study to assess an enteric microgranule formulation of adrulipase in patients with cystic fibrosis

Conditions: Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency; Cystic Fibrosis

Summary: some cystic fibrosis patients are unable to digest food and absorb nutrition appropriately as they have a condition known as exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (epi). currently, these patients take pancreatic enzymes that are obtained from pig pancreas to aid the digestion of food. the goals of this clinical study are to evaluate the safety and efficacy of a novel formulation of a non-porcine lipase, called adrulipase, in patients with epi due to cystic fibrosis. the main question\[s\] the study aims to answer are: 1. is the novel formulation of adrulipase safe to use at the doses being evaluated in the clinical study. 2. is adrulipase as effective, or more effective, compared to the pig enzymes the patients currently use. researchers will compare the results obtained with adrulipase to how the patients typically respond to their pig enzymes to see if adrulipase helps patients digest fats adequately and if their stomach feels good (signs and symptoms of malabsorption).

this is an phase 2, open label, single arm pilot study assessing the safety and efficacy of adrulipase in an enteric microgranule formulation. patients with a confirmed diagnosis of cystic fibrosis who are 18 years of age or greater will be screened for eligibility if they have been clinically controlled on a stable dose of commercial pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (pert) for at least one month. patients on cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (cftr) modulator therapies must have been on a stable dose for at least 3 months prior to study entry, and no dose changes will be made during the study. patients receiving gastric acid suppressants must have been on a stable dose for at least one month prior to study entry and no dose changes will be made during the study. upon obtaining an informed consent, potentially eligible patients will receive dietary counselling during the week prior to the scheduled date of confinement for collecting stool samples for calculation of baseline coefficient of fat absorption (cfa). this counselling will emphasize the importance of dietary stability during the study. patients found to have a cfa of 80% or greater while receiving their commercial pert and meeting the other eligibility criteria will be enrolled into the study. upon study enrolment, the patient will be switched from their commercial pert to receive adrulipase. the patient will remain on study for approximately three weeks, after which a repeat cfa will be obtained. a dose titration scheme will be used for determining whether a low, medium, or high dose of adrulipase may succeed in controlling signs and symptoms of exocrine pancreatic insufficiency (epi) and provide a cfa of 80% or greater. patients will initially receive a low dose of adrulipase. upon the appearance of epi symptoms, lasting at least three days, and upon discussion with the investigator, the patient will be switched to the medium dose of adrulipase. if signs and symptoms of epi persist for three or more days, the patient will be switched to the high dose of adrulipase. after patients reach 3 weeks of study and complete their end of study cfa, they will be returned to their pre-study commercial pert. an end of study safety visit will be scheduled for one week after finishing adrulipase therapy. safety assessments will be made by collecting adverse events, safety lab assessments, and immunologic assays to assess drug induced immune responses.

Eligibility criteria:
inclusion criteria: 1. a confirmed diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, based on 2 clinical features consistent with cf, plus either a new/historic sweat chloride \>60 mmol/l by quantitative pilocarpine iontophoresis (measured while not on a cftr modulator) or genotype. 2. on stable dose of porcine pert ≥1 month (30 days) prior to screening; stable dose is defined as dose of medication not changed during this time period, and the medication must be commercially available and be administered in the recommended dose range. 3. cfa = or \> 80% at screening while on stable pert 4. a fair or better nutritional status as defined by: * bmi ≥16.0 kg/m2 for female patients ≥18 years of age, or * bmi ≥16.5 kg/m2 for male patients ≥18 years of age 5. fecal elastase \<100 µg/g of stool at screening 6. standard-of-care medications including cftr modulators are allowed exclusion criteria: 1. history or diagnosis of fibrosing colonopathy 2. any chronic diarrheal illness unrelated to pancreatic insufficiency 3. alanine aminotransferase (alt) or aspartate aminotransferase (ast) level * 5 ×upper limit of normal (uln), or total bilirubin level ≥1.5 ×uln at screening 4. feeding via an enteral tube during 6 months before screening 5. forced expiratory volume ≤30% at the screening visit 6. changes in gastric acid suppressant therapy during the one month prior to screening for patients already on suppressant therapy.