Andrew Satlin

Efficacy and safety of adjunctive perampanel for the treatment of refractory partial seizures: a pooled analysis of three phase III studies.

Three phase III studies (304 [ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00699972], 305 [NCT00699582], 306 [NCT00700310]) evaluated perampanel, an α‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptor antagonist, as adjunctive therapy for refractory partial seizures. We report post hoc analyses of pooled study data by randomized dose.

Perspectives on future Alzheimer therapies: amyloid-β protofibrils - a new target for immunotherapy with BAN2401 in Alzheimer's disease

The symptomatic drugs currently on the market for Alzheimer’s disease (AD) have no effect on disease progression, and this creates a large unmet medical need. The type of drug that has developed most rapidly in the last decade is immunotherapy: vaccines and, especially, passive vaccination with monoclonal antibodies. Antibodies are attractive drugs as they can be made highly specific for their target and often with few side effects. Data from recent clinical AD trials indicate that a treatment effect by immunotherapy is possible, providing hope for a new generation of drugs. The first anti-amyloid-beta (anti-Aβ) vaccine developed by Elan, AN1792, was halted in phase 2 because of aseptic meningoencephalitis. However, in a follow-up study, patients with antibody response to the vaccine demonstrated reduced cognitive decline, supporting the hypothesis that Aβ immunotherapy may have clinically relevant effects. Bapineuzumab (Elan/Pfizer Inc./Johnson & Johnson), a monoclonal antibody targeting fibrillar Aβ, was stopped because the desired clinical effect was not seen. Solanezumab (Eli Lilly and Company) was developed to target soluble, monomeric Aβ. In two phase 3 studies, Solanezumab did not meet primary endpoints. When data from the two studies were pooled, a positive pattern emerged, revealing a significant slowing of cognitive decline in the subgroup of mild AD. The Arctic mutation has been shown to specifically increase the formation of soluble Aβ protofibrils, an Aβ species shown to be toxic to neurons and likely to be present in all cases of AD. A monoclonal antibody, mAb158, was developed to target Aβ protofibrils with high selectivity. It has at least a 1,000-fold higher selectivity for protofibrils as compared with monomers of Aβ, thus targeting the toxic species of the peptide. A humanized version of mAb158, BAN2401, has now entered a clinical phase 2b trial in a collaboration between BioArctic Neuroscience and Eisai without the safety concerns seen in previous phase 1 and 2a trials. Experiences from the field indicate the importance of initiating treatment early in the course of the disease and of enriching the trial population by improving the diagnostic accuracy. BAN2401 is a promising candidate for Aβ immunotherapy in early AD. Other encouraging efforts in immunotherapy as well as in the small-molecule field offer hope for new innovative therapies for AD in the future.

Development of interventions for the secondary prevention of Alzheimer's dementia: the European Prevention of Alzheimer's Dementia (EPAD) project

Alzheimers dementia affects more than 40 million people worldwide with substantial increases in prevalence anticipated. Interventions that either modify risk or reduce the development of early disease could delay the onset of dementia or reduce the rate of cognitive and functional decline. The European Prevention of Alzheimers Dementia (EPAD) is a public-private consortium, funded by the Innovative Medicines Initiative, designed to increase the likelihood of successful development of new treatments for the secondary prevention of Alzheimers dementia. EPAD will help with testing of different agents in this pre-dementia population through four components: improvement of access to existing cohorts and registries, development of the EPAD Registry of approximately 24,000 people who might be at increased risk of developing Alzheimers dementia, establishment of the EPAD Longitudinal Cohort Study of 6000 people at any one time, and establishment of an adaptive, proof-of-concept trial including 1500 participants at any given time. The need for EPAD and its key design elements are described, and we discuss EPAD in relation to similar projects in progress. These parallel efforts reflect the need for a coordinated, worldwide battle against dementia, in which EPAD will play a crucial role.

