A Safety and Efficacy Study of Ligelizumab in the Treatment of CSU in Japanese Patients Inadequately Controlled With H1- Antihistamines

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ligelizumab in adult Japanese subjects with CSU, who remain symptomatic despite treatment with H1-antihistamines (AHs) at locally approved doses.

The study population consisted of 66 male and female subjects aged ≥ 18 years who were diagnosed with CSU and who remained symptomatic despite the use of H1-AH.

This was a Phase III multi-center, open-label, single arm study. There was a screening period of up to 28 days, a 52 week treatment period, and a 12 week post-treatment follow-up period.

This was a Phase III multi-center, open-label, single arm study. The study consisted of 3 distinct periods:

Screening period (Day -28 to Day -14): Subjects who gave informed consent were assessed for eligibility during this period which lasted for up to 4 weeks.

Treatment period (52 weeks): Subjects had site visits every 4 weeks during this period to receive study drug and complete on-site assessments.

Post-treatment follow-up period (12 weeks): Subject had site visits every 4 weeks with the final visit occurring 16 weeks after the last treatment dose. No study treatment was given during the period.

This study was designed to obtain safety data of QGE031 in 66 Japanese CSU patients.

Eligibility Criteria:
Key Inclusion Criteria:

* Signed informed consent must be obtained prior to participation in the study
* Male and female subjects ≥ 18 years of age at the time of screening
* CSU diagnosis for ≥ 6 months
* Diagnosis of CSU refractory to H1-AH at approved doses at the time of Baseline (Visit 110, Day 1), as defined by all of the following:

  * The presence of itch and hives for ≥ 6 consecutive weeks at any time prior to Visit 1 (Day -28 to Day -14) despite current use of non-sedating H1-AH (at locally approved doses) during this time period
  * UAS7 score (range 0-42) ≥ 16 and HSS7 (range 0-21) ≥ 8 during the 7 days prior to baseline (Visit 110, Day 1)
  * Subjects must be on H1-AH at only approved doses for treatment of CSU for starting at Visit 1 (Day -28 to Day -14)
* Willing and able to complete a daily symptom electronic Diary (eDiary) for the duration of the study and adhere to the study visit schedules

Key Exclusion Criteria:

* History of hypersensitivity to any of the study treatments or excipients or to drugs of similar chemical classes (i.e. to murine, chimeric, or human antibodies)
* Subjects having a clearly defined, predominant trigger of their chronic urticaria (CU) (chronic inducible urticaria (CINDU)) including

  - urticaria factitia (symptomatic dermographism), cold-, heat-, solar-, pressure-, delayed pressure-, aquagenic-, cholinergic-, or contact-urticaria
* Diseases, other than chronic urticaria, with urticarial or angioedema symptoms such as urticarial vasculitis, erythema multiforme, cutaneous mastocytosis (urticaria pigmentosa), and hereditary or acquired angioedema (e.g., due to C1 inhibitor deficiency)
* Subjects with evidence of helminthic parasitic infection as evidenced by stools being positive for a pathogenic organism according to local guidelines. All subjects will be screened at Visit 1. If stool testing is positive for pathogenic organism, the subject will not enter treatment period and will not be allowed to rescreen
* Any other skin disease associated with chronic itching that might influence in the investigator's opinion the study evaluations and results (e.g. atopic dermatitis, bullous pemphigoid (BP), dermatitis herpetiformis, senile pruritus, etc)
* Prior exposure to ligelizumab
* Any H2 antihistamine, Leukotriene Receptor Antagonist (LTRA) (montelukast or zafirlukast) or H1 antihistamines use at greater than approved dose after Visit 1

Other protocol-defined inclusion/exclusion criteria may apply.