NCT03828019

Adalimumab vs. Conventional Immunosuppression for Uveitis Trial

• Status: Completed
• Phase: Phase 3
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 227 (actual)
• Sponsor: JHSPH Center for Clinical Trials · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 13 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

Non-infectious intermediate, posterior, and panuveitides are chronic, potentially-blinding diseases. Vision-threatening cases require long-term therapy with oral corticosteroids and immunosuppression. Based upon preliminary data, adalimumab, a fully-human, anti-tumor necrosis(TNF)-α monoclonal antibody, now US FDA-approved for uveitis treatment, may be a superior corticosteroid-sparing agent than conventional immunosuppressive drugs. The ADVISE Trial is multicenter randomized, parallel-treatment, comparative effectiveness trial comparing adalimumab to conventional (small molecule) immunosuppression for corticosteroid spring in the treatment of non-infectious, intermediate, posterior, and panuveitides.

Detailed description

Abstract from protocol: The uveitides are a collection of diseases characterized by intraocular inflammation. Collectively, they are the 5th leading cause of blindness in the US, and the estimated cost of treating them is similar to that of treating diabetic retinopathy. Non-infectious intermediate, posterior, and panuveitides have the highest rates of visual loss and typically are treated with oral corticosteroids and immunosuppression. The Multicenter Uveitis Steroid Treatment (MUST) Trial (a randomized, comparative effectiveness trial, which compared 2 treatment paradigms for these diseases, systemic therapy with corticosteroids and immunosuppression vs. regional therapy \[the fluocinolone acetonide implant\]), and Follow-up Study demonstrated the superiority of the systemic approach to the regional ocular approach in terms of long-term visual outcomes with essentially no increase in systemic side effects in the systemic group. One key to systemic therapy's success was the use of systemic immunosuppression in 88% of participants, coupled with tapering the prednisone to \<7.5 mg/day, a relatively safe dose. Non-alkylating agents are typically the first choice and the most often used are azathioprine, methotrexate, mycophenolate, cyclosporine, and tacrolimus. The alkylating agents, cyclophosphamide and chlorambucil, are used less often because of concerns about potential increased malignancy risk. Data from the Systemic Immunosuppressive Therapy for Eye Diseases (SITE) Cohort Study suggest that each of the conventional, non-alkylating agent immunosuppressive drugs is effective in controlling the inflammation while permitting tapering prednisone in \~40-55% of patients; hence combination therapy often is needed. Furthermore, minimizing the daily dose of prednisone is important, as the risk of cardiovascular disease and mortality increase with the cumulative dose of oral corticosteroids. In June 2016, the fully-human, anti-TNF-α monoclonal antibody, adalimumab, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of uveitis. Anti-TNF-α monoclonal antibody therapy has revolutionized the management of the rheumatic diseases largely due to its superior efficacy compared to conventional Disease Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drugs. Data from VISUAL III, the extension of the two phase 3 trials that led to the FDA approval of adalimumab for the treatment of uveitis, suggest that adalimumab may be superior to conventional immunosuppression, as \~75% of participants had controlled inflammation with prednisone doses \<5 mg/day. The ADalimumab Vs. conventional ImmunoSupprEssion for uveitis (ADVISE) Trial is a randomized, comparative effectiveness trial comparing adalimumab to conventional agent immunosuppression for patients with non-infectious, intermediate, posterior, and panuveitides. The primary outcome is the ability to successfully taper prednisone to \<7.5 mg/day by 6 months after randomization while maintaining control of the inflammation. Secondary outcomes include prednisone discontinuation by 1 year, visual acuity, and complications of uveitis and its treatment. ADVISE is being conducted under investigational new drug (IND) 132532. Adalimumab was FDA approved for the treatment of non-infectious intermediate, posterior, and panuveitides in adult patients in 2016 and in pediatric patients 2 years of age and older in 2018. In 2016, prior to the approval for pediatric patients, the FDA determined that use of adalimumab for the treatment of non-infectious intermediate, posterior, and panuveitides in adolescent patients in the ADVISE Trial does not increase risk for these patients as the drug is approved for treatment of pediatric patients for other indications. Although conventional immunosuppressive drugs are the standard approach and in widespread use, these drugs are not FDA approved for treatment of non-infectious intermediate, posterior, and panuveitides, and therefore an IND has been issued for this trial.

Conditions

• Uveitis

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BIOLOGICAL	Adalimumab (ADA)	Adalimumab is a fully-human monoclonal antibody to TNF-α, which is approved by the U.S. FDA for the treatment of non-infectious intermediate, posterior, and panuveitides in adults and children 2 years of age and older.
DRUG	Conventional immunosuppression (CON)	The study ophthalmologist will select amongst the permissible drugs (methotrexate, mycophenolate mofetil or azathioprine for antimetabolites; cyclosporine or tacrolimus for calcineurin inhibitors) taking into account the side effect profile of each drug with respect to subject's clinical situation.

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-09-16
• Primary completion: 2024-04-02
• Completion: 2024-09-09
• First posted: 2019-02-04
• Last updated: 2025-05-16
• Results posted: 2025-05-16

Locations

26 sites across 3 countries: United States, Australia, United Kingdom

Regulatory

• FDA-regulated drug study