ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT03373968Updated Jan 21, 2026

Givinostat in Duchenne's Muscular Dystrophy Long-term Safety and Tolerability Study

A Phase 2/3 interventional study of Givinostat in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, sponsored by Italfarmaco. Recruiting at 39 sites in 11 countries. Open to male participants aged 7 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-01-21.

Sponsored by Italfarmaco · Phase 2/3, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Oct 2017; still recruiting 9 years later.
Phase
Phase 2/3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
206
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
7 Years and older
Sex
Male
01

Study summary

This is an open label, long-term safety, tolerability, and efficacy study of GIVINOSTAT in all DMD (Duchenne's muscular dystrophy) patients who have been previously treated in one of the GIVINOSTAT studies.

Read the detailed description

GIVINOSTAT oral suspension (10 mg/mL) has to be administered orally as 2 oral doses daily while the subject is in a fed state. The starting dose of GIVINOSTAT in the present long term study will be the same that the subject was receiving at the end of the previous DMD GIVINOSTAT study.

As weight affects GIVINOSTAT exposures, the dosage will be modified based on subject weight according the rules detailed in the study protocol section 11.2.2.1.

In addition, in case a subject will have a consistent (e.g., at least 2 consecutive evaluations) platelets count ≤150 x 10\^9/L and not meet the stopping criteria for platelets, the Investigator will have to reduce the dose of 1/3 or 20% less of the current dose as described in the study protocol section 10.5.1.3. During the first month of treatment, platelets count assessment will be performed weekly, while during the second month it will be performed every 2 weeks, in order to strictly monitor this parameter for safety reasons, with the exclusion of subjects coming from study DSC/11/2357/43 for which the first visit will be 4 months after the Visit 1/baseline visit.

Study drug should be permanently interrupted if any of the following occurs:

  • severe drug-related diarrhoea (i.e., increase of ≥7 stools per day);
  • any drug-related SAE;
  • QTcF >500 msec;
  • platelets count ≤50 x 10\^9/L;
  • white blood cells ≤2.0 x 10\^9/L;
  • hemoglobin ≤8.0 g/dL; To avoid laboratory errors and anomalous values, test must be confirmed with a repeated test performed on the next working day. The treatment should be stopped until the retest result becomes available. If the repeated test is still under the stopping limit value, study drug must be permanently discontinued. If the repeated test is acceptable, the subject can resume treatment.

The Investigator will follow up the patient until resolution or acceptable stabilization of the event occurs and document all the relevant information, as applicable. After the resolution/stabilization of the event, the subject will be withdrawn from the study and the EOS Visit (see Section 12.1.10) will be performed.

Any decision relevant to the dose adjustment and/or modification of schedule of assessments can be discussed with the Medical Monitor, but the final decision remains with the Investigator only or its authorized designee.

02

Conditions studied

  • Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy
03

In context

Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne

481 studies on the registry are indexed under Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne; 108 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 206 is above the median of 26 across 332 interventional studies indexed under Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne.

Browse Muscular Dystrophy, Duchenne studies →

Lead sponsor

Italfarmaco is the lead sponsor of 35 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.

Of its 6 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 6 (100%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
7 Years and older
Sexes eligible
Male
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

  1. Must have participated in one of the previous studies with GIVINOSTAT in DMD and have attended the End of Study Visit or must have been screened in study DSC/14/2357/48 and met:

    • all the inclusion criteria and none of the exclusion criteria,
    • had a baseline vastus lateralis muscle fat fraction (VL MFF) assessed by MRS in the range ≤5% or >30%, i.e. included in"off-target" group,
    • never been randomized because, the enrollment in the off target group was completed.
  2. Aged ≥6 years old;
  3. Are able to give informed assent and/or consent in writing signed by the subject and/or parent/legal guardian (according to localregulations);
  4. Subjects must be willing to use adequate :

    • Contraceptive methods must since the previous GIVINOSTAT study through 3 months after the last dose of study drug, and include the following:

      • True abstinence (absence of any sexual intercourse), when in line with the preferred and usual lifestyle of the subject.
      • Periodic abstinence (e.g. calendar, ovulation, symptothermal, postovulation methods) and withdrawal are not acceptable methods of contraception.
      • Condom with spermicide and the female partner must use an acceptable method of contraception, such as an oral,
      • transdermal, injectable or implanted -basedcontraceptive, or a diaphragm or a barrier method of contraception in conjunction with spermicidal jelly such asfor example cervical cap with spermicide jelly.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Use of any pharmacologic treatment, other than , that might have had an effect on muscle strength or function within 3 months prior to be enrolled in this study (e.g., growth hormone); Vitamin D, calcium, and any other supplements will be allowed;
  2. Use of any current drug other than Givinostat;
  3. Have presence of other disease, which, in the Investigator's opinion, could adversely affect the safety of the subject, making it unlikely that the course of treatment or follow-up would be completed, or could impair the assessment of study results;
  4. Have a diagnosis of other uncontrolled neurological diseases or presence of relevant uncontrolled somatic disorders that are not related to DMD;
  5. Have count, White Blood Cell and at screening \< Lower Limit of Normal (LLN)* (for abnormal screening laboratory test results (\<LLN), the platelets count, White Blood Cell and Hemoglobin will be repeated once; if the repeat test result is still \<LLN, then exclusionary);
  6. Have Triglycerides > 300 mg/dL (3.42 mmol/L) in fasting condition at screening visit* (for abnormal screening laboratory test results (>300 mg/dL), the triglycerides will be repeated once; if the repeat test result is still >300 mg/dL, then exclusionary);
  7. Have inadequate renal function, as defined by serum Cystatin C >2 x the (ULN) at screening visit*. If the value is >2 x ULN, the serum Cystatin C will be repeated once; if the repeated test result is still >2 x ULN, the subject should be excluded);
  8. Have heart failure ( Class III or IV)
  9. Have a current liver disease or impairment, including but not limited to an elevated total * (i.e. > 1.5 x ULN), unless secondary to Gilbert disease or pattern consistent with Gilbert's;
  10. Have a baseline >450 msec, (as the mean of 3 consecutive readings 5 minutes apart) or history of additional risk factors for torsades de pointes (e.g., heart failure, hypokalemia, or family history of long QT syndrome);
  11. Have a psychiatric illness/social situation rendering the potential subject unable to understand and comply with the muscle function tests and/or with the study protocol procedures.
  12. Have any to the components of study medication;
  13. Have a sorbitol intolerance or sorbitol malabsorption or have the hereditary form of fructose intolerance.

    • the Investigators to evaluate these exclusion criteria can use the laboratory results obtained within 5 months from V1, to allow the continuity of the treatment. It is worth noting, as soon as the site will receive the laboratory results done in screening/baseline (Visit 1) visit they will check the GIVINOSTAT dose and modify it as per protocol safety rules and/or dosage modifications rules.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(11)

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.

Contraception

Ways of preventing pregnancy. “Highly effective” methods fail less than 1% of the time a year when used correctly — for example an IUD or an implant.

Criteria usually say which methods count and how long to keep using them after the last dose, sometimes for male participants too. Some studies accept a partner’s vasectomy if it was confirmed successful and that person is the participant’s only sexual partner.

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.

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.

Clinically significant

Judged by the study doctor to matter for your health or for the study. It is a doctor’s decision, so ask the study team if you are unsure whether something counts.

Platelets

Blood cells that help blood clot. Too few raises the risk of bleeding and bruising. A usual adult range is about 150–400 × 10⁹/L (150,000–400,000 per µL); each lab has its own reference range.

Hemoglobin (Hb)

The protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. A low level is anaemia, which can cause tiredness and breathlessness. Measured in g/dL or g/L (9 g/dL is 90 g/L).

ULN (upper limit of normal)

The top of the normal range for a blood test, as set by the laboratory that runs it. Each lab prints its own range next to your result.

“≤ 2.5 × ULN” means the result can be up to two and a half times that top value.

NYHA class (heart failure)

The New York Heart Association’s four classes of how much heart failure limits physical activity.

