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Study of Efficacy and Safety of QAW039 When Added to Standard-of-care Asthma Therapy in Patients With Uncontrolled Asthma

A 12-week, Multicenter, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of QAW039 When Added to Standard-of-care Asthma Therapy in Patients With Uncontrolled Asthma

Status
Completed
Phases
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT03226392
Enrollment
704
Registered
2017-07-21
Start date
2017-10-31
Completion date
2019-08-01
Last updated
2026-01-13

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

Conditions

Asthma

Keywords

QAW039, uncontrolled asthma

Brief summary

A randomized, multicenter, double-blind, placebo- controlled parallel-group study to determine the efficacy and safety of QAW039, compared with placebo, when added to standard-of-care (SoC) asthma therapy in adult and adolescent (≥ 12 years) patients with uncontrolled asthma with respect to change from baseline in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) at the end of 12 weeks of treatment.

Interventions

DRUGQAW039

QAW039 once daily

DRUGPlacebo

Placebo once daily

Sponsors

Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Lead SponsorINDUSTRY

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE (Subject, Investigator)

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
12 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* A diagnosis of asthma (according to GINA 2016) for a period of at least 6 months. * Treated with medium dose inhaled corticosteroid (ICS), or high dose ICS, or low dose ICS plus long- acting beta agonist (LABA), or low dose ICS plus leukotriene receptor antagonist (LTRA), or medium dose ICS plus LABA for at least 3 months prior to Visit 1 and the doses have been stable for at least 4 weeks prior to Visit 1. * FEV1 of ≤85% for patients aged ≥18 years. FEV1 of ≤90% for patients aged 12 to \<18 years. * Daytime asthma symptom score (0 to 6 scale) of ≥1 per day during 4 of the last 7 days of the placebo run- in period. * Total daily SABA use ≥1 puff per day during 4 of the last 7 days of the placebo run-in period. * Demonstrated reversible airway obstruction. * Asthma control questionnaire (ACQ) score ≥ 1.5.

Exclusion criteria

* Use of other investigational drugs within 5 half-lives of enrollment, or within 30 days, whichever is longer. * A resting QTcF (Fridericia) ≥450 msec (male) or ≥460 msec (female). * Pregnant or nursing (lactating) women. * Serious co-morbidities. * Patients on \>20 mg of simvastatin, \> 40 mg of atorvastatin, \>40 mg of pravastatin, or \>2 mg of pitavastatin. Other protocol-defined inclusion/

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change From Baseline in Pre-dose FEV1Baseline and Week 12Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1) is calculated as the volume of air forcibly exhaled in one second as measured by a spirometer. Baseline is defined as the last available FEV1 measurement taken prior to the first dose of randomized study drug.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Change From Baseline in Daytime Asthma Symptom ScoreBaseline and Week 12Daytime asthma symptoms are evaluated through four questions and each of them will be rated on a scale of 0 to 6. Higher scores indicate more severe asthma-related symptoms. A mean score is calculated for the responses to 4 questions.
Change From Baseline in Number of Puffs of SABA Taken Per DayBaseline (daily mean for up to three weeks prior to baseline visit) and Week 12 (daily mean post baseline up to Week 12)Daily use of SABA (the number of rescue medication puffs taken in the previous 12 hours) was recorded using a patient electronic diary (referred to as eDiary or eDiary/ePEF). Patients were instructed to routinely complete the patient diary twice daily - at the same time each morning and each evening, approximately 12 hours apart.
Change From Baseline in Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire for 12 Years and Older (AQLQ+12) ScoreBaseline and Week 12AQLQ is a 32-item instrument administered as a self-assessment. AQLQ+12 is a modified version of AQLQ developed to measure functional impairments of participants aged 12-70 years. It is divided into 4 domains: activity limitation, symptoms, emotional function, and environmental stimuli. Participants were asked to recall their experiences during the last 2 weeks and respond to each question on a 7-point scale (1=severe impairment, 7=no impairment), where higher scores indicated better quality of life. Overall AQLQ+12 score is the mean of all 32 responses.

Countries

Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Italy, Peru, Puerto Rico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Tunisia, United States, Vietnam

Participant flow

Recruitment details

Participants were recruited from centers in Brazil (8), Bulgaria (4), Canada (3), Colombia (4), Germany (5), Hungary (7), India (5), Israel (5), Italy (4), Peru (6), Republic of Korea (5), Russian Federation (14), Spain (8), United States (36), Vietnam (3).

