ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT02235857FSGS pediatricUpdated Aug 28, 2026

Post Approval Study of Liposorber LA-15 System for the Treatment of Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis in Children

An interventional study of LIPOSORBER® LA-15 System in Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis, sponsored by Kaneka Medical America LLC. Recruiting at 12 sites in United States. Open to participants aged Up to 21 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-28.

Sponsored by Kaneka Medical America LLC (part of Kaneka Corporation) · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started May 2015; still recruiting 11 years 6 months later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
35
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
Up to 21 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Liposorber® LA-15 System is a blood purification therapy that selectively removes malignant lipoproteins including low density lipoprotein from circulating blood flow and rapidly reduces the plasma cholesterol level. The system was originally developed for the treatment of patients with serious dyslipidemia such as familial hypercholesterolemia and then applied to improve the dyslipidemia, a common complication of nephrotic syndrome and found to bring about improvement not only with the dyslipidemic condition but the nephrotic condition (e.g, proteinuria and hypoproteinemia).

Although the definitive mechanism by which the system may relieve nephrotic syndrome is unknown, it has been recognized as one of alternative therapies for refractory nephrotic syndrome including focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) in Japan and referred in the Guidelines for the Treatment of Nephrotic Syndrome endorsed by The Japanese Society of Nephrology.

This study is conducted as a post approval study imposed by Humanitarian Device Exemption (HDE) order to confirm the safety and efficacy of the Liposorber® LA-15 System in the treatment of drug-resistant pediatric primary FSGS.

02

Conditions studied

  • Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis

Keywords

  • pediatric, renal transplantation, recurrence, drug-resistant
03

In context

Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental

105 studies on the registry are indexed under Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental; 33 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 35 is above the median of 30 across 73 interventional studies indexed under Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental.

Browse Glomerulosclerosis, Focal Segmental studies →

Lead sponsor

Kaneka Medical America LLC is the lead sponsor of 6 studies on the registry; 4 are open to participants now.

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

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
Up to 21 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.

Inclusion criteria

  • A pediatric patient is deemed suitable for inclusion in the study if the patient has FSGS with a ≥ 45 ml/min/1.73 m 2 and any of the following:

    • nephrotic syndrome in which standard treatment options are unsuccessful (i.e., patient is unresponsive to standard and/or calcineurin inhibitor therapy for at least 8 weeks resulting in failure to achieve complete or partial remission);
    • Refractory nephrotic syndrome in which standard treatment options are not well tolerated (i.e., patients intolerant to standard therapies due to severe side effects that negatively affect quality of life without providing an acceptable level of clinical benefit);
    • Refractory or recurrent nephrotic syndrome in which standard therapy is .

or

- Pediatric post renal transplant patients with nephrotic syndrome associated with primary FSGS.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • General Exclusion Criteria

    • Patient is greater than 21 years of age
    • Parent or patient is unwilling or unable to sign and date the (Note: Only patients 18-21 years of age may sign the informed consent on their own behalf)
    • Pregnant, lactating, or planning to become pregnant prior to completing the study (Note: The safety of the use of Liposorber® in pregnant women has not been studied. There may be unknown risks to an embryo/fetus. Sexually active women of child bearing potential should avoid pregnancy during the use of the Liposorber device and throughout the study duration.)
    • Unable or unwilling to comply with the follow-up schedule
    • Simultaneously participating in another drug or device study
    • Body weight \< 15 kg (33.1 lbs)
  • Medical Exclusion Criteria

    • Currently being administered ACE inhibitors that cannot be withheld for at least 24 hours prior to each apheresis treatment (Note: The time period to withhold ACE inhibitors should be prolonged, if determined by the treating physician, considering each individual's renal function and the biological half-life of the ACE-inhibitor currently in use.)
    • Currently being administered antihypertensive drugs other than ACE inhibitors (e.g., Angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs) that cannot be withheld on the day of apheresis until after the procedure
    • Medical condition or disorder that would limit to less than the primary clinical study endpoint or that may cause noncompliance with the study plan or confound the data analysis
    • to dextran sulfate, heparin, or ethylene oxide
    • Adequate anticoagulation cannot be achieved due to severe hemophilia, severe hemorrhage diathesis, severe gastrointestinal ulcers, or are recipients of vitamin K antagonist medications
    • Extracorporeal circulation therapy with Liposorber® LA-15 System cannot be tolerated due to severe cardiac insufficiency, acute myocardial infarction, severe cardiac arrhythmia, acute apoplexy, severe uncontrollable hypertension, or severe uncontrollable hypotension
    • Cardiac impairments such as uncontrolled arrhyth¬mia, unstable angina, decompensated congestive heart failure, or valvular disease
    • Functional thyroid disease or liver abnormalities
    • Unresolved systemic or local infection that could affect the clinical study outcomes
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(8)

Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

Relapsed and refractory

Relapsed: the illness came back after treatment had worked. Refractory: it did not respond to treatment, or stopped responding while still on it.

Corticosteroids (steroids)

Anti-inflammatory medicines such as prednisone, prednisolone and dexamethasone — not the anabolic steroids used for muscle.

Studies differ in what they allow: check which steroid medicines, routes (tablets, injections, creams, inhalers, eye drops) and doses this study accepts.

