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A Pilot Study to Assess the Safety of Oral Insulin in Patients With Nonalcolholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)

An Open-Label Pilot Study to Assess the Safety, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics and Potential of Oral Insulin to Reduce Liver Fat Content and Fibrosis in Patients With Nonalcolholic Steatohepatitis (NASH)

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02653300
Enrollment
10
Registered
2016-01-12
Start date
2018-09-20
Completion date
2020-04-01
Last updated
2024-03-13

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis (NASH), Type2 Diabetes Mellitus

Brief summary

This is an open, pilot study using the oral ORMD-0801 insulin formulation in patients with NASH and confirmed type 2 DM or pre-diabetes. The study will consist of a Screening, placebo run-in, treatment phase and end-of-study phase.

Detailed description

This exploratory study will first enroll 10 patients with NASH and type 2 DM, to evaluate the safety of oral insulin and to measure the change in liver fat content. At the completion of their 4-week follow-up period, results will be presented to the Helsinki Committee. Following approval, an additional 20 patients will be enrolled. The size of the study population was determined by the investigator (with literature review) to be sufficient to show trends of reducing liver fat content by analysis of MRI PDFF (MRI-Proton Density Fat Fraction) images, the FibroMax™ Test and Fibroscan® including Controlled Attenuation Parameter (CAP™). CAP™ is a measure of the ultrasound attenuation to quantify steatosis in the liver.

Interventions

BIOLOGICALOral Insulin

all patients will receive treatment regimen of a soft gel capsule of ORMD-0801.

Sponsors

Hadassah Medical Organization
CollaboratorOTHER
Oramed, Ltd.
Lead SponsorINDUSTRY

Study design

Allocation
NA
Intervention model
SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
18 Years to 70 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Known type 2 DM according to American Diabetic Association (one of the three needed): Fasting Plasma Glucose ≥126 mg/dl or 2h postprandial (PG) following 75g OGTT ≥ 200 mg/dl or HbA1C \> 5.7% or on treatment with metformin * Abdominal ultrasound (US) proven fatty liver performed within 6 months before randomization, confirmed by central US. * Fat concentration in the liver of S2 (moderate steatosis, 6-32% hepatocytes with steatosis) or more as measured by Fibromax. * Signature of the written informed consent. * Negative pregnancy test at study entry for females of child bearing potential. * Females must have a negative urine pregnancy test result at screening, prior to the start of the run-in period, and at initiation of active dosing. A negative urine and serum pregnancy test must be obtained prior to active dosing. Males and females of childbearing potential must use two methods of contraception. * Females of non-childbearing potential are defined as postmenopausal who a) had more than 24 months since last menstrual cycle with menopausal levels of FSH, b) who are surgically menopausal. * For hypertensive patients, hypertension must be controlled by stable dose of anti-hypertensive medication for at least 2 months prior to screening with BP \< 150/\<95 mmHg * Patients previously treated with vitamin E (\>400IU/day). * Glycaemia must be controlled (Glycosylated Hemoglobin A1C ≤9%) while any HbA1C increment should not exceed 1% during 6 months prior to enrolment).

Exclusion criteria

* Patients with active (acute or chronic) liver disease other than NASH (e.g. viral hepatitis, genetic hemochromatosis, Wilson disease, alpha 1antitripsin deficiency, alcohol liver disease, drug induced liver disease) at the time of randomization. * ALT or AST ≥ 2 times ULN * Abnormal synthetic liver function (serum albumin ≤3.5gm%, INR \>1.3). * Known alcohol and/or any other drug abuse or dependence in the last five years. * Weight \>120 Kg * Known history or presence of clinically significant cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, metabolic (other than diabetes mellitus), neurologic, pulmonary, endocrine, psychiatric, neoplastic disorder or nephrotic syndrome. * History or presence of any disease or condition known to interfere with the absorption, distribution, metabolism or excretion of drugs including bile salt metabolites (e.g. inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), previous intestinal (ileal or colonic) operation, chronic pancreatitis, celiac disease or previous vagotomy. * Weight loss of more than 5% within 6 months prior to randomization. * History of bariatric surgery. * Uncontrolled blood pressure BP ≥150/95. * Non type 2 DM (type I, endocrinopathy, genetic syndromes etc). * Patients with HIV. * Daily alcohol intake \>20 g/day for women and \>30 g/day for men. * Treatment anti-diabetic medications other than metformin, such as DPP-4 inhibitors, GLP-1 receptor agonists, TZDs, etc. * Metformin, Fibrates, Statins, not provided on a stable dose in the last 6 months. * Patients who are treated with Valproic acid, Tamoxifen, Methotrexate, Amiodaron. * Chronic treatment with antibiotics (e.g. Rifaximin). * Homeopathic and/or Alternative treatments. * Uncontrolled hypothyroidism defined as Thyroid Stimulating Hormone \>2X the upper limit of normal (UNLN). * Patients with renal dysfunction: eGFR\< 40 ml/min. * Unexplained serum creatinine phosphokinase

