ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT03385616Updated Aug 4, 2021

Gala Treatment for Chronic Bronchitis in Canada

An interventional study of Gala Airway Treatment System in Chronic Bronchitis and COPD, sponsored by Gala Therapeutics, Inc.. Completed at 3 sites in Canada. Open to participants aged 40 Years to 75 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-08-04.

Sponsored by Gala Therapeutics, Inc. · Not applicable, Interventional, and Device feasibility

From the registry’s dates

  • Primary completion was Jul 2020, 6 years 3 months ago, and no results have been posted to the registry.
  • Registered 3 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Aug 2017, registered Dec 2017).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
10
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
40 Years to 75 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Feasibility trial (FIH) to assess the safety and clinical utility in patients with chronic bronchitis in Canada.

Read the detailed description

The Gala Airway Treatment system is a device-based, energy delivery system that delivers high frequency short duration energy to the airway epithelium and sub-mucosal tissue layers. The energy is delivered via a proprietary catheter through the bronchoscope.

Two sessions of treatment will be delivered one month apart. The right lung is treated at the first treatment session and the left lung is treated at the second treatment session (approximately one month after the right side is treated). Treatment will be delivered by a respiratory physician (interventional pulmonologist) in a tertiary teaching hospital during a bronchoscopic procedure. The bronchoscopy will be delivered during general anaesthesia. It is anticipated that the bronchoscopic procedure will last less than 60 minutes in total. Treatment will be deemed to have been delivered following the successful treatment during the two bronchoscopies.

A third bronchoscopy will be performed three months following the second treatment session where treatment is not delivered but a cryo-biopsy will be taken from the airway sites that have been treated during the two previous bronchoscopic treatment session to evaluate the effect of the treatment on the airways producing excessive mucous.

Subjects will be required to submit to several tests during the study including two CT scans (lung), respiratory function tests, exercise testing.

02

Conditions studied

03

In context

Bronchitis, Chronic

209 studies on the registry are indexed under Bronchitis, Chronic; 14 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 10 is below the median of 101 across 154 interventional studies indexed under Bronchitis, Chronic.

Browse Bronchitis, Chronic studies →

Lead sponsor

Gala Therapeutics, Inc. is the lead sponsor of 5 studies on the registry; 1 is open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
40 Years to 75 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

  1. Subject is diagnosed with chronic bronchitis for a minimum of two years, where chronic bronchitis is defined clinically as chronic productive cough for three months in each of two successive years in a patient in whom other causes of productive cough have been excluded.
  2. Subject has GOLD Stage II (COPD) with a preprocedure post-bronchodilator of greater than or equal to 30% and less than or equal to 80% of predicted within three months of enrollment.
  3. Subject has an FEV1/FVC ration \< 0.7.
  4. Subject has been treated with Long Acting Beta Agonists (LABAs) or Long Acting Muscarinic Antagonists (LAMAs) or both for three months or more.
  5. Subject has a cigarette smoking history of at least ten packs years.
  6. Subject in the opinion of the site investigator is able to adhere to and undergo three bronchoscope procedures inclusive of lung and Gala treatments, and has provided a signed .

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Subject has active respiratory infection (e.g., common cold, pneumonia, MAI, tuberculosis) or exacerbation within the last three months.
  2. Subject has MMRC score greater than or equal to 3.
  3. Subject is taking > 10 mg of prednisolone or prednisone per day.
  4. Subject has an implantable cardioverter defibrillator or pacemaker.
  5. Subject has a history of cardiac arrhythmia within past two years.
  6. Subject has abnormal cardiac rhythm at time of procedure.
  7. Subject has history of proven lung cancer in last 5 years.
  8. Subject has pulmonary nodule or cavity requiring follow-up or intervention unless proven benign and not actively infected (e.g., aspergilloma).
  9. Subject has prior lung surgery, such as lung transplant, LVRS, lung implant/prosthesis, metal stent, valves, coils, bullectomy, segmentectomy, or lobectomy. Pneumothorax without lung resection is acceptable. Pleural procedures without surgery are acceptable.
  10. Subject has Alpha-1-Antitrypsin (AAT) deficiency.
  11. Subject has documented history of asthma diagnosed with onset \<30 years of age, bronchiectasis or any other significant second lung disease.
  12. Subject actively smoked (including tobacco, marijuana, e-cigarettes, vaping, etc.) within the last 6 months.
  13. Subject has known airway colonization with resistant organisms including but not limited to pseudomonas, MRSA, B Cepacia, MTB, M abscessus, mucor or any significant fungus.
  14. Subject has the inability to walk over 140 meters.
  15. Subject has a serious medical condition, such as: uncontrolled congestive heart failure, uncontrolled angina, myocardial infarction in the past year, renal failure, liver disease, cerebrovascular accident within the past 6 months, uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension, disease or uncontrolled gastric reflux.
  16. Subject has known sensitivity to medication required to perform bronchoscopy (such as lidocaine, atropine, and benzodiazepines).
  17. Subject is pregnant, nursing, or planning to get pregnant during study duration.
  18. Subject has received chemotherapy within the past 6 months or is expected to receive chemotherapy during participation in this study.
  19. Subject is or has been in another clinical study within 6 weeks of baseline.
  20. Subject on anticoagulation for cardiovascular indications and is unable to have anticoagulants (i.e., Aspirin, Plavix, Coumadin) withheld for at least seven days prior to bronchoscopy in the opinion of the Investigator.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(7)

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.

