ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT04416516Updated Apr 10, 2024

Safety and Efficacy of ASN-002 Combined With a Hedgehog Pathway Inhibitor

A Phase 2 interventional study of ASN-002 in Basal Cell Carcinoma and Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome, sponsored by Ascend Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. Completed at 7 sites in Australia. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2024-04-10.

Primary conditionBasal Cell Nevus SyndromeRegistry: Carcinoma, Basal CellReclassifiedWhy we changed it
Registry
Carcinoma, Basal Cell — the first condition term the registry derived for this study.
ClinicalTrials.gg
Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome
Why
  1. The study's listed conditions name Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome, a narrower term within Carcinoma, Basal Cell.
Confidence
High: the new condition is named in the study's own listed conditions. Of 351 hand-checked studies reclassified this way, 68% were exactly right and 84% in the right disease family; the registry's first term was right for 5% (measured 2026-10-21). How we classify →
Wrong?
Tell us the study's main condition →

Sponsored by Ascend Biopharmaceuticals Ltd · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment

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Phase
Phase 2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
21
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The primary objectives are to:

  1. Evaluate the safety and tolerability of intralesional ASN-002 when administered in combination with oral vismodegib in patients with Basal Cell Carcinomas (BCC)s;
  2. Evaluate the efficacy of intralesional ASN-002 in target tumours when administered in combination with oral vismodegib in patients with BCCs.

The secondary objective is to:

  1. Evaluate the efficacy of intralesional ASN-002 in non-target tumours when administered in combination with oral vismodegib in patients with BCCs.

The exploratory objective is to:

  1. Evaluate immunological biomarkers during the course of treatment.
Read the detailed description

Methodology:

This study will evaluate ASN-002 (in the dose range 0.5 to 1.5x10(11) vp/mL) with the Hh inhibitor vismodegib (Erivedge®). The study will initially evaluate two Arms receiving 1.0 x 10(11) vp/injection, and following a safety review, may implement further arms in an adaptive study design.

Following screening and baseline biopsies for target and non-target tumours, eligible subjects will be enrolled in the study.

Cycle 1: Treatment with vismodegib (daily dose of 150 mg) for 4 weeks and ASN-002 for 3 weeks (i.e., three ASN-002 injections in total):

  • Day 1 to Day 14 - vismodegib alone
  • Day 15 - vismodegib and ASN-002
  • Day 16 to Day 21 - vismodegib alone
  • Day 22 - vismodegib and ASN-002
  • Day 23 to Day 28 - vismodegib alone
  • Day 29 - ASN-002 alone

Clinical response will be assessed at Week 17, following which, the investigator may where clinically indicated, initiate Cycle 2.

Cycle 2: Treatment with vismodegib (daily dose of 150 mg) for 4 weeks, and one further injection with ASN-002:

  • Day 1 to Day 7 - vismodegib alone
  • Day 8 - vismodegib and ASN-002
  • Day 9 to Day 28 - vismodegib alone

Surgical excision for all patients will occur between Week 25 and Week 33 at the investigators discretion, and dependent on when patient completed study treatment (1 or 2 treatment cycles). Up to 10 BCCs to be excised including 3 target tumours. Excisions can be conducted over 2 visits as per Investigator's discretion.

The Investigator may enrol eligible patients parallel into either Arm 1 or Arm 2, based on the number of tumours present. Up to 10 study BCC tumours (up to 3 target and up to 7 non-target) will be selected per patient.

Following review of at least Week 5 data for N=6 patients in Arm 1 and Arm 2, further Arms with varying doses of ASN-002 (in the dose range 0.5x10(11) vp or 1.5x10(11) vp) may be explored at the discretion of the Safety Review Committee (SRC). Vismodegib or ASN-002 may be evaluated as monotherapies to provide control groups to allow comparison of treatment Arms.

Safety and clinical assessments will be performed at Weeks 1, 3, 4, 5, 7, 17, 25 to 33.

Histological response will be evaluated in all study tumours via excision between Week 25 and Week 33 (as per investigator's discretion).

Six patients will be recruited to each Arm of the study, each Arm may be expanded to 12 patients at the discretion of the SRC.

02

Conditions studied

  • Basal Cell Carcinoma
  • Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome

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Keywords

  • high frequency basal cell carcinoma
03

In context

Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome Reclassified

35 studies on the registry are indexed under Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome; 4 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 21 is below the median of 24 across 25 interventional studies indexed under Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome.

Browse Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome studies →

Lead sponsor

Ascend Biopharmaceuticals Ltd is the lead sponsor of 3 studies on the registry; none are open to participants now.

Compared within Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome, this study's primary condition as ClinicalTrials.gg classifies it; the registry's first condition term is Carcinoma, Basal Cell. The counts are of registry records indexed under each term, refreshed daily. How we classify →

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

  1. confirmed previously untreated, BCC (nodular and superficial), 5-20 mm in maximum diameter, per the selection criteria for study BCC tumours. A punch (refer to study procedure manual for biopsy size selection) from the thickest part of all the target tumours is required for histological confirmation of BCC and to exclude BCC non-eligible subtypes.

