The safety and efficacy of ELAPRASE were evaluated in a 53-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of 96 patients with Hunter syndrome. The trial included patients with deficiency in iduronate-2-sulfatase enzyme activity and a percent predicted forced vital capacity (%-predicted FVC) less than 80%. The age of patients ranged from 5 to 31 years. Patients received ELAPRASE 0.5 mg/kg once per week (n=32), ELAPRASE 0.5 mg/kg once every other week (n=32), or placebo (n=32). 

The primary efficacy outcome assessment was a two-component composite score based on the sum of the ranks of the change from baseline to Week 53 in distance walked in six minutes (6-minute walk test) and the ranks of the change in %-predicted FVC. This two-component composite primary endpoint differed statistically significantly between the three groups, and the difference was greatest between the placebo group and the once weekly treatment group (once weekly ELAPRASE vs. placebo, p=0.0049).

Examination of the individual components of the composite score showed that, in the adjusted analysis, the weekly ELAPRASE-treated group experienced a 35 meter greater mean increase in the distance walked in six minutes compared to placebo. The changes in %-predicted FVC were not statistically significant (Table 5).

Pharmacodynamic assessments included urinary GAG levels and changes in liver and spleen size. Urinary GAG levels were elevated in all patients at baseline. Following 53 weeks of treatment, mean urinary GAG levels were reduced in the ELAPRASE once weekly group, although GAG levels still remained above the upper limit of normal in half of the ELAPRASE-treated patients. Urinary GAG levels remained elevated and essentially unchanged in the placebo group. Sustained reductions in both liver and spleen volumes were observed in the ELAPRASE once weekly group through Week 53 compared to placebo. There were essentially no changes in liver and spleen volumes in the placebo group.

Extension Trial

Patients who participated in the placebo-controlled trial were eligible to continue treatment in an open-label extension trial. During the extension trial, all patients received ELAPRASE 0.5mg/kg once weekly for 24 months. 

Patients who were treated with ELAPRASE once weekly and every other week in the placebo-controlled trial demonstrated improvement in distance walked in the 6-minute walk test for an additional 8 months of treatment in the extension trial. There was no change in mean %-predicted FVC in all Hunter syndrome patients after 6 months of treatment in the extension trial; however, a slight decrease in mean %-predicted FVC was demonstrated through to month 24 of the extension trial. The long-term effect of ELAPRASE on pulmonary function in Hunter syndrome patients is unclear.

There were no further reductions in mean urinary GAG levels in patients initially treated with ELAPRASE once weekly; however, the patients treated with ELAPRASE every other week during the placebo-controlled trial experienced further reductions in mean urinary GAG levels after changing to a more frequent dosing regimen during the extension trial. The persistence of reduced urinary GAG levels did not correlate with the long term effect demonstrated by the 6-minute walk test distance or %-predicted FVC.