Contraindication

A reason a treatment, test or procedure should not be given to a particular person, such as an allergy, another illness or a medicine they take.

Informed consent

Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.

You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.

Investigational drug or device

A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.

It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.

Life expectancy

The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
35 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Liposorber® LA-15 System

    All study patients who meet the study eligibility criteria will undergo the extracorporeal treatment using Liposorber® LA-15 System. The participants are to be treated with the system twice weekly for the 3weeks and then once weekly for the following 6 weeks.

    Device: LIPOSORBER® LA-15 System

Interventions

  • DeviceLIPOSORBER® LA-15 System

    LIPOSORBER® LA-15 System is an extracorporeal blood purification system. Approximately 3 to 4 L of plasma is treated in a single treatment session and it takes 2 to 3 hours. Recommended frequency of the treatment is twice weekly for 3 weeks followed by once weekly for 6 weeks, thus it takes 9 weeks for a total of 12 treatment sessions.

    Also known as: LDL apheresis, LDL adsorption, dextran sulfate column

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. The percent of patients who show complete or partial remission

    Time frame: 1 month after the final treatment

  2. the rate of device-related and procedure-related serious adverse events

    Time frame: During the period in which the apheresis procedures are administered and up to at the 1-month follow-up visit

Secondary outcomes

  1. Nephrotic Condition

    Nephrotic condition defined as follows: urine protein:creatinine ratio \> 2.0 (g/g) with a first morning void urine sample

    Time frame: 1, 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after the final treatment

  2. The percent of patients who obtain complete or partial remission

    Time frame: 3, 6, 12, and 24 months after the final treatment

  3. Incidence of adverse events

    The protocol indicates the standard treatment schedule as follows: 2 sessions weekly for the first 3 weeks followed by 1 session weekly for 6 weeks

    Time frame: From the initiation of the first apheresis session until the termination of the last (usually 12th) apheresis session, standad period of 9 weeks for a total of 12 aoheresis sessions

  4. Incidence of adverse events and severe adverse events

    Time frame: From 1 months to 24 months after the final aphresis

  5. Various laboratory values

    Various laboratory values include Urine protein, Urine creatinine, Serum creatinine, Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), serum total protein, Serum albumin, Serum vitamin E, Hematocrit, Red blood cell, White blood cell, Platelet, Total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, Triglycerides, Serum soluble urokinase plasminogen activator receptor.

    Time frame: 1,3, 6, 12, and 24 months after the final apheresis

07

Study locations

10 of 12 sites recruiting
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References and documents

Publications

  • Reidy K, Kaskel FJ. Pathophysiology of focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Pediatr Nephrol. 2007 Mar;22(3):350-4. doi: 10.1007/s00467-006-0357-2. Epub 2007 Jan 10. PubMed 17216262 ↗
  • Franceschini N, North KE, Kopp JB, McKenzie L, Winkler C. NPHS2 gene, nephrotic syndrome and focal segmental glomerulosclerosis: a HuGE review. Genet Med. 2006 Feb;8(2):63-75. doi: 10.1097/01.gim.0000200947.09626.1c. PubMed 16481888 ↗
  • Korbet SM. The treatment of primary focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. Ren Fail. 2000 Nov;22(6):685-96. doi: 10.1081/jdi-100101956. PubMed 11104158 ↗
  • Tarshish P, Tobin JN, Bernstein J, Edelmann CM Jr. Cyclophosphamide does not benefit patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis. A report of the International Study of Kidney Disease in Children. Pediatr Nephrol. 1996 Oct;10(5):590-3. doi: 10.1007/s004670050167. PubMed 8897562 ↗
  • Fine RN. Recurrence of nephrotic syndrome/focal segmental glomerulosclerosis following renal transplantation in children. Pediatr Nephrol. 2007 Apr;22(4):496-502. doi: 10.1007/s00467-006-0361-6. Epub 2006 Dec 21. PubMed 17186280 ↗
  • Schwartz GJ, Munoz A, Schneider MF, Mak RH, Kaskel F, Warady BA, Furth SL. New equations to estimate GFR in children with CKD. J Am Soc Nephrol. 2009 Mar;20(3):629-37. doi: 10.1681/ASN.2008030287. Epub 2009 Jan 21. PubMed 19158356 ↗
  • Trachtman H, Vento S, Gipson D, Wickman L, Gassman J, Joy M, Savin V, Somers M, Pinsk M, Greene T. Novel therapies for resistant focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FONT) phase II clinical trial: study design. BMC Nephrol. 2011 Feb 10;12:8. doi: 10.1186/1471-2369-12-8. PubMed 21310077 ↗
09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Started May 2015 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Sep 2027, 148 months after the start.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Sep 6, 2014
First posted
Sep 10, 2014
StartActual
May 3, 2015
Primary completionEst.
Sep 30, 2027
CompletionEst.
Sep 30, 2029
Last update
Aug 28, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 28, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT02235857
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 10, 2014
Start date
May 3, 2015
Primary completion
Sep 30, 2027 (estimated)
Completion
Sep 30, 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 28, 2026

Study contacts

Ayaka Kitamura
Contact
Ayaka.Kitamura1@kaneka.co.jp
+81-74431813933
Jeffrey I Silberzweig, MD
principal investigator · Weill Medical College of Cornell University

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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