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CompletedNCT01565655Updated May 21, 2025

A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Efficacy of ASP015K in Moderate to Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis

A Phase 2 interventional study of peficitinib and Placebo in Arthritis, Rheumatoid, sponsored by Astellas Pharma Global Development, Inc.. Completed at 38 sites in 6 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2025-05-21.

Sponsored by Astellas Pharma Global Development, Inc. · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
289
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety and efficacy of ASP015K in moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) subjects

Read the detailed description

Subjects will take ASP015K or matching placebo orally with food for 12 weeks after randomization. Potential subjects who have previously used disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and/or biologic agents may be eligible to participate after completing a washout period. Subjects who complete the 12-week dosing period in this study may be eligible to participate in a long-term, open-label Extension Study.

02

Conditions studied

  • Arthritis, Rheumatoid

Keywords

  • Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • ASP015K
03

In context

Arthritis

3,554 studies on the registry are indexed under Arthritis; 317 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 289 is above the median of 90 across 2,377 interventional studies indexed under Arthritis.

Browse Arthritis studies →

Lead sponsor

Astellas Pharma Global Development, Inc. is the lead sponsor of 204 studies on the registry; 25 are open to participants now.

Of its 80 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 38 (48%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • ≥ 6 tender/painful joints; ≥ 6 swollen joints
  • C-Reactive Protein (CRP) of ≥ 0.8 mg/dL or Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR) of ≥ 28 mm/hr
  • Subject meets the ACR 1991 Revised Criteria for Global Functional Status in RA Class I, II or III at Screening and Baseline
  • Use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs [NSAIDs], cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitors, or oral corticosteroids for the treatment of RA must be stable for at least 28 days prior to start of the study
  • Male and female subjects must be willing to comply with contraception requirements as well as restrictions regarding egg and sperm donation
  • Female subject must not be breastfeeding at Screening or during the study period, and for 60 days after the final study drug administration
  • Subject agrees not to participate in another interventional study while on treatment

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Positive Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) test within 90 days of Screening
  • Abnormal chest x-ray indicative of an acute or chronic infectious process or malignancy
  • Receipt of live or live attenuated virus vaccination within 30 days prior to the first dose of study drug
  • Known history of positive test for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) or hepatitis C antibody or history of a positive test for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection
  • History of any other autoimmune rheumatic disease, other than Sjogren's syndrome
  • Previous history of clinically significant infections or illness (requiring hospitalization or requiring parenteral therapy) within 90 days of the Baseline visit, or a history of any illness that would preclude participation in the study
  • History of any malignancy, except for successfully treated basal or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin or in-situ carcinoma of the cervix.
  • Does not meet specified washout criteria for the following RA medications: gold, azathioprine, minocycline, penicillamine, etanercept, certolizumab, adalimumab, golimumab, infliximab, cyclophosphamide, and leflunomide
  • Previous intolerance to Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors
  • Receipt of intra-articular or parenteral corticosteroid within 28 days prior to the first dose of study drug or is currently taking > 30 mg oral morphine (or narcotic equivalent) per day
  • Receipt of plasma exchange therapy within 60 days prior to the start of study drug
  • Receipt of any investigational agent within 30 days or 5 half-lives, whichever is longer, prior to first dose of study drug
  • Receipt of medications that are CYP3A substrates with narrow therapeutic range within 14 days prior to first dose of study drug
  • History of heart failure, defined as New York Heart Association (NYHA) grade 3 or greater
  • History of long QT syndrome or prolonged QT interval
  • Any ongoing severe, progressive, or uncontrolled renal, hepatic, hematological, gastrointestinal, metabolic, endocrine, pulmonary, cardiac, neurological, or infectious disease, or any ongoing illness which would make the subject unsuitable for the study
  • Subject has any condition possibly affecting oral absorption (e.g., gastrectomy, other malabsorption syndromes, or clinically significant diabetic gastroenteropathy)
05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Care provider, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
289 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    ASP015K lowest dose

    ASP015K lowest dose once daily

    Drug: peficitinib

  • Experimental
    ASP015K low dose

    ASP015K low dose once daily

    Drug: peficitinib

  • Experimental
    ASP015K medium dose

    ASP015K medium dose once daily

    Drug: peficitinib

  • Experimental
    ASP015K high dose

    ASP015K high dose once daily

    Drug: peficitinib

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo

    Matching placebo once daily

    Drug: Placebo

Interventions

  • Drugpeficitinib

    oral

    Also known as: ASP015K

  • DrugPlacebo

    oral

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Percentage of subjects achieving American College of Rheumatology Criteria 20 (ACR 20) response

    Time frame: Week 12

  2. Trough plasma concentration of ASP015K and metabolite(s)

    Time frame: up to Week 12 (6 time points)