COPD

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: long-term lung disease that makes it hard to breathe out, including emphysema and chronic bronchitis.

FEV1

From a breathing test (spirometry): how much air you can blow out in the first second. Often given as a percentage of what is expected for your age, height and sex.

Biopsy and archival tissue

A biopsy takes a small piece of tissue to examine. “Archival tissue” is a sample already taken, for example at diagnosis, and kept by the hospital.

Whether a stored sample will do depends on when it was taken, how much there is and what the study needs. Ask whether the study accepts your stored sample or needs a new biopsy.

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.

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.

Autoimmune disease

A condition in which the immune system attacks the body’s own tissues, such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.

Immunotherapy studies often leave out active autoimmune disease, and some name exceptions, such as thyroid disease on replacement hormone. Check the exceptions this study lists.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Device feasibility
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
10 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Treatment with GATS

    Gala Airway Treatment System (GATS)

    Device: Gala Airway Treatment System

Interventions

  • DeviceGala Airway Treatment System

    The Gala Airway Treatment system is a device-based, energy delivery system that delivers energy to ablate soft tissue such as the airway epithelium and sub-mucosal tissue layers. The energy is delivered via a proprietary catheter through the bronchoscope.

    Also known as: GATS

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Safety: Incidence of serious adverse events associated with the Gala Airway Treatment System through 6 months.

    Incidence of serious adverse events associated with the Gala Airway Treatment System through 6 months.

    Time frame: 6 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. Clinical Utility - Histology

    Histopathological evidence of change in mucus producing cells within the airway

    Time frame: 3 months following bilateral treatment

  2. Clinical Utility - Pulmonary Function

    Pulmonary function testing (PFT) utilizing Forced Expiratory Volume (FEV1)

    Time frame: Through end of study (12-months post-bilateral treatment)

  3. Quality of Life - CAT

    COPD Assessment Test (CAT) questionnaire

    Time frame: Through end of study (12-months post-bilateral treatment)

  4. Quality of Life - SGRQ

    St. George Respiratory Questionnaire (SGRQ)

    Time frame: Through end of study (12-months post-bilateral treatment)

  5. Acute Exacerbations

    Detection of acute exacerbations (measured by clinical examination of a suitably qualified physician)

    Time frame: From 48 hours post procedure through end of study (12 months post-bilateral treatment)

  6. Non-Acute Exacerbations

    Detection of non-acute exacerbations (measured by clinical examination of a suitably qualified physician)

    Time frame: From 48 hours post procedure through end of study (12 months post-bilateral treatment)

  7. Six Minute Walk Test

    Change in 6MWT at 6 months compared to baseline

    Time frame: 6 months post-bilateral treatment

Other outcomes

  1. CASA-Q

    Patient reported outcome respiratory questionnaire: Cough and Sputum Assessment Questionnaire

    Time frame: Through end of study (12 months post-bilateral treatment)

07

Study locations

3 sites
  • St. Paul's Hospital Vancouver Centre for Heart Lung Innovation
    Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1Y7, Canada
  • Notre Dame Hospital at CHUM
    Montreal, H2L 4M1, Canada
  • IUCPQ Quebec
    Quebec, G1V 4G5, Canada
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reachedSimilar studies: half by the dot; the band is the middle halfHalf of similar studies reached it by the dot; the band is the middle half, from a quarter to three quarters

Ran from Aug 2017 to primary completion in Jul 2020, 35 months.

Of 24 interventional studies with no phase under Bronchitis, Chronic, half reached primary completion within 35 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 28 and three quarters within 47. This study's 35 months is close to that.

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

Registered
Dec 18, 2017
First posted
Dec 28, 2017
StartActual
Aug 24, 2017
Primary completionActual
Jul 30, 2020
CompletionActual
Feb 28, 2021
Last update
Aug 4, 2021
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 4, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03385616
Lead sponsor
Gala Therapeutics, Inc.
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Dec 28, 2017
Start date
Aug 24, 2017
Primary completion
Jul 30, 2020
Completion
Feb 28, 2021
Last update
Aug 4, 2021

Study contacts

William Krimsky, MD
study director · Gala Therapeutics, Inc.

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2021. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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