NCT07020715

A Phase IIa Study of Vitamin D3 Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells (tolDC) for Multiple Sclerosis

An Autologous and Antigen-specific Cell-based Therapy of Vitamin D3-treated and Myelin-derived Peptide Loaded Tolerogenic Dendritic Cells in Subjects With Progressive Forms of Multiple Sclerosis: a Phase IIa, Open-label, Self-controlled, Multi-center Clinical Trial

• Status: Not Yet Recruiting
• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 14 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University Hospital, Antwerp · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The investigators propose to design and conduct a phase IIa clinical trial to treat patients with progressive forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) by vaccination with tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDC), generated using Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP). Hereby, the investigators want to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of administrating clinical-grade vitamin D3-treated tolDC loaded with myelin-derived peptides to patients with progressive forms of MS. In vitro generation of dedicated and stable immunomodulatory DC followed by in vitro loading of antigens to ensure tolerance and safety of DC-directed therapy is a promising strategy with the potential to induce long term tolerance.

Detailed description

This is an open-label, self-controlled, multi-center phase IIa clinical trial designed to evaluate the proof-of-concept for both efficacy and safety of tolDC-based therapy. The primary objective is to determine whether treatment with tolDC is effective (using a surrogate primary outcome-change in EDSS score) and safe (the occurrence and severity of adverse events). Secondary evaluations will include the clinical outcomes (assessed using 9HPT, SDMT and number and severity of relapses) and MRI-based markers. Participants will serve as their own controls, with data from 24 weeks pre-treatment period (documented by their neurologist). Following six tolDC administrations, a 24-weeks follow-period will take place. Furthermore, participants can enroll voluntarily into an optional additional follow-up phase of 52 weeks. Completion of screening assessments and confirmation of eligibility criteria should take no longer than 8 weeks.

Conditions

• Multiple Sclerosis

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BIOLOGICAL	Tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDC)	In brief, clinical-grade tolDC vaccines will be prepared from leukapheresis starting material of non-mobilized blood and subsequent immunomagnetic selection of CD14+ monocytes using a CliniMACS device. CD14+ monocytes will then be cultured in GMP-grade cell culture medium supplemented with 2% human AB serum, GM-CSF, IL-4 and 1 alpha,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3. At day 4, tolDC will be stimulated using a cytokine cocktail to induce a migratory phenotype. At day 6, tolDC will be harvested, loaded with antigen, resuspended, and cryopreserved. Separate aliquots of the cell product are prepared for final quality control and quality assurance (QC/QA) assessment. This includes cell count, viability, phenotypic analysis using flow cytometry, and induction of T cell hyporesponsiveness in allogeneic mixed leukocyte reaction (allo-MLR).

Timeline

• Start date: 2026-03-01
• Primary completion: 2027-05-30
• Completion: 2028-10-30
• First posted: 2025-06-13
• Last updated: 2026-01-05

Locations

2 sites across 2 countries: Belgium, Spain