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Impact of Nilotinib on Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics and Biomarkers in Parkinson's Disease

A Randomized, Double Blind, Placebo-controlled Study to Evaluate the Impact of Low Doses of Nilotinib Treatment on Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics and Biomarkers in Parkinson's Disease

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT02954978
Acronym
PD Nilotinib
Enrollment
75
Registered
2016-11-04
Start date
2017-01-01
Completion date
2020-07-01
Last updated
2026-06-12

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

Conditions

Parkinson Disease, Parkinsons Disease With Dementia

Brief summary

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder causing motor and non-motor symptoms. PD is characterized by death of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) pars compacta and formation of inclusions known as Lewy bodies (LBs) that primarily contain aggregated alpha-Synuclein. Nilotinib (Tasigna®, AMN107, Novartis, Switzerland) is approved by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is well tolerated for CML treatment at oral doses of 600-800mg daily. Nilotinib penetrates the brain and promotes autophagic degradation of alpha-Synuclein and p-Tau, leading to survival of DA neurons and improvement of motor function in PD models. For these studies, Nilotinib (1-10mg/kg daily) was used at significantly less than the clinically approved dose (up to 1200mg daily) in CML.

Detailed description

Based on strong pre-clinical evidence of the effects of Nilotinib on neurodegenerative pathologies, including autophagic clearance of neurotoxic proteins, neurotransmitters (dopamine and glutamate), immunity and behavior, the investigators conducted an open label pilot clinical trial in advanced PD with dementia (PDD) and Dementia with Lewy Body (DLB) (stage 3-4) patients. Participants (N=12) were randomized 1:1 to once daily oral dose of 150mg and 300mg Nilotinib for 6 months. The investigators' data suggest that Nilotinib penetrates the brain and inhibits CSF Abelson (Abl) activity via reduction of phosphorylated Abl in agreement with pre-clinical data. Several studies show that CSF alpha-Synuclein and Abeta42 are decreased and CSF total Tau and p-Tau are increased in PD and DLB. The investigators' data show attenuation of loss of CSF alpha-Synuclein and Abeta40/42 with 300mg (50% of the CML dose) compared to 150mg Nilotinib after 6 months treatment. CSF homovanillic acid (HVA), which is an end by-product of dopamine, is significantly increased; and CSF total Tau and p-Tau are significantly reduced (N=5, P\<0.05) with 300mg Nilotinib between baseline and 6 months treatment. Despite the reduction of L-Dopa replacement therapies in our study, UDPRS I-IV scores improved with 150mg (3.5 points) and 300mg (11 points) from baseline to 6 months and worsened (13.7 points and 11.4 points) after 3 months withdrawal of 150mg and 300mg, respectively. Other non-motor functions e.g. constipation was resolved in all patients and cognition was also improved (3.5 points) using both the Mini-Mental Status Exam (MMSE) or the Scales for Outcomes in Parkinson's Disease-Cognition (SCOPA-Cog) between baseline and 6 months. MMSE scores returned to baseline after 3 months of Nilotinib withdrawal. These data are very compelling to evaluate the effects of Nilotinib in a phase II, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in patients with PD.

Interventions

DRUGPlacebo Oral Capsule

25 patients in group 1 will receive Placebo ("sugar pill") one (1) capsule once daily (taken without a meal) for 12 months and 3 months follow up.

25 patients in group 2 will receive 150mg Nilotinib one (1) capsule once daily (taken without a meal) for 12 months and 3 months follow up.

DRUGNilotinib 300mg oral capsule [Tasigna]

25 patients in group 3 will receive 300mg Nilotinib one (1) capsule once daily (taken without a meal) for 12 months and 3 months follow up.

Sponsors

Georgetown University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE (Subject, Caregiver, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
40 Years to 90 Years
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

1. Written informed consent 2. Capable of providing informed consent and complying with study procedures. Subjects who are unable to provide consent may use a Legally Authorized Representative (LAR). 3. Patients between the age of 40-90 years, medically stable 4. Diagnosis of PD according to the UK Brain Bank Diagnostic Criteria 5. PD subjects with MoCA ≥ 22 6. 2.5 ≥Hoehn and Yahr stage ≤3 7. No mono-amine oxidase (MAO)-B inhibitors (Selegeline or rasagiline) are allowed at least 6 weeks before enrollment 8. Must be medically stable on 800mg Levodopa daily for at least 4 weeks 9. QTc interval 350-460 ms, inclusive 10. Participants must be willing to undergo LP at baseline and 12 months after treatment

