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COVIDPhase 2NCT04400929

Using GM-CSF as a Host Directed Therapeutic Against COVID-19

A Phase 2 study testing Sargramostim and Normal Saline 0.9% in people with COVID and Sars-CoV2, run by Singapore General Hospital at 1 site in Singapore.

Completed

Finished. The study has ended and is not enrolling. Results may be posted on the official record.

Official record
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Trial summary

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly become a pandemic. COVID-19 poses a mortality risk of 3-7%, rising to 20% in older patients with co-morbidities. Of all infected patients, 15-20% will develop severe respiratory symptoms necessitating hospital admission. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 21 to 80 years
Conditions the study is for
COVID, Sars-CoV2, ARDS, Human
What is being tested?
Sargramostim and Normal Saline 0.9%
Type of treatment
Injection or infusion
Could I receive a placebo?
Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
How many people
2 participants
Where
1 siteSingapore
Study dates
2 Jun 2020to 4 Feb 2022
Phase
Phase 2
Are there results?
None posted in the registry

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages 21 to 80 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • SARS-CoV-2 PCR-confirmed COVID-19 infection
  • Presence of acute hypoxic respiratory failure defined as (either or both)
  • Saturation < 94% on room air or requiring supplemental oxygen
  • PaO2/FiO2 below 350
  • Age 21-80
  • Able and willing to provide informed consent

Who cannot join

  • Patients who are already on supplemental oxygen of FiO2 ≥ 0.4
  • Patients with known history of serious allergic reactions, including anaphylaxis, to human GM-CSF such as Leukine®, yeast-derived products, or any component of the product.
  • Mechanical ventilation before start of study
  • Patients enrolled in another investigational drug study
  • Pregnant or breastfeeding females (all female subjects of childbearing potential status must have negative pregnancy test at screening)
  • Patients with peripheral white blood cell count above 25,000 per microliter and/or active myeloid malignancy
Show all 9Show fewer
  • Patients on high dose systemic steroids (> 20mg methylprednisolone or equivalent)
  • Patients on lithium carbonate therapy
  • Patients with serum ferritin >2000 mcg/ml (which will exclude ongoing HLH)

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

Singapore1 site
  • Singapore General Hospital

    Singapore

Other trials in Singapore

About this study

Official title: Using GM-CSF as a Host Directed Therapeutic Against COVID-19 - a Phase 2 Investigator Initiated Trial

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has rapidly become a pandemic. COVID-19 poses a mortality risk of 3-7%, rising to 20% in older patients with co-morbidities. Of all infected patients, 15-20% will develop severe respiratory symptoms necessitating hospital admission. Around 5% of patients will require invasive mechanical ventilation, and up to 50% will die.

Evidence in severe COVID-19 suggests that these patients experience cytokine storm and progressed rapidly with acute respiratory distress syndrome and eventual multi-organ failure. Early identification and immediate treatment of hyperinflammation is thus recommended to reduce mortality. Granulocyte Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) has been shown to be a myelopoietic growth factor that has pleiotropic effects in promoting the differentiation of immature precursors into polymorphonuclear neutrophils, monocytes/ macrophages and dendritic cells, and also in controlling the function of fully mature myeloid cells. It plays an important role in priming monocytes for production of proinflammatory cytokines under TLR and NLR stimulation. It has a broad impact on the processes driving DC differentiation and affects DC effector function at the mature state. Importantly, GM-CSF plays a critical role in host defense and stimulating antiviral immunity. Detailed studies have also shown that GM-CSF is necessary for the maturation of alveolar macrophages from foetal monocytes and the maintenance of these cells in adulthood. The known toxicology, pharmacologic and safety data also support the use of Leukine® in hypoxic respiratory failure and ARDS due to COVID-19.

This study aims to recruit patients with evidence of pneumonia and hypoxia who have increased risk for severe disease and need for mechanical ventilation. The overall hypothesis is that GM-CSF has antiviral immunity, can provide the stimulus to restore immune homeostasis in the lung with acute lung injury from COVID-19, and can promote lung repair mechanisms, which would lead to improvement in lung oxygenation parameters.

