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CompletedNCT00324506Updated Jun 19, 2013

Safety and Efficacy of Cellcept and Avonex as Combination Treatment in Multiple Sclerosis

A Phase 2 interventional study of Mycophenolate Mofetil (CellCept) in Multiple Sclerosis, sponsored by University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Completed at 3 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 55 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2013-06-19.

Sponsored by University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
43
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 55 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The primary objective of this safety/mechanistic study is to determine the safety and tolerability of oral Cellcept when compared with weekly intramuscular Avonex in relapsing multiple sclerosis. Safety will be assessed by virtue of changes in size and number of lesions on MRI scans.

Read the detailed description

Sixty patients (20 patients at each recruiting center) with RR MS who satisfy both inclusion and exclusion criteria will be treated with CellCept® or Avonex® for the first 6 months of the study. Those patients will have a fifty-fifty chance of receiving either Avonex or Cellcept. Baseline data will be collected before treatment begins including MRIs, chest x-ray, EKG, and standard labwork, along with a blood test for HIV and Hepatitis B. Once enrolled, study visits include periodic MRI scans, a neurological exam by the examining neurologist every three months, frequent bloodwork, questionnaires, and eye-testing at month zero, six, and twelve months. Eye testing takes about one hour and requires dilation of pupils. All assessments are standard of care for ophthalmology with the exception of optical coherence tomography (OCT)-- a non-invasive procedural device that records graphical and numerical measurements of the optic nerve and macula.

All patients will begin active combination therapy on both CellCept® and Avonex® during the second 6 months of the study. During this second phase, MRI and clinical examinations will be performed.

02

Conditions studied

  • Multiple Sclerosis
03

In context

Multiple Sclerosis

3,460 studies on the registry are indexed under Multiple Sclerosis; 661 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 43 is below the median of 50 across 2,342 interventional studies indexed under Multiple Sclerosis.

Browse Multiple Sclerosis studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 990 studies on the registry; 201 are open to participants now.

Of its 135 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 100 (74%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 55 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Patient diagnosed with clinically definite MS according to McDonald criteria #1-#4
  • Age 18-55
  • Have a RR disease course
  • Have EDSS scores less than or equal to 5.0
  • Have a disease duration of one day to 20 years
  • Have at least one medically documented clinical relapse within the 12 months prior to randomization (for eligibility, a pre-study relapse will be defined as neurologic symptoms and signs documented by review of the history with the subject or in the medical record, of sufficient severity and duration to be determined by the investigator as consistent with an acute MS relapse; the relapse does not need to have been treated to qualify) and/or have progression of ≥1.0 points in EDSS in the previous year
  • Have ≥1 Gd-enhancing brain lesion on a monthly run-in baseline MRI and ≥2 T2 brain lesions consistent with MS on the screening scan
  • Signed informed consent
  • None of the exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Previous treatment 3 months prior to study entry with standard disease-modifying therapy (interferon-beta and glatiramer acetate, IVIG and plasmaphoresis).
  • Previous treatment 12 months prior to study entry with immunosuppressant agents, e.g., mitoxantrone, cyclophosphamide, cladribine, fludarabine, cyclosporine or total body irradiation or any other concomitant immunomodulatory therapies (e.g., azathioprine, methotrexate,, CellCept®, natalizumab, and other immunomodulators/monoclonal agents).
  • Patients who received steroid treatment 30 days prior to the MRI scan date
  • Women who are pregnant, lactating or of childbearing age who do not consent to approved contraceptive use during the study.
  • Abnormal blood tests, performed during the screening visit (see adverse events section)
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Double (Participant, Investigator)
Enrollment
43 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Active comparator
    Cellcept and Avonex

    Drug: Mycophenolate Mofetil (CellCept)

Interventions

  • DrugMycophenolate Mofetil (CellCept)
06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. The primary objective of this safety/mechanistic study is to determine the safety and tolerability of oral Cellcept when compared with weekly intramuscular Avonex in relapsing multiple sclerosis. Safety will be assessed by virtue of changes in MRI

    Time frame: 1 year

Secondary outcomes

  1. Secondary Objectives:

    Time frame: one year

  2. Changes in exacerbation frequency, incidence of exacerbations in the treated groups, changes in level of sustained disability

    Time frame: one year

  3. , changes in quality of life measures, assessment of fatigue

    Time frame: one year

07

Study locations

3 sites
  • Michigan Institute for Neurological Disorders (M.I.N.D.)
    Farmington Hills, Michigan 48334, United States
  • Buffalo Neuroimaging Analysis Center (BNAC)
    Buffalo, New York 14203, United States
  • University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas
    Dallas, Texas 75390, United States
08

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jun 19, 2013, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00324506
Lead sponsor
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Collaborators
Aspreva Pharmaceuticals
Responsible party
Elliot Frohman (Professor, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center) — Principal investigator
First posted
May 11, 2006
Start date
May 2006
Primary completion
Jun 2009
Completion
Jun 2009
Last update
Jun 19, 2013

Study contacts

Elliot M Frohman, MD/PhD
principal investigator · University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Jun 2013. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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