Exclusion criteria

1. Patients with hypokalemia, hypomagnesaemia, or long QT syndrome- QTc≥461 ms 2. Concomitant drugs known to prolong the QTc interval and history of any cardiovascular disease, including myocardial infraction or cardiac failure, angina, arrhythmia 3. History or presence of cardiac conditions including: * Cardiovascular or cerebrovascular event (e.g. myocardial infarction, unstable angina, or stroke) * Congestive heart failure * First, second- or third-degree atrioventricular block, sick sinus syndrome, or other serious cardiac rhythm disturbances * Any history of Torsade de Pointes 4. Treatment with any of the following drugs at the time of screening or the preceding 30 days, and/or planned use over the course of the trial: * Treatment with Class IA or III antiarrhythmic drugs (e.g. quinidine) * Treatment with QT prolonging drugs (www.crediblemeds.org)- excluding Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) (e.g. Citalopram, Paxil, Zoloft, Cymbalta, Sertraline, etc...) * Strong CYP3A4 inhibitors (including grapefruit juice). The concomitant use of strong CYP3A4 inhibitors (e.g., ketoconazole, itraconazole, clarithromycin, atazanavir, indinavir, nefazodone, nelfinavir, ritonavir, saquinavir, telithromycin, voriconazole) must be avoided. Grapefruit products may also increase serum concentrations of Nilotinib. Should treatment with any of these agents be required, therapy with Nilotinib should be interrupted. * Anticoagulants, including Coumadin (warfarin), heparin, enoxaparin, daltiparin, xarelto, etc. * St. John's Wort and the concomitant use of strong other CYP3A4 inducers (e.g., dexamethasone, phenytoin, carbamazepine, rifampin, rifabutin, rifapentine, phenobarbital) must be avoided since these agents may reduce the concentration of Nilotinib. 5. Abnormal liver function defined as AST and/or ALT \> 100% the upper limit of the normal 6. Renal insufficiency as defined by a serum creatinine \> 1.5 times the upper limit of normal 7. History of HIV, clinically significant chronic hepatitis, or other active infection 8. Females must not be lactating, pregnant or with possible pregnancy 9. Medical history of liver or pancreatic disease 10. Clinical signs indicating syndromes other than idiopathic PD, including corticobasal degeneration, supranuclear gaze palsy, multiple system atrophy, chronic traumatic encephalopathy, signs of frontal dementia, history of stroke, head injury or encephalitis, cerebellar signs, early severe autonomic involvement, Babinski sign 11. Current evidence or history in past two years of epilepsy, focal brain lesion, head injury with loss of consciousness or DSM-IV criteria for any major psychiatric disorder including psychosis, major depression, bipolar disorder, alcohol or substance abuse 12. Evidence of any significant clinical disorder or laboratory finding that renders the participant unsuitable for receiving an investigational drug including clinically significant or unstable hematologic, hepatic, cardiovascular, pulmonary, gastrointestinal, endocrine, metabolic, renal or other systemic disease or laboratory abnormality 13. Active neoplastic disease, history of cancer five years prior to screening, including breast cancer (history of skin melanoma or stable prostate cancer are not exclusionary) 14. Contraindications to LP: prior lumbosacral spine surgery, severe degenerative joint disease or deformity of the spine, platelets \< 100,000, use of Coumadin/warfarin, or history of a bleeding disorder 15. Must not be on any immunosuppressant medications (e.g. IVig) 16. Must not be enrolled as an active participant in another clinical study 17. Diagnosis of DLB

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Safety Will be Measured by Number of Participants Experiencing the Occurrence of Adverse Events12 monthsSafety will be measured by assessing number of participants with adverse events (AEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs) deemed to be possibly, probably, or definitely related to the study drug.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Biomarker Analysis12 monthsQuantification of homovanillic acid (HVA) and 3,4,-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) in human CSF by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry in cerebrospinal fluid at 12 months.
Biomarker Analysis (Amyloid Markers) in Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF)12 monthsQuantification of alpha-synuclein (a-syn), oligomeric a-syn, phospho-Tau (181) (p-Tau(181)), and Total Tau (tTau) in human CSF by Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) at 12 months.
Biomarker Analysis (Ratio of Amyloid Markers) in Cerebral Spinal Fluid (CSF)12 monthsRatio of oligomeric a-syn to alpha-synuclein (a-syn), and phospho-Tau (181) (p-Tau(181)) to Total Tau (tTau) in human CSF at 12 months.

Countries

United States

Contacts

PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORFernando L Pagan, MD

Georgetown University

Baseline characteristics

Characteristic
Age, Categorical
<=18 years
0 Participants
Age, Categorical
>=65 years
54 Participants
Age, Categorical
Between 18 and 65 years
21 Participants
Age, Continuous68.4 years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 8.3
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
74 Participants
Region of Enrollment
United States
25 participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
4 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
20 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
EG002
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 250 / 250 / 25
other
Total, other adverse events
23 / 2525 / 2523 / 25
serious
Total, serious adverse events
3 / 255 / 259 / 25

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Jun 13, 2026