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Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)Phase 1/2SedOSANCT04538755

DAW2020 on OSA Endotypic Traits

A Phase 1/2 study testing DAW2020 oral capsule in people with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), run by Brigham and Women's Hospital at 1 site in United States.

Enrolling by invitation

Enrolling by invitation. The study team selects and invites participants, usually from an existing group of patients.

Sites and contacts
Official record
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Trial summary

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common and has major health implications but treatment options are limited. Some OSA patients with low arousal threshold wake up prematurely during an obstructive event and do not have time for spontaneous upper airway (UA) dilator muscle recruitment. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Ages 21 to 70 years
Conditions the study is for
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
What is being tested?
DAW2020 oral capsule
Type of treatment
Pill or oral medicine
Could I receive a placebo?
Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
How many people
20 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
15 Nov 2020to 15 Dec 2026
Phase
Phase 1/2
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

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 70 years
  • All sexes
  • No healthy volunteers
  • Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Moderate-to-severe OSA (AHI ≥ 15 events/hr)

Who cannot join

  • All participants will be healthy and without major organ system disease that would preclude undergoing the physiological measurements.
  • Use of medications expected to stimulate or depress respiration (including opioids, barbiturates, acetazolamide, doxapram, almitrine, theophylline, 4-hydroxybutanoic acid).
  • Use of SNRIs/SSRIs.
  • Conditions likely to affect OSA physiology: neuromuscular disease or other major neurological disorder, heart failure (also below), or any other unstable major medical condition.
  • Sleep disordered breathing or respiratory disorders other than obstructive sleep apnea:
  • Other sleep disorders: periodic limb movements (periodic limb movement arousal index > 10/hr), narcolepsy, or parasomnias.
Show all 11Show fewer
  • Hypersensitivity to the study drug (angioedema or urticaria)
  • Contraindications to DAW2020
  • Use of medications that lengthen QTc interval
  • Hypokaliemia, hypomagnesemia, uncontrolled thyroid disease
  • Severe claustrophobia.

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.

United States1 site
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital

    Boston, Massachusetts, 02115

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Effect of DAW2020 on Endotypic Traits in OSA

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is common and has major health implications but treatment options are limited. Some OSA patients with low arousal threshold wake up prematurely during an obstructive event and do not have time for spontaneous upper airway (UA) dilator muscle recruitment. As a consequence they are exposed to apnea and hypopnea cycling. In this protocol the investigators will test the effect of DAW2020 administered before sleep on OSA phenotype traits and OSA severity during sleep.

Read the detailed description

Two overnight sleep studies will be performed: a drug night and a placebo night. The patient will breath spontaneously (without CPAP) for both nights. On the study nights, subjects will present to the laboratory in the evening and be instrumented with a full polysomnigraphy for monitoring sleep, physiological variables (endotypes), and respiratory events. A history and physical examination will be performed on each night prior to beginning the study, as will a urine pregnancy test in premenopausal women. DAW2020 34 mg will be given 4 hours before lights out. Subjects will sleep at least 50% of the night in the supine position. At least four hours of sleep with high quality signal acquisition will be required for a study to be judged adequate. After the first overnight study is completed, there will be a one-week washout period prior to crossing over to the other treatment.

Being tested
Placebo oral capsule, DAW2020 oral capsule
Medical subject headings
Sleep Apnea, Obstructive

What participants receive

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

  • Placebo oral capsuleDrug

    Placebo before sleep

  • DAW2020 oral capsuleDrug

    DAW2020 34 mg 4 h before sleep, single night administration

Study groups in NCT04538755
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
PlaceboPlacebo comparatorPlacebo capsule 4 hours before sleep
Receives: Drug: Placebo oral capsule
DAW2020Active comparatorDAW2020 capsule 4 hours before sleep
Receives: Drug: DAW2020 oral capsule

What is being measured

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

  1. Effects of DAW2020 on arousal threshold (%eupnea)

    Arousal threshold will be calculated using diaphragm EMG

    Measured: 1 night

Timeline

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

  1. First posted4 Sep 2020
  2. Study start15 Nov 2020
  3. Primary completion15 May 2025
  4. Study completion15 Dec 2026 (estimated)

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 1/2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Crossover
Masking
Quadruple blind
Who is masked
Participant, Care provider, Investigator, Outcomes assessor
Enrolment
20 participants (estimated)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT04538755
Sponsor's protocol ID
2020p002760-1
Acronym
SedOSA
Status last verified
Jul 2026
First submitted
31 Aug 2020
Last updated
15 Jul 2026
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
Yes
FDA-regulated drug
Yes
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Messineo L, Gell L, Calianese N, Sofer T, Vena D, Azarbarzin A, Labarca G, Taranto-Montemurro L, Yang HC, Wang TY, Kim M, Smith H, White D, Sands S, Wellman A. Effect of Pimavanserin on the Respiratory Arousal Threshold from Sleep: A Randomized Trial. Ann Am Thorac Soc. 2022 Dec;19(12):2062-2069. doi: 10.1513/AnnalsATS.202205-419OC.

    PubMed 35947827

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A Phase 1/2 study testing DAW2020 oral capsule in people with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA), run by Brigham and Women's Hospital at 1 site in United States.

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 1 inclusion and 11 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: enrolling by invitation, as of the sponsor's last update on 15 Jul 2026. 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 United States. 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 combined phase mean?

Phase 1 studies test a treatment in a small group of people for the first time or in a new way, mainly to check safety and find the right dose.

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?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

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?

Effects of DAW2020 on arousal threshold (%eupnea) (time frame: 1 night). 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 NCT04538755, which also lists 1 linked publication.

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 15 Jul 2026.

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