I
No limits: ordinary activity causes no undue tiredness or breathlessness.
II
Slight limits: comfortable at rest, ordinary activity causes symptoms.
III
Marked limits: comfortable at rest, less than ordinary activity causes symptoms.
IV
Symptoms even at rest; any activity makes them worse.

Studies set their own limit — many outside heart failure leave out class III–IV, while heart failure studies may ask for a particular class. Check the class this study names.

Bilirubin

A yellow substance made when red blood cells are broken down, which the liver clears. A high level can mean a problem with the liver or the bile ducts.

Criteria often allow more for people with Gilbert’s syndrome, a harmless inherited condition that raises bilirubin.

QT and QTc

On an ECG, the QT interval is the time the heart’s lower chambers take to activate electrically and recover in each beat. QTc is that time adjusted for heart rate (QTcF by Fridericia’s formula, QTcB by Bazett’s). Some medicines lengthen it, and a long QTc can raise the risk of a dangerous heart rhythm.

The study may name a correction formula and a limit in milliseconds, often around 450–480.

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
Phase 2 / Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
206 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    givinostat

    Givinostat oral suspension (10 mg/mL) twice daily in a fed state

    Drug: Givinostat

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Incidence of Treatment-Emergent Adverse Events [Safety and Tolerability]

    Type, incidence, and severity of treatment related/not related adverse events(AEs) and serious adverse event (SAEs)

    Time frame: Through study completion, an average of 1 year

07

Study locations

29 of 39 sites recruiting
  • University of California - Davis Medical Center - Devis Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
    Sacramento, California 95817, United States
    Completed

    Not enrolling at this site — choose another above.

  • Rady Children's Hospital center - UCSD Department of Neuroscience
    San Diego, California 92123, United States
    Completed

    Not enrolling at this site — choose another above.

  • Connecticut Children's Medical Center, Neurology Division
    Hartford, Connecticut 06106, United States
    Completed

    Not enrolling at this site — choose another above.

  • Child Health Research Institute
    Gainesville, Florida 32610, United States
    Completed

    Not enrolling at this site — choose another above.

  • MD Rare Disease Research, LLC
    Atlanta, Georgia 30318, United States
    Enrolling by invitation
  • University of Iowa Children's Hospital
    Iowa City, Iowa 52242, United States
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis Department of Neurology 660 S.Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8111
    St Louis, Missouri 63110, United States
    Completed

    Not enrolling at this site — choose another above.

  • Shriners Hospitals for Children
    Portland, Oregon 97239, United States
    Completed

    Not enrolling at this site — choose another above.

  • The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Colket Translational Research Building
    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, United States
    Completed

    Not enrolling at this site — choose another above.

  • Virginia Commonwealth University Childrens Hospital of Richmond at
    Richmond, Virginia 23298, United States
    Completed

    Not enrolling at this site — choose another above.

  • University Hospitals Leuven, Neuromuscular Reference Centre, Child Neurology
    Leuven, 03000, Belgium
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Hospital de La Citadelle, Centre de Référence des Maladies Neuromuscolaires (CRMN)
    Liège, 04000, Belgium
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Kinsmen Research Centre - Alberta Children's Hospital
    Calgary, Alberta T3B 6A8, Canada
    Enrolling by invitation
  • The University of British Columbia, Children's and Womens Health Centre of BC Branch
    Vancouver, British Columbia V6H 3V4, Canada
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital
    Toronto, Ontario M4G1R8, Canada
    Enrolling by invitation
  • CHU de Nantes - Hotel-Dieu - Hopital Nord Laennec, rez-de-chausse haut ail Ouest
    Nantes, 44093, France
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Hôpital Armand Trousseau I-Motion - Plateforme d'essais cliniques pédiatriques Bâtiment Lemariey - Porte 20 * 2ème étage 26 Avenue du Dr Arnold Nette
    Paris, 760, France
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Universitätsklinikum Essen - Kinder-und Jugendmedizin Neuropadiatrie
    Essen, D-45147, Germany
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Klinik- und Poliklinik fur Kinder- und Jugendmedizin, Universitatsklinikum HamburgEppendorf, Martinistr. 52
    Hamburg, 20246, Germany
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Klinikum der Universitat Munchen, Campus Innenstadt, Lindwurmstr. 4
    München, 80337, Germany
    Active, not recruiting

    Not enrolling at this site — choose another above.