Read the detailed description

The hypothesis of the proposed intervention is that GM-CSF has profound effects on antiviral immunity, can provide the stimulus to restore immune homeostasis in the lung with acute lung injury post COVID-19, and can promote lung repair mechanisms, which would lead to an improvement in lung oxygenation parameters. This hypothesis is based on experiments performed in mice showing that GM-CSF treatment can prevent mortality and prevent ARDS in mice with post-viral acute lung injury.

In the interim analysis of the SARPAC trial, patients who received nebulised Leukine® via a mesh inhaler showed a trend in improvement in their P(A-a)O2 gradient at day 6 compared to the SOC group. There are however, anticipated logistical difficulties of training and infection control concerns with administering of nebulised Leukine® via a specialised inhaler in the negative pressure room. Hence we propose to randomize patients with confirmed COVID-19 and acute hypoxic respiratory failure (saturation < 94% on room air or PaO2/FiO2 <350) to receive iv Leukine® 125mcg/m2 once a day for 5 days on top of SOC (treatment group A), or to receive SOC treatment only (placebo group B). Dosing of systemic Leukine® is based on prior experience of using this drug in patients with pneumonia-associated ARDS.

To measure the effectiveness of Leukine® in restoring lung homeostasis, the primary endpoint of this intervention is measuring oxygenation after 5 days of intravenous treatment through assessment of pre-treatment and post-treatment ratio of PaO2/FiO2, and through measurement of the P(A-a)O2 gradient, which can easily be performed in the setting of clinical observation of inpatients. During the 5-day treatment period, we will perform daily measurements of oxygen saturation (pulse oximetry) in relation to FiO2, and the slope of alterations in these parameters could also be an indicator that our hypothesis is correct.

Comparison will be between group A receiving iv Leukine® on top of standard of care (SOC) and placebo group B receiving SOC only. Data from the Wuhan COVID-19 epidemic show that patients that deteriorate are facing a prolonged period of mechanical ventilation. Therefore, the study will be unblinded at day 5, or at any time within the first 5 days of study should the patient deteriorate clinically with need for supplemental oxygen FiO2 requirement ≥ 0.5. Patients in group B will then have the option to receive 5 days of iv Leukine®, based on the treating physician's assessment. This group will be group D. Patients who require mechanical ventilation also have the option to receive an additional 5 days of iv Leukine®, based on the treating physician's assessment (group C and E).

A total of 30 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and acute hypoxic respiratory failure will be enrolled, 15 who will receive Leukine® + SOC, and 15 who will receive placebo + SOC. The target group of subjects is defined as confirmed COVID-19 patients with acute hypoxic respiratory failure admitted to the COVID-19 isolation ward. Subjects will be recruited from the isolation wards located in Singapore General Hospital (SGH). Subjects will be identified by the primary managing physicians who are infectious diseases physicians.

Safety data, including blood leukocyte counts, will be collected in all patients. Efficacy data will also be collected and will include arterial blood gases, oxygenation parameters, need for ventilation, lung compliance, organ function, radiographic changes, ferritin levels, triglyceride levels, etc. as well as occurrence of secondary bacterial infections.

Patients will stop the investigational drug if there is unacceptable toxicity according to investigator's judgement.

Being tested
Sargramostim, Normal Saline 0.9%
Keywords
pandemic, host-directed therapeutic, GM-CSF, COVID-19, ARDS, SARS-CoV2
Medical subject headings
Respiratory Distress Syndrome, COVID-19

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • SargramostimDrug

    Also called GM-CSF, Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony Stimulating Factor, Leukine®

    Dosage for IV Leukine® injection: 125mcg/m2/day over a 4-hour period for up to 5 days.

