Man-Fung Yuen1, Xue Zhou2, Edward Gane3, Christian Schwabe4, Tawesak Tanwandee5, Sheng Feng2, Yuyan Jin2, Miriam Triyatni6, Annabelle Lemenuel-Diot7, Valerie Cosson7, Zenghui Xue8, Remi Kazma7, Qingyan Bo9. 1. Department of Medicine, Queen Mary Hospital, The University of Hong Kong, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China. 2. Roche Innovation Centre Shanghai, Shanghai, China. 3. New Zealand Liver Transplant Unit, The University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. 4. New Zealand Clinical Research, Auckland, New Zealand. 5. Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok, Thailand. 6. Roche Product Development Safety, Basel, Switzerland. 7. Roche Innovation Centre Basel, Basel, Switzerland. 8. Roche (China) Holding, Shanghai, China. 9. Roche Innovation Centre Shanghai, Shanghai, China. Electronic address: qingyan.bo@roche.com.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: RO7049389, a hepatitis B virus (HBV) core protein allosteric modulator being developed for the treatment of chronic HBV infection, was found to be safe and well tolerated in healthy participants (part 1 of this study). The objective of this proof-of-mechanism study (part 2) was to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics, and antiviral activity of RO7049389 in patients with chronic HBV infection. METHODS: This was a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 1 study. Patients with chronic HBV infection who were not currently on anti-HBV therapy were enrolled at 11 liver disease centres in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Seven patients per dose cohort were randomly assigned (6:1) to receive oral administration of RO7049389 at 200 mg or 400 mg twice a day, or 200 mg, 600 mg, or 1000 mg once a day, for 4 weeks, or matching placebo. Randomisation was via interactive voice web response system-generated numbers, with study participants, investigators, and site personnel masked to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint of the study was safety of RO7049389 and its antiviral effect on HBV DNA concentration at the end of treatment, assessed in all patients who received at least one dose of study drug. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02952924. FINDINGS:Between May 21, 2017, and April 3, 2019, 62 patients were screened for eligibility, and 37 eligible patients were enrolled in five dose cohorts sequentially. All adverse events were of mild or moderate intensity. Among the 31 patients who received RO7049389, the most common adverse events were headache (in five [16%] of 31 patients), increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT; five [16%]), increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST; four [13%]), upper respiratory tract infection (four [13%]), and diarrhoea (three [10%]). The most common moderate adverse events were ALT increase (three [10%]) and AST increase (two [6%]), and there were no serious adverse events. At the end of 4 weeks treatment, mean HBV DNA declines from baseline in RO7049389-treated patients were 2·44 log10 IU/mL (SD 0·98) in the 200 mg twice a day group, 3·33 log10 IU/mL (1·14) in the 400 mg twice a day group, 3·00 log10 IU/mL (0·54) in the 200 mg once a day group, 2·86 log10 IU/mL (0·79) in the 600 mg once a day group, and 3·19 log10 IU/mL (0·33) in the 1000 mg once a day group versus 0·34 log10 IU/mL (0·54) in the pooled placebo patients. INTERPRETATION: RO7049389 was safe and well tolerated and demonstrated antiviral activity over 4 weeks of treatment in patients with chronic HBV infection. These findings support further clinical development of RO7049389 as a component of novel combination treatment regimens for patients with chronic HBV infection. FUNDING: F Hoffmann-La Roche.
RCT Entities:
BACKGROUND:RO7049389, a hepatitis B virus (HBV) core protein allosteric modulator being developed for the treatment of chronic HBV infection, was found to be safe and well tolerated in healthy participants (part 1 of this study). The objective of this proof-of-mechanism study (part 2) was to evaluate the safety, pharmacokinetics, and antiviral activity of RO7049389 in patients with chronic HBV infection. METHODS: This was a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 1 study. Patients with chronic HBV infection who were not currently on anti-HBV therapy were enrolled at 11 liver disease centres in Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Seven patients per dose cohort were randomly assigned (6:1) to receive oral administration of RO7049389 at 200 mg or 400 mg twice a day, or 200 mg, 600 mg, or 1000 mg once a day, for 4 weeks, or matching placebo. Randomisation was via interactive voice web response system-generated numbers, with study participants, investigators, and site personnel masked to treatment allocation. The primary endpoint of the study was safety of RO7049389 and its antiviral effect on HBV DNA concentration at the end of treatment, assessed in all patients who received at least one dose of study drug. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT02952924. FINDINGS: Between May 21, 2017, and April 3, 2019, 62 patients were screened for eligibility, and 37 eligible patients were enrolled in five dose cohorts sequentially. All adverse events were of mild or moderate intensity. Among the 31 patients who received RO7049389, the most common adverse events were headache (in five [16%] of 31 patients), increased alanine aminotransferase (ALT; five [16%]), increased aspartate aminotransferase (AST; four [13%]), upper respiratory tract infection (four [13%]), and diarrhoea (three [10%]). The most common moderate adverse events were ALT increase (three [10%]) and AST increase (two [6%]), and there were no serious adverse events. At the end of 4 weeks treatment, mean HBV DNA declines from baseline in RO7049389-treated patients were 2·44 log10 IU/mL (SD 0·98) in the 200 mg twice a day group, 3·33 log10 IU/mL (1·14) in the 400 mg twice a day group, 3·00 log10 IU/mL (0·54) in the 200 mg once a day group, 2·86 log10 IU/mL (0·79) in the 600 mg once a day group, and 3·19 log10 IU/mL (0·33) in the 1000 mg once a day group versus 0·34 log10 IU/mL (0·54) in the pooled placebo patients. INTERPRETATION:RO7049389 was safe and well tolerated and demonstrated antiviral activity over 4 weeks of treatment in patients with chronic HBV infection. These findings support further clinical development of RO7049389 as a component of novel combination treatment regimens for patients with chronic HBV infection. FUNDING: F Hoffmann-La Roche.
Authors: Iman Waheed Khan; Mati Ullah Dad Ullah; Mina Choudhry; Mukarram Jamat Ali; Muhammad Ashar Ali; Sam L K Lam; Pir Ahmad Shah; Satinder Pal Kaur; Daryl T Y Lau Journal: Microorganisms Date: 2021-12-17