Safety and tolerability of donepezil 23 mg in moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease

BackgroundDonepezil 23 mg/d, recently approved in the United States for treatment of moderate to severe Alzheimers disease (AD), was developed to address the need for an additional treatment option for patients with advanced AD. This report, based on a pivotal phase 3 study, presents a detailed analysis of the safety and tolerability of increasing donepezil to 23 mg/d compared with continuing 10 mg/d.MethodSafety analyses comprised examination of the incidence, severity, and timing of treatment-emergent adverse events (AEs) and their relationship to treatment initiation; changes in weight, electrocardiogram, vital signs, and laboratory parameters; and the incidence of premature study discontinuation. The analysis population (n = 1434) included all randomized patients who took at least 1 dose of study drug and had a postbaseline safety assessment. To further examine the effect of transition from a lower to a higher donepezil dose, a pooled analysis of safety data from 2 phase 3 trials of donepezil 5 mg/d and 10 mg/d was also performed.ResultsThe safety population comprised 1434 patients: donepezil 23 mg/d (n = 963); donepezil 10 mg/d (n = 471); completion rates were 71.1% and 84.7%, respectively. The most common AEs were nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea (donepezil 23 mg/d: 11.8%, 9.2%, 8.3%; donepezil 10 mg/d: 3.4%, 2.5%, 5.3%, respectively). AEs that contributed most to early discontinuations were vomiting (2.9% of patients in the 23 mg/d group and 0.4% in the 10 mg/d group), nausea (1.9% and 0.4%), diarrhea (1.7% and 0.4%), and dizziness (1.1% and 0.0%). The percentages of patients with AEs in the 23 mg/d group, as well as the timing, type, and severity of these AEs, were similar to those seen in previous donepezil trials with titration from 5 to 10 mg/d. Serious AEs were uncommon (23 mg/d, 8.3%; 10 mg/d, 9.6%).DiscussionThe 23 mg/d dose of donepezil was associated with typical cholinergic AEs, particularly gastrointestinal-related AEs, similar to those observed in studies with a dose increase from 5 to 10 mg/d.ConclusionThe good safety and predictable tolerability profile for donepezil 23 mg/d supports its favorable risk/benefit ratio in patients with moderate to severe AD.Trial RegistrationNCT00478205

Perampanel for adjunctive treatment of partial‐onset seizures: A pooled dose–response analysis of phase III studies

To better understand the relationship between efficacy and perampanel dose, integrated actual (last) dose data from three phase III trials and an extension study (blinded Conversion Period; open‐label Maintenance Period) were analyzed.

The Murine Version of BAN2401 (mAb158) Selectively Reduces Amyloid-β Protofibrils in Brain and Cerebrospinal Fluid of tg-ArcSwe Mice

Amyloid-β (Aβ) immunotherapy for Alzheimers disease (AD) has good preclinical support from transgenic mouse models and clinical data suggesting that a long-term treatment effect is possible. Soluble Aβ protofibrils have been shown to exhibit neurotoxicity in vitro and in vivo, and constitute an attractive target for immunotherapy. Here, we demonstrate that the humanized antibody BAN2401 and its murine version mAb158 exhibit a strong binding preference for Aβ protofibrils over Aβ monomers. Further, we confirm the presence of the target by showing that both antibodies efficiently immunoprecipitate soluble Aβ aggregates in human AD brain extracts. mAb158 reached the brain and reduced the brain protofibril levels by 42% in an exposure-dependent manner both after long-term and short-term treatment in tg-ArcSwe mice. Notably, a 53% reduction of protofibrils/oligomers in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) that correlated with reduced brain protofibril levels was observed after long-term treatment, suggesting that CSF protofibrils/oligomers could be used as a potential biomarker. No change in native monomeric Aβ42 could be observed in brain TBS extracts after mAb158-treatment in tg-ArcSwe mice. By confirming the specific ability of mAb158 to selectively bind and reduce soluble Aβ protofibrils, with minimal binding to Aβ monomers, we provide further support in favor of its position as an attractive new candidate for AD immunotherapy. BAN2401 has undergone full phase 1 development, and available data indicate a favorable safety profile in AD patients.

ADCOMS: a composite clinical outcome for prodromal Alzheimer's disease trials.

