2048-51. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2009.04.016. Epub 2009 May 3. No abstract available.
• Background Davies NA, Wright G, Ytrebo LM, Stadlbauer V, Fuskevag OM, Zwingmann C, Davies DC, Habtesion A, Hodges SJ, Jalan R. L-ornithine and phenylacetate synergistically produce sustained reduction in ammonia and brain water in cirrhotic rats. Hepatology. 2009 Jul;50(1):155-64. doi: 10.1002/hep.22897.
• Background Ytrebo LM, Kristiansen RG, Maehre H, Fuskevag OM, Kalstad T, Revhaug A, Cobos MJ, Jalan R, Rose CF. L-ornithine phenylacetate attenuates increased arterial and extracellular brain ammonia and prevents intracranial hypertension in pigs with acute liver failure. Hepatology. 2009 Jul;50(1):165-74. doi: 10.1002/hep.22917.
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• Stravitz RT, Fontana RJ, Karvellas C, Durkalski V, McGuire B, Rule JA, Tujios S, Lee WM; Acute Liver Failure Study Group. Future directions in acute liver failure. Hepatology. 2023 Oct 1;78(4):1266-1289. doi: 10.1097/HEP.0000000000000458. Epub 2023 May 16.

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