Secondary outcomes

  1. Percentage of subjects achieving ACR 50 response

    Time frame: Week 12

  2. Percentage of subjects achieving ACR 70 response

    Time frame: Week 12

  3. Change from baseline in Disease Activity Score using 28 joint count and C Reactive Protein (DAS28-CRP)

    Time frame: Baseline and Week 12

07

Study locations

38 sites
  • Achieve Clinical Research, LLC
    Birmingham, Alabama 35216, United States
  • University of California San Diego
    La Jolla, California 92093-0943, United States
  • Desert Medical Advances
    Palm Desert, California 92260, United States
  • Stanford University School of Medicine
    Palo Alto, California 94304, United States
  • Pacific Arthritis Center Medical Group
    Santa Maria, California 93454, United States
  • Arthritis Associates of Colorado Springs
    Colorado Springs, Colorado 80910, United States
  • Jacksonville Center for Clinical Research
    Jacksonville, Florida 32216, United States
  • Arthritis Associates
    Orlando, Florida 32804, United States
  • Illinois Bone & Joint Institute; LLC
    Morton Grove, Illinois 60053, United States
  • Deerbrook Medical Asssociates
    Vernon Hills, Illinois 60061, United States
  • Center for Arthritis and Osteoporosis
    Elizabethtown, Kentucky 42701, United States
  • The Center for Rheumatology and Bone Research
    Wheaton, Maryland 20902, United States
  • PMG Research
    Hickory, North Carolina 28602, United States
  • Health Research of Oklahoma
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73103, United States
  • Altoona Center for Clinical Research
    Duncansville, Pennsylvania 16635, United States
  • Clincal Research Center of Reading
    Wyomissing, Pennsylvania 19610, United States
  • Rheumatology Consultants, PLLC
    Knoxville, Tennessee 37909-1907, United States
  • Austin Rheumatology Research PA
    Austin, Texas 78705, United States
  • Mountain State Clinical Research
    Clarksburg, West Virginia 26301, United States
  • MHAT Burgas
    Burgas, 8000, Bulgaria
  • MHAT Plovdiv AD
    Plovdiv, 4003, Bulgaria
  • MHAT "Sv. Ivan Rilski"
    Sofia, 1612, Bulgaria
  • Revmatologicky ustav
    Praha 2, 128 50, Czechia
  • Revmatologicka ambulance
    Praha-Nusle, 140 00, Czechia
  • MEDICAL PLUS, s.r.o. or REVMACENTRUM UH, s.r.o.
    Uherske Hradiste, 68601, Czechia
  • PV-MEDICAL s.r.o.
    Zlin, 760 01, Czechia
  • Rethy Pal Korhaz es Rendelointezet
    Bekescsaba, 5600, Hungary
  • Budai Irgalmasrendi Korhaz
    Budapest,, 1027, Hungary
  • Orszgos Reumatolgiai s Fizioterpis Intzet
    Budapest, 1027, Hungary
  • Revita Clinic Rheumatology
    Budapest, 1027, Hungary
  • Kenezy Hospital Institute of Clinical Pharmacology
    Debrecen, H-4043, Hungary
  • Cliditer S.A. de C.V.
    México, Distrito Federal 6700, Mexico
  • Dr Javier Orozco Alcala Private Doctor´s office
    Guadalajara, 44650, Mexico
  • Centro de Investigacion Clinica de Morelia, S.C.
    Morelia, 58070, Mexico
  • Szpital Uniwersytecki nr. 2 im. Dr. Jana Biziela
    Bydgoszcz, 85-168, Poland
  • NZOZ Centrum Medyczne ProMiMed
    Krakow, 31-637, Poland
  • Zespol Poradni Specjalistycznych, REUMED sp. Zo.o
    Lublin, 20-582, Poland
  • ARS Rheumatica
    Warszawa, 02-653, Poland
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Toyoshima J, Shibata M, Kaibara A, Kaneko Y, Izutsu H, Nishimura T. Population pharmacokinetic analysis of peficitinib in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 2021 Apr;87(4):2014-2022. doi: 10.1111/bcp.14605. Epub 2020 Dec 1. PubMed 33068028 ↗
  • Genovese MC, Greenwald M, Codding C, Zubrzycka-Sienkiewicz A, Kivitz AJ, Wang A, Shay K, Wang X, Garg JP, Cardiel MH. Peficitinib, a JAK Inhibitor, in Combination With Limited Conventional Synthetic Disease-Modifying Antirheumatic Drugs in the Treatment of Moderate-to-Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis. Arthritis Rheumatol. 2017 May;69(5):932-942. doi: 10.1002/art.40054. PubMed 28118538 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Access to anonymized individual participant level data will not be provided for this trial. Further details on Astellas' data sharing policy can be found at https://www.clinicaltrials.astellas.com/transparency/.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 21, 2025, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT01565655
Lead sponsor
Astellas Pharma Global Development, Inc.
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Mar 29, 2012
Start date
Jun 19, 2012
Primary completion
Dec 2, 2013
Completion
Dec 2, 2013
Last update
May 21, 2025

Study contacts

Senior Medical Director
study director · Astellas Pharma Global Development

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in May 2025. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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