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change in MRI-Proton Density Fat Fraction (MRI-PDFF)Two timepoints: Baseline (week 0) and Week 12Absolute Change in MRI-Proton Density Fat Fraction (expressed as percent fat in the liver) from baseline to week 12

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Mean Transient Elastography Measurement (Fibroscan)Two timepoints: Baseline (week 0) and Week 12Mean Transient elasticity, measured in kPA (kilo Pascal),
Mean Fibrosis Score CAP™ (FibroMax)Two timepoints: Baseline (week 0) and Week 12Mean fibrosis score (severity scale of liver fibrosis) measured at baseline and week 12. Fibrosis Score CAP measures the amount of steatosis (fatty change) in the liver. The CAP score is measured in decibels per meter (dB/m). It ranges from 100 to 400 dB/m with higher values indicating more fatty change

Countries

Israel

Participant flow

Participants by arm

ArmCount
Oral Insulin
treatment Oral Insulin: all patients will receive treatment regimen of a soft gel capsule of ORMD-0801.
10
Total10

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000
Overall StudyWithdrawal by Subject2

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicOral Insulin
Age, Continuous51.8 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 11.6
BMI32.08 Kg/M^2
STANDARD_DEVIATION 5.2
Race (NIH/OMB)
American Indian or Alaska Native
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Asian
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Black or African American
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
More than one race
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
Unknown or Not Reported
0 Participants
Race (NIH/OMB)
White
10 Participants
Region of Enrollment
Israel
10 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
3 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
7 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 8
other
Total, other adverse events
0 / 8
serious
Total, serious adverse events
0 / 8

Outcome results

Primary

Change in MRI-Proton Density Fat Fraction (MRI-PDFF)

Absolute Change in MRI-Proton Density Fat Fraction (expressed as percent fat in the liver) from baseline to week 12

Time frame: Two timepoints: Baseline (week 0) and Week 12

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Oral InsulinChange in MRI-Proton Density Fat Fraction (MRI-PDFF)MRPDFF (%) at baseline21.3 percentage fat in the liverStandard Deviation 7.2
Oral InsulinChange in MRI-Proton Density Fat Fraction (MRI-PDFF)MR PDFF (%) at Week 1214.4 percentage fat in the liverStandard Deviation 6.3
Oral InsulinChange in MRI-Proton Density Fat Fraction (MRI-PDFF)Absolute Mean Change in MR PDFF (%) from Baseline-6.9 percentage fat in the liverStandard Deviation 6.8
p-value: 0.03125Sign test
Secondary

Mean Fibrosis Score CAP™ (FibroMax)

Mean fibrosis score (severity scale of liver fibrosis) measured at baseline and week 12. Fibrosis Score CAP measures the amount of steatosis (fatty change) in the liver. The CAP score is measured in decibels per meter (dB/m). It ranges from 100 to 400 dB/m with higher values indicating more fatty change

Time frame: Two timepoints: Baseline (week 0) and Week 12

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Oral InsulinMean Fibrosis Score CAP™ (FibroMax)Mean Fibrosis Score at Baseline338.5 dB/MStandard Deviation 15.6
Oral InsulinMean Fibrosis Score CAP™ (FibroMax)Mean Fibrosis Score at week 12315.5 dB/MStandard Deviation 39.6
Secondary

Mean Transient Elastography Measurement (Fibroscan)

Mean Transient elasticity, measured in kPA (kilo Pascal),

Time frame: Two timepoints: Baseline (week 0) and Week 12

ArmMeasureGroupValue (MEAN)Dispersion
Oral InsulinMean Transient Elastography Measurement (Fibroscan)Baseline8.6 kPaStandard Deviation 1.5
Oral InsulinMean Transient Elastography Measurement (Fibroscan)Week 127.4 kPaStandard Deviation 2.5

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 10, 2026