Abstract
Background. COVID19 associated moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is associated with high rates of morbidity and mortality. Immune dysfunction and hyper-inflammatory responses result in a vicious cycle of tissue inflammation and end organ damage. Based on the suggestion of early efficacy of adoptive therapy with allogeneic T regulatory cells in COVID19 ARDS (Gladstone et al., Ann Int Med 2020), Cellenkos ® initiated a randomized, placebo controlled, multi-center trial of multiple doses of CK0802 (allogeneic, off-the-shelf, cryopreserved, cord blood derived T regulatory cells) for treatment of moderate-to-severe COVID19-related ARDS patients.
Study design. Multi-center, randomized, blinded, placebo controlled trial of CK0802 at two different doses (100 million cells and 300 million cells ) were compared to placebo. Each patient was randomized to receive the assigned product on days 0, 3 and 7 (Figure 1), without HLA matching. Enrollment was staggered for the first 6 active treatment patients with 7 days between each patient while monitoring for any safety signals. Subsequent patients were enrolled on a continuous basis. DSMB monitoring occurred after every cohort of 15 patients (5 controls; 5 of each active treatment). Results are presented as median (with range) unless otherwise indicated.
Primary Outcomes . The two co-primary outcomes were: Dose Limiting Toxicity (DLT) = Regimen related grade 3, 4, or 5 toxicity within 48 hours of first infusionS28 = [Alive and not intubated 28 days after the date of first infusion] = 28-day treatment success
Secondary Outcomes . Secondary outcomes, recorded from first day of infusion up to 28 days later, included: i) time to extubation, ii) ventilator-free days; iii) organ failure-free days; iii) ICU free days; iv) PaO 2/FiO 2 between days 0 and 11; and v) 28-day all-cause mortality
Covariates. Patient covariates recorded at enrollment included: i) age, ii) gender iii) on vasopressors; iii) on hemodialysis; iv) duration of intubation prior to enrollment.
Study Conduct. The multicenter study (n=5 centers) was activated in October 2020 and enrollment completed in March 2021.
Results. Forty-five patients were enrolled (60% male, median age 60 [range 21-85], 46.7% Caucasian race). At baseline 13% were on hemodialysis; 62% on vasopressors; SOFA score=8 (6-13); PaO 2=85 mmHg (45-133); FiO 2=60% (40-100); PEEP=10 cmH 2O (5-18) with a median duration of intubation of 48 hrs (0-120) prior to enrollment. Patient were intubated a median of 72 [0-144] hours prior to infusion. Sixty percent of patients were alive and extubated at day 28. Median time to extubation from first infusion was 10.5 [2-46] days and median ventilator free days at day 28 was 12 [0-26]days. No treatment related SAEs were reported. Time to extubation from first infusion was 10.5 days (2-46) and at day 28 the ventilator free days were 12 (0-26). The estimated day 28 overall survival was 78.6% with the following breakdown according to the co-variates: i) age>60 yrs =77.5% vs. age<60yrs=79.9%; ii) female=85.7% vs male=73.7%; iii) on vasopressor=65.8% vs. 77.8%; iv) on hemodialysis=75% vs. 79%. Duration of intubation to enrollment had no impact on 28d survival. At baseline, 14 pts were positive for both HLA I and HLA II antibodies (Abs); 3 pts positive for HLA I Ab only, and 9 positive for HLA II Ab only. In 20 paired samples collected on day 0 and day 28, HLA I Ab and HLA II Ab seroconversion was observed in 4 and 1 pt, respectively.
Discussion
This is the first clinical trial to examine safety and early efficacy of multiple doses of allogenic, off-the-shelf, cryopreserved, T regulatory cells for the treatment of COVID-19-related ARDS. Full data analysis of treatment groups (placebo; CK0802-100 million; CK0802-300 million) is ongoing and will be presented at the conference. Additional data to be presented will include: 3- and 6- month QOL, mental health, and cognitive index analyses, and paired Biomarker analysis.
Figure 1 Figure 1.
Disclosures
Hari: Janssen: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; GSK: Consultancy, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Celgene-BMS: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Millenium: Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding; Sanofi: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Takeda: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Adaptive Biotech: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau; Amgen: Consultancy, Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Other, Research Funding, Speakers Bureau; Karyopharm: Consultancy; Oncopeptides: Honoraria, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Speakers Bureau. Sadeghi: Cellenkos Inc.: Current Employment. Parmar: Cellenkos Inc.: Current holder of individual stocks in a privately-held company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties, Research Funding. Mukherjee: Vor Biopharma: Current equity holder in publicly-traded company, Membership on an entity's Board of Directors or advisory committees, Patents & Royalties: coinventor on issued and pending patent applications licensed to Vor Biopharma. S.M. has equity ownership and is on the Scientific Advisory Board of Vor Biopharma., Research Funding.
Pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics and safety assessment of multiple doses of soticlestat in healthy volunteers