  • Normal Saline 0.9%Other

    IV normal saline 0.9% for 5 days

Study groups in NCT04400929
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Group A: Treatment GroupExperimentalDay 1 - 5: Receive study medication Leukine® 125mcg/m2 body surface area daily (via infusion into the vein) in addition to standard of care treatments
Receives: Drug: Sargramostim
Group B: Placebo GroupPlacebo comparatorDay 1 - 5: Receive normal saline 0.9% daily (via infusion into the vein) in addition to standard of care treatments
Receives: Other: Normal Saline 0.9%
Group CExperimentalDay 6 - 10: Subjects in Group A who require mechanical ventilation to receive an additional 5 days of IV Leukine® 125mcg/m2 body surface area daily, in addition to standard of care treatments (based on the treating physician's assessment)
Receives: Drug: Sargramostim
Group DExperimentalDay 6 - 10: Subjects from Group B to receive study medication (based on the treating physician's assessment), Leukine® 125mcg/m2 body surface area daily (via infusion into the vein) in addition to standard of care treatments
Receives: Drug: Sargramostim
Group EExperimentalDay 11 - 15: Subjects in Group D who require mechanical ventilation to receive an additional 5 days of IV Leukine® 125mcg/m2 body surface area daily, in addition to standard of care treatments (based on the treating physician's assessment)
Receives: Drug: Sargramostim

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Measuring oxygenation

    To measure the effectiveness of Leukine® in restoring lung homeostasis, the primary endpoint of this intervention is measuring oxygenation after 5 days of intravenous treatment through assessment of pre-treatment and post-treatment ratio of PaO2/FiO2, and through measurement of the P(A-a)O2 gradient, which can easily be performed in the setting of clinical observation of inpatients.

    Measured: Day 1 to Day 6

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted26 May 2020
  2. Study start2 Jun 2020
  3. Primary completion26 Jan 2022
  4. Study completion4 Feb 2022

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Model description
This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of iv Leukine® in 30 patients with confirmed COVID-19 and acute hypoxic respiratory failure.
Masking
Double blind
Who is masked
Participant, Investigator
Enrolment
2 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04400929
Sponsor's protocol ID
SH-Leuk-01
Status last verified
May 2022
First submitted
8 May 2020
Last updated
10 May 2022
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No

Publications

  • Cheung CY, Poon LL, Ng IH, Luk W, Sia SF, Wu MH, Chan KH, Yuen KY, Gordon S, Guan Y, Peiris JS. Cytokine responses in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-infected macrophages in vitro: possible relevance to pathogenesis. J Virol. 2005 Jun;79(12):7819-26. doi: 10.1128/JVI.79.12.7819-7826.2005.

    PubMed 15919935
  • Kikkert M. Innate Immune Evasion by Human Respiratory RNA Viruses. J Innate Immun. 2020;12(1):4-20. doi: 10.1159/000503030. Epub 2019 Oct 14.

    PubMed 31610541
  • Prompetchara E, Ketloy C, Palaga T. Immune responses in COVID-19 and potential vaccines: Lessons learned from SARS and MERS epidemic. Asian Pac J Allergy Immunol. 2020 Mar;38(1):1-9. doi: 10.12932/AP-200220-0772.

    PubMed 32105090
  • Mehta P, McAuley DF, Brown M, Sanchez E, Tattersall RS, Manson JJ; HLH Across Speciality Collaboration, UK. COVID-19: consider cytokine storm syndromes and immunosuppression. Lancet. 2020 Mar 28;395(10229):1033-1034. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30628-0. Epub 2020 Mar 16. No abstract available.

    PubMed 32192578
  • Chen N, Zhou M, Dong X, Qu J, Gong F, Han Y, Qiu Y, Wang J, Liu Y, Wei Y, Xia J, Yu T, Zhang X, Zhang L. Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study. Lancet. 2020 Feb 15;395(10223):507-513. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30211-7. Epub 2020 Jan 30.

    PubMed 32007143
  • Ruan Q, Yang K, Wang W, Jiang L, Song J. Correction to: Clinical predictors of mortality due to COVID-19 based on an analysis of data of 150 patients from Wuhan, China. Intensive Care Med. 2020 Jun;46(6):1294-1297. doi: 10.1007/s00134-020-06028-z.