Participants by arm

ArmCount
QAW039
QAW039 150mg once daily
352
Placebo
Placebo once daily
350
Total702

Withdrawals & dropouts

PeriodReasonFG000FG001
Overall StudyAdverse Event10
Overall StudyLost to Follow-up10
Overall StudyPhysician Decision10
Overall StudyProtocol Deviation10
Overall StudySubject/Guardian Decision76
Overall StudyTechnical Problems02

Baseline characteristics

CharacteristicQAW039PlaceboTotal
Age, Continuous50.4 Years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 14.87
50.2 Years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 14.39
50.3 Years
STANDARD_DEVIATION 14.62
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Asian
41 Participants46 Participants87 Participants
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Black
26 Participants18 Participants44 Participants
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Caucasian
216 Participants216 Participants432 Participants
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Native American
12 Participants12 Participants24 Participants
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Other
55 Participants58 Participants113 Participants
Race/Ethnicity, Customized
Pacific Islander
2 Participants0 Participants2 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Female
216 Participants218 Participants434 Participants
Sex: Female, Male
Male
136 Participants132 Participants268 Participants

Adverse events

Event typeEG000
affected / at risk
EG001
affected / at risk
deaths
Total, all-cause mortality
0 / 3520 / 350
other
Total, other adverse events
94 / 352116 / 350
serious
Total, serious adverse events
7 / 3523 / 350

Outcome results

Primary

Change From Baseline in Pre-dose FEV1

Forced Expiratory Volume in one second (FEV1) is calculated as the volume of air forcibly exhaled in one second as measured by a spirometer. Baseline is defined as the last available FEV1 measurement taken prior to the first dose of randomized study drug.

Time frame: Baseline and Week 12

Population: Full Analysis Set (FAS): all randomized patients who received at least one dose of study medication. Patients in the FAS were analyzed according to the treatment they were assigned to at randomization.

ArmMeasureValue (LEAST_SQUARES_MEAN)Dispersion
QAW039Change From Baseline in Pre-dose FEV10.126 LitersStandard Error 0.00177
PlaceboChange From Baseline in Pre-dose FEV10.157 LitersStandard Error 0.0177
p-value: 0.21495% CI: [-0.08, 0.018]ANCOVA
Secondary

Change From Baseline in Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire for 12 Years and Older (AQLQ+12) Score

AQLQ is a 32-item instrument administered as a self-assessment. AQLQ+12 is a modified version of AQLQ developed to measure functional impairments of participants aged 12-70 years. It is divided into 4 domains: activity limitation, symptoms, emotional function, and environmental stimuli. Participants were asked to recall their experiences during the last 2 weeks and respond to each question on a 7-point scale (1=severe impairment, 7=no impairment), where higher scores indicated better quality of life. Overall AQLQ+12 score is the mean of all 32 responses.

Time frame: Baseline and Week 12

Population: Full Analysis Set (FAS): all randomized patients who received at least one dose of study medication. Patients in the FAS were analyzed according to the treatment they were assigned to at randomization.

ArmMeasureValue (LEAST_SQUARES_MEAN)Dispersion
QAW039Change From Baseline in Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire for 12 Years and Older (AQLQ+12) Score0.77 units on a scaleStandard Error 0.043
PlaceboChange From Baseline in Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire for 12 Years and Older (AQLQ+12) Score0.72 units on a scaleStandard Error 0.043
p-value: 0.44895% CI: [-0.07, 0.17]ANCOVA
Secondary

Change From Baseline in Daytime Asthma Symptom Score

Daytime asthma symptoms are evaluated through four questions and each of them will be rated on a scale of 0 to 6. Higher scores indicate more severe asthma-related symptoms. A mean score is calculated for the responses to 4 questions.

Time frame: Baseline and Week 12

Population: Full Analysis Set (FAS): all randomized patients who received at least one dose of study medication. Patients in the FAS were analyzed according to the treatment they were assigned to at randomization.

ArmMeasureValue (LEAST_SQUARES_MEAN)Dispersion
QAW039Change From Baseline in Daytime Asthma Symptom Score-0.55 ScoreStandard Error 0.034
PlaceboChange From Baseline in Daytime Asthma Symptom Score-0.45 ScoreStandard Error 0.034
p-value: 0.0350.035% CI: [-0.19, 0.01]ANCOVA
Secondary

Change From Baseline in Number of Puffs of SABA Taken Per Day

Daily use of SABA (the number of rescue medication puffs taken in the previous 12 hours) was recorded using a patient electronic diary (referred to as eDiary or eDiary/ePEF). Patients were instructed to routinely complete the patient diary twice daily - at the same time each morning and each evening, approximately 12 hours apart.

Time frame: Baseline (daily mean for up to three weeks prior to baseline visit) and Week 12 (daily mean post baseline up to Week 12)

Population: Full Analysis Set (FAS): all randomized patients who received at least one dose of study medication. Patients in the FAS were analyzed according to the treatment they were assigned to at randomization.

ArmMeasureValue (LEAST_SQUARES_MEAN)Dispersion
QAW039Change From Baseline in Number of Puffs of SABA Taken Per Day-0.89 Puffs per dayStandard Error 0.066
PlaceboChange From Baseline in Number of Puffs of SABA Taken Per Day-0.88 Puffs per dayStandard Error 0.066
p-value: 0.89395% CI: [-0.2, 0.17]ANCOVA

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 23, 2026