An Efficacy and Safety Study of Prucalopride in Participants With Chronic Constipation

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of prucalopride to placebo (an inactive substance that is compared with a drug to test whether the drug has a real effect in a clinical trial) in treatment of participants with chronic (very serious, life threatening) constipation (decreased number of or difficulty making bowel \[the intestine\] movements).

This is a randomized (study drug is assigned by chance), double-blind (neither physician nor participant knows the treatment that the participants receives), placebo-controlled, multi-center (when more than 1 hospital or medical school team work on a medical research study) study with a parallel-group design (a medical research study comparing the response in 2 or more groups of participants receiving different treatments) study of prucalopride. This study consist of 3 phases: a 2 weeks drug-free screening or run in phase, a 12-week treatment phase and follow-up (post-treatment) phase performed 7 days following the last dose of study drug. The total duration of study will be approximately 15 to 20 weeks, including the run-in and post-treatment phases. During the run-in phase, participants will receive laxative (bisacodyl) as a rescue medication throughout the study, if they will not have bowel movement (BM) for 3 or more consecutive days. If participants will not be able to tolerate bisacodyl, an enema may be used in place of the bisacodyl. During the double-blind treatment phase, participants will be randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to 1 of 2 treatment groups to receive either 2 milligram (mg) prucalopride or matching placebo prucalopride for 12 weeks, orally once daily. Participants will be primarily assessed for spontaneous complete bowel movements (SCBMs) per week. Participant's safety and quality of life will be monitored throughout the study.

Eligibility Criteria:
Inclusion Criteria:

* History of chronic constipation, defined as on average, 2 or fewer spontaneous bowel movements (SBMs) per week and 1 or more of the following for at least a quarter of the time for the last 3 months, while symptom onset was more than 6 months before the screening visit: in more than 25 percent (%) of BMs, participants had very hard (little balls) and/or hard stools, sensation of incomplete evacuation, straining at defecation (making a bowel movement), sensation of ano-rectal obstruction or blockade, and/or need for digital manipulation to facilitate evacuation
* Participants who were considered as constipated (who never had SBMs)
* Participant's constipation is functional
* Participants with the diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome (bowel disorder in which there is pain and diarrhea or constipation) with constipation and with no other organic diseases can potentially be included depending on the decision of the investigator
* Female participants must be postmenopausal (for at least 1 year) or surgically sterile or practicing a highly effective method of birth control

Exclusion Criteria:

* Secondary to other diseases/conditions (endocrine disorders, metabolic disorders or neurologic disorders or drug-induced or suspected organic disorders of the large bowel, i.e., obstruction, carcinoma (type of cancer), or inflammatory bowel disease)
* - Participants Using or intending to use disallowed medications that may influence the bowel habit during the study
* Participants with severe (very serious, life threatening) and clinically uncontrolled cardiovascular, liver, or lung disease, neurologic or psychiatric disorders (including active alcohol or drug abuse), cancer (abnormal tissue that grows and spreads in the body until it kills) or acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS: illness that results in decreased ability of the body to protect itself from other illnesses; development of the disease or conditions associated with the disease results from Human Immunodeficiency Virus \[HIV\]), or other gastrointestinal or endocrine disorders
* Participants with impaired renal function, that is, serum creatinine greater than 2 milligram per deciliter (greater than 180 micro mole per liter)
* Participants with clinically significant abnormalities of hematology, urinalysis, or blood chemistry