    PubMed 32253449
  • Park WY, Goodman RB, Steinberg KP, Ruzinski JT, Radella F 2nd, Park DR, Pugin J, Skerrett SJ, Hudson LD, Martin TR. Cytokine balance in the lungs of patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2001 Nov 15;164(10 Pt 1):1896-903. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.164.10.2104013.

    PubMed 11734443
  • Fowler AA, Fisher BJ, Centor RM, Carchman RA. Development of the adult respiratory distress syndrome: progressive alteration of neutrophil chemotactic and secretory processes. Am J Pathol. 1984 Sep;116(3):427-35.

    PubMed 6476079
  • Munford RS, Pugin J. Normal responses to injury prevent systemic inflammation and can be immunosuppressive. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2001 Feb;163(2):316-21. doi: 10.1164/ajrccm.163.2.2007102. No abstract available.

    PubMed 11179099
  • Monneret G, Lepape A, Voirin N, Bohe J, Venet F, Debard AL, Thizy H, Bienvenu J, Gueyffier F, Vanhems P. Persisting low monocyte human leukocyte antigen-DR expression predicts mortality in septic shock. Intensive Care Med. 2006 Aug;32(8):1175-83. doi: 10.1007/s00134-006-0204-8. Epub 2006 Jun 2.

    PubMed 16741700
  • Tiegs G, Barsig J, Matiba B, Uhlig S, Wendel A. Potentiation by granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor of lipopolysaccharide toxicity in mice. J Clin Invest. 1994 Jun;93(6):2616-22. doi: 10.1172/JCI117274.

    PubMed 8201000
  • Meisel C, Schefold JC, Pschowski R, Baumann T, Hetzger K, Gregor J, Weber-Carstens S, Hasper D, Keh D, Zuckermann H, Reinke P, Volk HD. Granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor to reverse sepsis-associated immunosuppression: a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled multicenter trial. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2009 Oct 1;180(7):640-8. doi: 10.1164/rccm.200903-0363OC. Epub 2009 Jul 9.

    PubMed 19590022
  • Toda H, Murata A, Oka Y, Uda K, Tanaka N, Ohashi I, Mori T, Matsuura N. Effect of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor on sepsis-induced organ injury in rats. Blood. 1994 May 15;83(10):2893-8.

    PubMed 8180384
  • Guilliams M, De Kleer I, Henri S, Post S, Vanhoutte L, De Prijck S, Deswarte K, Malissen B, Hammad H, Lambrecht BN. Alveolar macrophages develop from fetal monocytes that differentiate into long-lived cells in the first week of life via GM-CSF. J Exp Med. 2013 Sep 23;210(10):1977-92. doi: 10.1084/jem.20131199. Epub 2013 Sep 16.

    PubMed 24043763
  • Naessens T, Schepens B, Smet M, Pollard C, Van Hoecke L, De Beuckelaer A, Willart M, Lambrecht B, De Koker S, Saelens X, Grooten J. GM-CSF treatment prevents respiratory syncytial virus-induced pulmonary exacerbation responses in postallergic mice by stimulating alveolar macrophage maturation. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016 Mar;137(3):700-9.e9. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2015.09.031. Epub 2015 Nov 10.

    PubMed 26560044

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 2 study testing Sargramostim and Normal Saline 0.9% in people with COVID and Sars-CoV2, run by Singapore General Hospital at 1 site in Singapore.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 6 inclusion and 9 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 10 May 2022. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in Singapore. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

What does this phase mean?

Phase 2 studies give the treatment to a larger group to see whether it has the intended effect and to keep checking safety.

Not every study follows the same path, and some studies (observational studies, device studies) have no phase.

Are results available for this study?

The study is completed, but results are not available in the source record. That does not mean the treatment did or did not work.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Measuring oxygenation (time frame: Day 1 to Day 6). It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT04400929, which also lists 30 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 10 May 2022.

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Clinical Trial NCT04400929 | AzTrials