Cladribine vs Placebo for Non-active Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (CLASP-MS).

Summary

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of subcutaneously administered cladribine versus placebo to stop inflammation and treat disease progression of non-active secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease of the central nervous system. In most patients, it starts with a relapsing course (RMS) which is caused by acute inflammatory lesions in the brain and spinal cord. RMS transforms at later stages into progressive disease (secondary progressive MS). Currently approved disease-modifying treatments are effective in reducing clinical relapses and brain and spinal lesions visible in MR, but they perform poorly in preventing disease progression and overall disability accumulation. The growing evidence shows that disease progression partially depends on chronic inflammation present in the CNS. Drugs, which may cross the blood-brain barrier and reach inflammatory cells residing in the CNS might be effective in this stage of the disease. Cladribine is one of the DMT approved for RMS. It is a synthetic purine analog with selective lymphocyte toxicity, which enter the CNS and is found in cerebrospinal fluid. In patients treated with cladribine, the oligoclonal bands tend to disappear proving that neuroinflammation is diminished. The participants of this clinical trial with the later non-active stage of MS are enrolled to be treated with cladribine subcutaneously or a non-active comparator (placebo) for 6 months and followed for the next 2 years, with an MRI scan and clinical evaluation every 6 months. The main questions it aims to answer are if in the non-active stage of MS cladribine is potent to lessen brain volume loss and if it is potent to attenuate inflammation in the CNS.

Timeline

Start

2022-10-03

Primary completion

2027-06-30

Completion

2027-10-30

Publications

• Background Lassmann H. Pathogenic Mechanisms Associated With Different Clinical Courses of Multiple Sclerosis. Front Immunol. 2019 Jan 10;9:3116. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.03116. eCollection 2018.
• Background Jamroz-Wisniewska A, Beltowski J, Wojcicka G, Bartosik-Psujek H, Rejdak K. Cladribine Treatment Improved Homocysteine Metabolism and Increased Total Serum Antioxidant Activity in Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis Patients. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2020 Mar 14;2020:1654754. doi: 10.1155/2020/1654754. eCollection 2020.
• Background Fox RJ, Chataway J. Advancing trial design in progressive multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2017 Oct;23(12):1573-1578. doi: 10.1177/1352458517729768.
• Background Meinl E, Krumbholz M, Derfuss T, Junker A, Hohlfeld R. Compartmentalization of inflammation in the CNS: a major mechanism driving progressive multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Sci. 2008 Nov 15;274(1-2):42-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2008.06.032. Epub 2008 Aug 19.
• Background Montalban X, Belachew S, Wolinsky JS. Ocrelizumab in Primary Progressive and Relapsing Multiple Sclerosis. N Engl J Med. 2017 Apr 27;376(17):1694. doi: 10.1056/NEJMc1702076. No abstract available.
• Background Comi G, Cook S, Giovannoni G, Rieckmann P, Sorensen PS, Vermersch P, Galazka A, Nolting A, Hicking C, Dangond F. Effect of cladribine tablets on lymphocyte reduction and repopulation dynamics in patients with relapsing multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2019 Apr;29:168-174. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2019.01.038. Epub 2019 Jan 24.
• Background Liliemark J. The clinical pharmacokinetics of cladribine. Clin Pharmacokinet. 1997 Feb;32(2):120-31. doi: 10.2165/00003088-199732020-00003.
• Background Sipe JC, Romine JS, Koziol JA, McMillan R, Zyroff J, Beutler E. Cladribine in treatment of chronic progressive multiple sclerosis. Lancet. 1994 Jul 2;344(8914):9-13. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(94)91046-4.
• Background Rejdak K, Stelmasiak Z, Grieb P. Cladribine induces long lasting oligoclonal bands disappearance in relapsing multiple sclerosis patients: 10-year observational study. Mult Scler Relat Disord. 2019 Jan;27:117-120. doi: 10.1016/j.msard.2018.10.006. Epub 2018 Oct 10.
• Background Jorgensen LO, Hyrlov KH, Elkjaer ML, Weber AB, Pedersen AE, Svenningsen AF, Illes Z. Cladribine modifies functional properties of microglia. Clin Exp Immunol. 2020 Sep;201(3):328-340. doi: 10.1111/cei.13473. Epub 2020 Jul 6.
• Background Montalban X, Gold R, Thompson AJ, Otero-Romero S, Amato MP, Chandraratna D, Clanet M, Comi G, Derfuss T, Fazekas F, Hartung HP, Havrdova E, Hemmer B, Kappos L, Liblau R, Lubetzki C, Marcus E, Miller DH, Olsson T, Pilling S, Selmaj K, Siva A, Sorensen PS, Sormani MP, Thalheim C, Wiendl H, Zipp F. ECTRIMS/EAN Guideline on the pharmacological treatment of people with multiple sclerosis. Mult Scler. 2018 Feb;24(2):96-120. doi: 10.1177/1352458517751049. Epub 2018 Jan 20.
• Background Frischer JM, Weigand SD, Guo Y, Kale N, Parisi JE, Pirko I, Mandrekar J, Bramow S, Metz I, Bruck W, Lassmann H, Lucchinetti CF. Clinical and pathological insights into the dynamic nature of the white matter multiple sclerosis plaque. Ann Neurol. 2015 Nov;78(5):710-21. doi: 10.1002/ana.24497. Epub 2015 Aug 24.
• Background Hametner S, Wimmer I, Haider L, Pfeifenbring S, Bruck W, Lassmann H. Iron and neurodegeneration in the multiple sclerosis brain. Ann Neurol. 2013 Dec;74(6):848-61. doi: 10.1002/ana.23974. Epub 2013 Oct 7.
• Background Dal-Bianco A, Grabner G, Kronnerwetter C, Weber M, Hoftberger R, Berger T, Auff E, Leutmezer F, Trattnig S, Lassmann H, Bagnato F, Hametner S. Slow expansion of multiple sclerosis iron rim lesions: pathology and 7 T magnetic resonance imaging. Acta Neuropathol. 2017 Jan;133(1):25-42. doi: 10.1007/s00401-016-1636-z. Epub 2016 Oct 27.
• Background Absinta M, Sati P, Masuzzo F, Nair G, Sethi V, Kolb H, Ohayon J, Wu T, Cortese ICM, Reich DS. Association of Chronic Active Multiple Sclerosis Lesions With Disability In Vivo. JAMA Neurol. 2019 Dec 1;76(12):1474-1483. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2019.2399.
• Background Kaunzner UW, Kang Y, Zhang S, Morris E, Yao Y, Pandya S, Hurtado Rua SM, Park C, Gillen KM, Nguyen TD, Wang Y, Pitt D, Gauthier SA. Quantitative susceptibility mapping identifies inflammation in a subset of chronic multiple sclerosis lesions. Brain. 2019 Jan 1;142(1):133-145. doi: 10.1093/brain/awy296.
• Background Elliott C, Wolinsky JS, Hauser SL, Kappos L, Barkhof F, Bernasconi C, Wei W, Belachew S, Arnold DL. Slowly expanding/evolving lesions as a magnetic resonance imaging marker of chronic active multiple sclerosis lesions. Mult Scler. 2019 Dec;25(14):1915-1925. doi: 10.1177/1352458518814117. Epub 2018 Dec 19.
• Background Wang CT, Barnett M, Barnett Y. Imaging the multiple sclerosis lesion: insights into pathogenesis, progression and repair. Curr Opin Neurol. 2019 Jun;32(3):338-345. doi: 10.1097/WCO.0000000000000698.

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