    Note: If a patient has mix of nodular and superficial BCC tumours, at least one target tumour should be a nodular BCC.

  2. Removal of \< 25% of the area of each biopsied tumour by initial biopsy performed 1-12 weeks before Day 1. If the initial biopsy was performed >8 weeks prior to screening, the investigator may re-biopsy the tumour, provided not > 25% of the area of the original tumour is removed. Non-study tumours may be resected or treated at the discretion of the Investigator prior to study entry or if they develop during the study.
  3. Hedgehog pathway inhibitor treatment naïve.
  4. Acceptable general health as determined by the investigator, i.e. no serious or active medical or psychiatric illness or recreational or therapeutic drug or alcohol use that, in the opinion of the Investigator, would interfere with treatment, assessment or compliance with the protocol, ability to provide , or patient safety.
  5. 18 years of age or older.
  6. (ECOG) performance status 0, 1 or 2.
  7. Screening laboratory values as follows:

    1. > 1500/mm3
    2. > 9 g/dL
    3. count >100,000/mm3
    4. Prothrombin \< 1.5
    5. Total \< 1.5 X (ULN), except in the case of known Gilbert's syndrome
    6. (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) or alkaline phosphatase (ALP) \< 2X ULN
    7. Creatinine \< 1.5 X upper limit of normal (ULN)
  8. Female patients who are documented infertile, for at least 1 year, surgically sterile or using acceptable and highly effective for the duration of the study and for at least 3 months after last administration of the study treatments.
  9. Male patients with female partners of child bearing potential, agreement to use two adequate contraception methods while being on vismodegib and for 3 months of completion. agreement not to donate semen for 3 months after completion of vismodegib.
  10. Written informed consent prior to initiation of study-specified procedures.
  11. Able and willing to comply with all study requirements, including surgical removal of tumour/tumour site at completion of study.
  12. Baseline tissue sample adequate for determination of histological or other biomarkers.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria

  1. Known or suspected disease or other active, invasive .
  2. Female patients of who are lactating or pregnant (negative serum pregnancy test needed prior to dosing).
  3. Clinically active or uncontrolled skin disease or tattoos that would interfere with evaluation of the area surrounding the target tumour (e.g. eczema, unstable psoriasis, xeroderma pigmentosa).
  4. Known history of sensitivity to any of the ingredients in ASN-002 and any Hh pathway inhibitors.
  5. (e.g. known or C infection, infection) or receiving or expected to receive an immunomodulating agent (including immunosuppressive agents, cytotoxic drugs, biological agents, immunoglobulins, interferon or other immune or cytokine-based therapies. Use of inhaled or oral at doses higher than physiological replacement doses is an exclusion criterion).
  6. Has received or is expected to receive treatment with psoralen plus UVA or UVB therapy within 6 months of the Screening visit.
  7. Any prior systemic anti-tumour therapy or local treatment for target tumours prior to first dose.
  8. History of immunological disorder, severe allergic reaction, moderate or severe asthma or known history of anaphylaxis or any other serious adverse reactions to any medication.
  9. Any experimental or agents within one month of first ASN-002 injection.
  10. Any prior exposure to TG1041, TG1042 (ASN-002), any other adenoviral-based experimental agent, or any form of gene therapy within 6 months of first dose of vismodegib in the study.
  11. Any prior exposure to vismodegib or any other Hh inhibitor within 6 months of first dose in the study.
  12. Current therapy with any medications recognized to cause rhabdomyolysis or a prior history of rhabdomyolysis.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(21)

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.

Histologically or cytologically confirmed

The diagnosis was confirmed by looking at a sample under a microscope: tissue from a biopsy or surgery (histology), or cells from a fluid or needle sample (cytology).

Your pathology report is the document that shows this.

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.

ECOG performance status

A scale of how much an illness limits everyday activity. For people being assessed to join a study, scores run from 0 (fully active) to 4; lower is more active.

0
Fully active, no restrictions.
1
Limited in strenuous activity, but walking and able to do light work, such as housework or office work.
2
Walking and able to look after yourself, but unable to work; up and about more than half of waking hours.
3
Able to look after yourself only in part; in bed or a chair more than half of waking hours.
4
Unable to look after yourself at all; in bed or a chair all day.

Studies most often ask for 0–1 or 0–2. Your doctor gives the score; the WHO scale uses the same steps. The full scale also has 5, which records death.

Absolute neutrophil count (ANC)

The number of neutrophils, white blood cells that help fight infection, in a given amount of blood. Too few raises the risk of infection.

It is a count, not a percentage of the white cells. Limits are written in units that mean the same: ≥ 1.5 × 10⁹/L is ≥ 1,500 per mm³ (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).

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.

INR, PT and aPTT (clotting tests)

Blood tests of how long blood takes to clot. The INR is the prothrombin time (PT) put on a common scale; about 1 is usual for someone not taking a blood thinner.

Criteria often make an exception for people on a blood thinner such as warfarin, whose INR is raised on purpose.

