ClinicalTrials.gg
Status unknownNCT03576287Updated Jul 3, 2018

Apremilast as Anti-pruritic Treatment in Patients With Prurigo Nodularis

A Phase 1/2 interventional study of Apremilast Oral Product in Prurigo Nodularis, sponsored by Tanja Todberg, MD. Status unknown at 1 site in Denmark. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2018-07-03.

Sponsored by Tanja Todberg, MD · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Jul 2018), so the status shown — last known as Recruiting — may be out of date.
Phase
Phase 1/2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
15
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This study will evaluate the anti-pruritic effect of apremilast in patients with known PN.

Read the detailed description

Prurigo nodularis(PN) is a chronic skin disease, characterized by severe pruritus, multiple hyperkeratotic nodules and papules often located on the extensor part of the upper and lower extremities with a symmetrical distribution. The disease often appears between 20-60 years of age affecting men and women equally.

The pathogenesis of PN is poorly understood and it is unknown whether PN is a primary dermatological disease or if it arises secondary to intense pruritus and scratching of the skin with other diseases being the cause of the itching.

A number of studies have investigated if certain biochemical parameters are involved in mediating PN e.g. studies have indicated that the small nerve fibres in dermis in lesioned skin have an increased density of Substance P (neuropeptide and a well-known mediator of pruritus. when compared to non-lesioned skin.Other studies have suggested that patients with PN have a high presence of nerve growth factor (NGF) in dermis leading to modulation of the small nerve fibres, as well as an increased number of eosinophilic granulocytes, mast- and Merkel cells. Additionally, studies have found increased levels of IL-6 and IL-31 in blood in patient with PN. However the pathogenesis of PN remains unknown.

Among patients with atopic dermatitis there is a higher frequency of patients with PN as well as PN seem to be associated with certain liver- and kidney diseases. Anxiety and depression are also more common in patients with PN.

Patients with PN suffer from impaired quality of life due to ongoing pruritus and skin lesions(5). PN is mainly treated with topical steroids, UVB, PUVA or thalidomide, although none of these treatments seem to be able to control the disease and furthermore a number of these treatments are associated with several side effects.

As the phosphodiesterase 4 (PDE4)-inhibitor (apremilast) have shown a , it is speculated that apremilast may have an effect in patients with PN. Lack of effective treatments for PN supports further development for treatment options.

This study will evaluate the anti-pruritic effect of apremilast in patients with known PN. This interventional study, will be performed at the Department of Dermatology and Allergy at Herlev and Gentofte Hospital (Gentofte site), University of Copenhagen, Hellerup, Denmark.

02

Conditions studied

  • Prurigo Nodularis

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Keywords

  • apremilast
03

In context

Prurigo

38 studies on the registry are indexed under Prurigo; 10 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 15 is below the median of 135 across 31 interventional studies indexed under Prurigo.

Browse Prurigo studies →

Lead sponsor

Tanja Todberg, MD is the lead sponsor of 2 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

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

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

  • > 18 years of age
  • PN verified diagnosis by characteristic clinical features
  • Moderate to severe PN
  • Failure of local and light treatment to control disease and symptoms.
  • Be able to speak and understand Danish.
  • Patients must have given their to the protocol and to the clinical procedures.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients who have received any local anti-inflammatory treatment 2 weeks prior to day 0
  • Patients who have received any systemic anti-inflammatory treatment 4 weeks prior to day 0 or 5 pharmacokinetic half-lives, whichever is longer
  • Patients who have received any other study medication 4 weeks prior to day 0
  • Patients with other disorders
  • Patients with active TB/serious infections
  • Any psychiatric condition which in the Investigators opinion would preclude the patient from adhering to the protocol or completing the study per protocol. Patients with previous endogene depression.
  • Pregnancy
  • Nursing
  • Women of must use effective which includes IUD, oral, injected or implanted hormonal device, hormone patch, vaginal hormonal ring og sterilization.

    • Occlusive cap or condom with spermicidal cream is not considered as an effective contraception. women (> 12 months of amenorrhea) are allowed not to use contraception.
  • Patients who have received any 6 weeks prior to day 0 or who are planning to receive a live vaccine during the study
  • Allergy to apremilast or any of the other ingredients in Otezla®
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.

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.

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.

Childbearing potential

Able to become pregnant: from the first period until menopause, unless permanently unable to through surgery (removal of the womb, or of both ovaries or both fallopian tubes).

Criteria for people of childbearing potential usually ask for a negative pregnancy test and for contraception during the study and for a time after it.

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.

Postmenopausal

Periods have stopped for good: usually no period for 12 months in a row without another medical reason, sometimes confirmed by a blood test (FSH).

Live vaccines

Vaccines made with a weakened form of the germ, such as measles–mumps–rubella (MMR), chickenpox and yellow fever. They can be risky when the immune system is weakened. Flu injections are not live; the nasal flu spray is.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1 / Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
15 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    apremilast

    apremilast standard doses

    Drug: Apremilast Oral Product

Interventions

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. 1. Reduction in mean absolute VAS-pruritus score after 12 weeks treatment with apremilast compared to mean VAS-pruritus score before treatment with apremilast

    1. Reduction in mean absolute VAS-pruritus score after 12 weeks treatment with apremilast compared to mean VAS-pruritus score before treatment with apremilast

    Time frame: 12 weeks

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
  • Department of Dermato-Allergology
    Hellerup, 2900, Denmark
    Recruiting
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 reached

Started Jul 2017 (actual). Primary completion is estimated for Dec 2019, 29 months after the start.

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

Registered
Jun 16, 2017
First posted
Jul 3, 2018
StartActual
Jul 1, 2017
Primary completionEst.
Dec 1, 2019
CompletionEst.
Dec 1, 2019
Last update
Jul 3, 2018
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 Jul 3, 2018, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT03576287
Lead sponsor
Tanja Todberg, MD
Responsible party
Tanja Todberg, MD (MD, principal investigator, University of Copenhagen) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
Jul 3, 2018
Start date
Jul 1, 2017
Primary completion
Dec 1, 2019 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 1, 2019 (estimated)
Last update
Jul 3, 2018

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is status unknown, as verified in Jul 2018. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Discussion

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Studies of the drug tested here: Apremilast

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