  • Institute of Neurology - Schneider Children's Medical Center of Israel Kaplan, 14
    Petah Tikva, 4920235, Israel
    Enrolling by invitation
  • U.O.S.D. Centro Traslazionale di Miologia e Patologie Neurodegenerative, Building 16 - ground floor IRCCS Istituto Giannina Gaslini,
    Genova, 16147, Italy
    Recruiting
    • Claudio Bruno, MD · Contactclaudio2246@gmail.com · +39 010 56362 2620
    • Claudio Bruno, MD · Principal investigator
  • A.O.U. Policlinico G. Martino, U.O.C. Neurologia e Malattie Neuromuscolari
    Messina, 98125, Italy
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Fondazione IRCCS Ca' Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico di Milano, UOS di Neurologia Pediatrica
    Milan, 20122, Italy
    Active, not recruiting

    Not enrolling at this site — choose another above.

  • IRCCS Istituto Neurologico Carlo Besta
    Milan, 20133, Italy
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Centro Clinico NeMO Fondazione Serena ONLUS Area SUD
    Milan, 20162, Italy
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù, Malattie Neuromuscolari e Neurodegenerative
    Roma, 00146, Italy
    Recruiting
  • Fondazione Policlinico Universitario "A.Gemelli", UOC Neuropsichiatria Infantile
    Roma, 00168, Italy
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Leiden University Medical Center LUMC, Albinusdreef 2
    Leiden, 2300, Netherlands
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Radboud University Medical Centre
    Nijmegen, 6500, Netherlands
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Clinic of Neurology and Psychiatry for Children and Youth - Neurology Department Dr. Subotic 6a,
    Belgrade, 11000, Serbia
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Neuromuscular Pathology Unit - Hospital Sant Joan de Déu
    Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcellona 08950, Spain
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Hospital Materno-Infantil
    Barcelona, 08035, Spain
    Recruiting
  • Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocio
    Seville, 41013, Spain
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Hospital Universitari i Politècnic La Fe - Servicio Neurologia
    Valencia, Spain
    Enrolling by invitation
  • Alder Hey Children's Hospital NHS Trust
    Liverpool, UK L12 2AP, United Kingdom
    Enrolling by invitation
  • The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
    Gobowen, SY10 7AG, United Kingdom
    Enrolling by invitation
  • UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre and MRC Centre for NMD
    London, , WC1N 1EH, United Kingdom
    Enrolling by invitation
  • The John Walton Muscular Dystrophy Research Centre
    Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 3BZ, United Kingdom
    Enrolling by invitation
08

References and documents

Publications

  • McDonald CM, Guglieri M, Vucinic D, Acsadi G, Brandsema JF, Bruno C, Finanger EL, Harper A, Lobato ML, Masson R, Muelas N, Munell F, Nevo Y, Pereon Y, Phan H, Sansone VA, Scoto M, Willis T, Finkel RS, Vandenborne K, Cazzaniga S, Montrasio S, Alessi F, Bettica P, Mercuri E; Givinostat Study 51 Investigators; Cooperative International Neuromuscular Research Group (CINRG) Duchenne Natural History Study (DNHS) Investigators; ImagingDMD Investigators. Long-Term Evaluation of Givinostat in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and Natural History Comparisons. Ann Clin Transl Neurol. 2025 Nov;12(11):2335-2348. doi: 10.1002/acn3.70165. Epub 2025 Aug 19. PubMed 40830818 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

09

Updates

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

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03373968
Lead sponsor
Italfarmaco
Collaborators
Cromsource
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Dec 14, 2017
Start date
Oct 24, 2017
Primary completion
Dec 2029 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Jan 21, 2026

Study contacts

Reference Study ID Number: DSC/14/2357/51
Contact
patientadvocacy@italfarmaco.com
+ 39 02 6443 ext. 2524

Oversight

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

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