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.

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.

ALT and AST (liver enzymes)

Two enzymes measured in a routine blood test of the liver. Higher levels can mean the liver is under strain or damaged. SGPT and SGOT are older names for ALT and AST.

Criteria usually give a limit as a multiple of the upper limit of normal (ULN), often higher when cancer has spread to the liver.

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).

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.

Metastases

Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.

Cancer (malignancy)

Malignancy means cancer. Criteria about another or earlier malignancy ask whether you have had a different cancer, usually within a set number of years.

Some are commonly allowed, such as treated skin cancers other than melanoma and early cancers removed completely — check the exceptions this study lists.

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.

Immunosuppression

A weakened immune system. It can come from an illness, such as HIV or some blood cancers, or from medicines that turn the immune system down, for example after an organ transplant or for an autoimmune disease; steroids at higher doses count.

Read whether the line is about a condition or about medicines, and which medicines and doses it means.

Hepatitis B tests

Hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. These are separate tests: HBsAg positive usually means a current infection (a recent vaccination can briefly cause it too); total anti-HBc (HBcAb) positive means an infection now or in the past; HBV DNA measures how much virus is in the blood.

Some studies accept a past infection if HBV DNA is undetectable, sometimes with antiviral medicine during the study. Check what this study allows.

HIV

The human immunodeficiency virus, which weakens the immune system.

Many studies now accept people whose HIV is controlled on treatment, judged by the viral load and the CD4 count. Check the limits this study sets.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 2
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
21 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Arm 1, Patients with 1 Tumour

    Participants with 1 Target Tumour will receive 3 x ASN-002 1.0x10(11) Injections + VISMODEGIB (150 mg) daily for 4 weeks.

    Biological: ASN-002

  • Experimental
    Arm 2, Patients with 3 or more Tumours

    Participants with 3 or more Target Tumours will receive 3 x ASN-002 1.0x10(11) Injections (per tumour) + VISMODEGIB (150 mg) daily for 4 weeks.

    Biological: ASN-002

  • Experimental
    Arm 6 Patients with 3 or more Tumours

    Participants with 3 or more Target Tumours will receive 3 x ASN-002 1.5x10(11) Injections (per tumour) + VISMODEGIB (150 mg) daily for 4 weeks

    Biological: ASN-002

Interventions

  • BiologicalASN-002

    ASN-002 has been designed for clinical applications, especially for intratumoral administration in the treatment of various cancers. This rAd vector delivers the gene of interest, in the case of ASN-002 the human IFNγ gene, into target cells. The rAd vector in ASN-002 is replication deficient and although it infects cells, it is not able to replicate in the tumor or in normal human cells. The infected cells are able to transcribe and translate the IFNγ DNA leading to a sustained local concentration of IFNγ in the tumor mass that is designed to avoid high levels of systemic IFNγ that may be lead to unacceptable toxicity.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Incidence of ASN-002 related Adverse Events in patients with previously untreated nBCC

    Incidence of Adverse Adverse events will be monitored

    Time frame: Participants will be followed up to 6 months

  2. Microscopic clearance of the injected Target basal cell carcinoma.

    Histological clearance (HC) will be defined as the absence of detectable evidence of BCC tumor cell nests in serial histological samples as determined by central pathology review.

    Time frame: Microscopic examinations of sample collected at weeks 25-33 after the first dose.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Microscopic clearance of the injected Non-Target basal cell carcinoma.

    Histological clearance (HC) will be defined as the absence of detectable evidence of BCC tumor cell nests in serial histological samples as determined by central pathology review.

    Time frame: Microscopic examinations of sample collected at weeks 25-33 after the first dose.

07

Study locations

7 sites
  • Central Brisbane Dermatology
    Brisbane, Queensland 4000, Australia
  • Princess Alexandra Hospital
    Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
  • Veracity Clinical Research
    Brisbane, Queensland 4102, Australia
  • Sunshine Coast University Hospital
    Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
  • Sinclair Dermatology
    Melbourne, Victoria 3000, Australia
  • Royal Melbourne Hospital
    Melbourne, Victoria 3050, Australia
  • Burswood Dermatology
    Perth, Western Australia 6100, Australia
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Ran from Jul 2020 to primary completion in Feb 2024, 42 months.

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

Registered
May 21, 2020
First posted
Jun 4, 2020
StartActual
Jul 16, 2020
Primary completionActual
Feb 14, 2024
CompletionActual
Feb 14, 2024
Last update
Apr 10, 2024
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 Apr 10, 2024, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04416516
Lead sponsor
Ascend Biopharmaceuticals Ltd
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jun 4, 2020
Start date
Jul 16, 2020
Primary completion
Feb 14, 2024
Completion
Feb 14, 2024
Last update
Apr 10, 2024

Study contacts

Clement Leong, Ph.D
study chair · Ascend Biopharmaceuticals Ltd
Gregory Siller
principal investigator · Central Brisbane Dermatology

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2024. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Studies of the drug tested here: Gusacitinib

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