Background Development of new therapies for Alzheimers disease (AD) is increasingly focused on more mildly affected populations, and requires new assessment and outcome strategies. Patients in early stages of AD have mild cognitive decline and no, or limited, functional impairment. To respond to these assessment challenges, we developed a measurement approach based on established scale items that exhibited change in previous amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) trials. Methods Partial least squares regression with a longitudinal clinical decline model identified items from commonly used clinical scales with the highest combined sensitivity to change over time in aMCI and weighted these items according to their relative contribution to detecting clinical progression in patients’ early stages of AD. The resultant AD Composite Score (ADCOMS) was assessed for its ability to detect treatment effect in aMCI/prodromal AD (pAD) clinical trial populations. Results ADCOMS consists of 4 Alzheimers Disease Assessment Scale–cognitive subscale items, 2 Mini-Mental State Examination items, and all 6 Clinical Dementia Rating—Sum of Boxes items. ADCOMS demonstrated improved sensitivity to clinical decline over individual scales in pAD, aMCI and in mild AD dementia. ADCOMS also detected treatment effects associated with the use of cholinesterase inhibitors in these populations. Improved sensitivity predicts smaller sample size requirements when ADCOMS is used in early AD trials. Conclusions ADCOMS is proposed as new standard outcome for pAD and mild AD dementia trials, and is progressing in a CAMD-sponsored qualification process for use in registration trials of pAD.

Development of perampanel in epilepsy

Alpha‐amino‐3‐hydroxy‐5‐methyl‐4‐isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA)‐type glutamate receptors play a key role in mediating glutamatergic transmission in the cortex. Perampanel (2‐[2‐oxo‐1‐phenyl‐5‐pyridin‐2‐yl‐1,2‐dihydropyridin‐3‐yl] benzonitrile) is a potent, orally active, highly selective, non‐competitive AMPA‐type glutamate receptor antagonist, identified via a focused discovery program at Eisai Research Laboratories. Development of perampanel as adjunctive therapy for the treatment of partial‐onset seizures was planned in keeping with regulatory guidance and guidelines on antiepileptic drug (AED) development. This is the first AED with a specific action on glutamate‐mediated excitatory neurotransmission to show evidence of efficacy and tolerability in reducing treatment‐refractory partial‐onset seizures in Phase III clinical trials. Perampanel (Fycompa®) has been approved in the EU and the United States for adjunctive treatment of partial‐onset seizures.

Neuropsychiatric signs and symptoms of Alzheimer's disease: New treatment paradigms

Neuropsychiatric symptoms (NPSs) are hallmarks of Alzheimers disease (AD), causing substantial distress for both people with dementia and their caregivers, and contributing to early institutionalization. They are among the earliest signs and symptoms of neurocognitive disorders and incipient cognitive decline, yet are under‐recognized and often challenging to treat. With this in mind, the Alzheimers Association convened a Research Roundtable in May 2016, bringing together experts from academia, industry, and regulatory agencies to discuss the latest understanding of NPSs and review the development of therapeutics and biomarkers of NPSs in AD. This review will explore the neurobiology of NPSs in AD and specific symptoms common in AD such as psychosis, agitation, apathy, depression, and sleep disturbances. In addition, clinical trial designs for NPSs in AD and regulatory considerations will be discussed.

Safety and pharmacokinetic profile of rufinamide in pediatric patients aged less than 4 years with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome: An interim analysis from a multicenter, randomized, active-controlled, open-label study

OBJECTIVE A good knowledge of safety and age group-specific pharmacokinetics (PK) of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs) in young pediatric patients is of great importance in clinical practice. This paper presents 6-month interim safety and PK from an ongoing 2-year open-label study (Study 303) of adjunctive rufinamide treatment in pediatric subjects ≥ 1 to < 4 years with inadequately controlled epilepsies of the Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS) spectrum. METHODS Subjects (N = 37) were randomized to either rufinamide or any other approved AED chosen by the investigator as adjunctive therapy to the subjects existing regimen of 1-3 AEDs. RESULTS Interim safety results showed that treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) were similar between the rufinamide (22 [88.0%]) and any-other-AED group (9 [81.8%]), with most events considered mild or moderate. A population PK analysis was conducted including plasma rufinamide concentrations from Study 303 and two other study populations of LGS subjects ≥ 4 years. The rufinamide PK profile was dose independent. The apparent clearance (CL/F) estimated from the PK model was 2.19 L/h; it was found to increase significantly as a function of body weight. Coadministration of valproic acid significantly decreased rufinamide CL/F. CL/F was not significantly affected by other concomitant AEDs, age, gender, race, hepatic function, or renal function. No adjustments to body weight-based rufinamide dosing in subjects ≥ 1 to < 4 years are necessary. SIGNIFICANCE Rufinamide was safe and well tolerated in these pediatric subjects. Results from the interim analysis demonstrate that rufinamides safety and PK profile is comparable in subjects ≥ 1 to < 4 and ≥ 4 years with LGS. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION Study 303 (clinicaltrials.gov: NCT01405053).