Two-arm Study to Assess Efficacy and Safety of Ianalumab (VAY736) in Patients With Active Sjogren's Syndrome

Completed · Phase 3 · Has a placebo group

Conditions studied: Sjogren Syndrome

In brief

A randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled, 2-arm multicenter phase 3 study to assess the efficacy and safety of ianalumab in patients with active Sjogren's syndrome (NEPTUNUS-1)

Key facts

Study ID

NCT05350072

Run by

Novartis Pharmaceuticals

People needed

275

Starts

2022-07-28

Expected to finish

2026-06-02

Last updated by the study team

2026-07-07

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 100. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Signed informed consent must be obtained prior to participation in the study
• Women and men ≥ 18 years of age
• Classification of Sjögren's syndrome according to the ACR/EULAR 2016 criteria
• Time since diagnosis of Sjögren's of ≤ 7.5 years at screening
• Positive anti-Ro/SSA antibody at screening
• Patients negative for anti-Ro/SSA antibody are eligible, if they have a positive salivary gland biopsy confirmed by central expert review
• Enrollment of anti-Ro/SSA-negative patients will be limited up to ≤10% of the study population
• Screening ESSDAI score of ≥ 5 within the following 8 domains: constitutional, lymphadenopathy, glandular, articular, cutaneous, renal, hematological and biologic.
• Stimulated whole salivary flow (sSF) rate of ≥ 0.05 mL/min at screening
• Ability to communicate well with the Investigator, understand and agree to comply with the requirements of the study
• Patients taking hydroxychloroquine (≤ 400 mg/day), methotrexate (≤ 25 mg/week) or azathioprine (≤ 150 mg/day) alone or in combination, are allowed to continue their medication, and must have been on a stable dose for at least 30 days prior to randomization.
• Patients taking systemic corticosteroids have to be on a stable dose of ≤ 10 mg/day predniso(lo)ne or equivalent for at least 30 days before randomization.
• Patients taking
• disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) other than specifically allowed by protocol
• the following Traditional Chinese Medicines: Total glucoside of peony (TGP) or Tripterium glycosides (TG) must discontinue these medications at least 30 days prior to randomization, except for leflunomide, which has to be discontinued for 8 weeks prior to randomization unless a cholestyramine wash-out has been performed.

You may not qualify if…

• Presence of another autoimmune rheumatic disease that is active and constitutes the principal illness
• Use of other investigational drugs within 5 half-lives of enrollment, or within 30 days or until the expected pharmacodynamic effect has returned to baseline, whichever is longer3. Prior treatment with ianalumab
• Prior use of a B-cell depleting therapy other than ianalumab within 36 weeks prior to randomization or as long as B-cell count is less than the lower limit of normal or baseline value prior to receipt of previous B cell-depleting therapy (whichever is lower)
• Prior treatment with any of the following:
• Within 24 weeks prior to randomization: iscalimab (anti CD-40 mAb), belimumab , abatacept, anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha biologic agents, immunoglobulins plasmapheresis;
• Within 12 weeks prior to randomization: i.v. or oral cyclophosphamide and mycophenolate mofetil, i.v. or oral cyclosporine A or any other immunosuppressants (e.g., JAK inhibitors or other kinase inhibitors) unless explicitly allowed by protocol
• Use of corticosteroids (predniso(lo)ne or equivalent corticosteroid) at dose >10 mg/day
• Any one of the following laboratory values at screening:
• Hemoglobin levels < 8.0 g/dL
• White blood cells (WBC) count < 2.0 x 10E3/µL
• Platelet count < 80 x 10E3/µL
• Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) < 0.8 x 10E3/µL
• Active viral, bacterial or other infections requiring systemic treatment at the time of screening or randomization, or history of recurrent clinically significant infection or of recurrent bacterial infections with encapsulated organisms
• History of hypersensitivity to any of the study drugs or its excipients or to drugs of similar chemical classes (e.g., mAb of IgG1 class) or to any of the constituents of the study drug formulation (sucrose, L-histidine hydrochloride/ L-histidine, polysorbate 20)
• History of major organ, hematopoietic stem cell or bone marrow transplant
• Required regular use of medications known to cause dry mouth/eyes as a regular and major side effect, and which have not been on a stable dose for at least 30 days prior to Screening, or any anticipated change in the treatment regimen during the course of the study
• Use of topical ocular prescription medications (excluding artificial tears, gels, lubricants) that have not been on a stable dose for at least 90 days prior to randomization, or any anticipated change in the treatment regimen during the course of the study
• Receipt of live/attenuated vaccine within a 4-week period prior to randomization
• History of primary or secondary immunodeficiency, including a positive human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test result
• History of malignancy of any organ system (other than localized basal cell carcinoma of the skin or in situ cervical cancer or Sjögren's related lymphoma), treated or untreated, within the past 5 years, regardless of whether there is evidence of local recurrence or metastases.
• History of sarcoidosis
• Any surgical, medical (e.g., uncontrolled hypertension, heart failure or diabetes mellitus), psychiatric or additional physical condition that the Investigator feels may jeopardize the patient in case of participation in this study
• Chronic infection with hepatitis B (HBV) or hepatitis C (HCV) virus. Positive serology for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) excludes the subject.
• HBsAg negative subjects who are hepatitis B core antibody (HBcAb) positive are also excluded unless all of the following criteria are met:
• HBV DNA is negative

Where it is running

• Medvin Clinical Research — Van Nuys, California, United States
• West Broward Rheumatology Associates Inc — Tamarac, Florida, United States
• Indiana Univ School of Dentistry — Indianapolis, Indiana, United States
• Ochsner Health System — Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States
• The John Hopkins Jerome L Greene Sjogren — Baltimore, Maryland, United States
• NYU Langone Hospital - Long Island — Mineola, New York, United States
• Carolina Arthritis Associates — Wilmington, North Carolina, United States
• STAT Research Inc — Dayton, Ohio, United States
• Altoona Center for Clin Res — Duncansville, Pennsylvania, United States
• Precision Comprehensive Research — Colleyville, Texas, United States
• Metroplex Clinical Research — Dallas, Texas, United States
• Baylor College Of Medicine — Houston, Texas, United States
• Houston Rheumatology and Arthrit — Katy, Texas, United States
• Novartis Investigative Site — Graz, Austria
• Novartis Investigative Site — Stockerau, Austria
• Novartis Investigative Site — Leuven, Belgium
• Novartis Investigative Site — Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil
• Novartis Investigative Site — Juiz de Fora, Minas Gerais, Brazil
• Novartis Investigative Site — Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil
• Novartis Investigative Site — São Paulo, Brazil
• Novartis Investigative Site — Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan, Chile
• Novartis Investigative Site — Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan, Chile
• Novartis Investigative Site — Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
• Novartis Investigative Site — Shenzhen, Guangdong, China
• Novartis Investigative Site — Lille, France

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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