ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT05229991LOWR6Updated Apr 30, 2026

Once Daily Dosing of Lonafarnib Co-administered With Ritonavir for Treatment of Chronic Hepatitis D Virus Infection

A Phase 3 interventional study of Lonafarnib and Ritonavir in Hepatitis D, Chronic, sponsored by Soroka University Medical Center. Completed at 3 sites in 3 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-04-30.

Sponsored by Soroka University Medical Center · Phase 3, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 8 months after the study started (first participant enrolled May 2021, registered Jan 2022).
Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
10
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Open label, single arm, multi-center clinical trial of lonafarnib 50 mg QD plus ritonavir 200 mg QD, administered orally, over a 48-week treatment period, with a 24-week post-treatment follow-up period, in patients with chronic Hepatitis D Virusinfection.

Objectives: To evaluate the safety and tolerability of once daily dosing of lonafarnib 50 mg with ritonavir 200 mg over a 48-week treatment period.

To evaluate the effect of once daily dosing of lonafarnib 50 mg with ritonavir 200 mg over a 48-week treatment period with a 24-week post-treatment follow-up on HDV viral levels.

Trial population: Up to 30 patients with chronic HDV infection with detectable HDV RNA and compensated liver disease.

Read the detailed description

Background: Hepatitis D virus (HDV) was identified as the infectious agent causing viral hepatitis in the presence of hepatitis B virus (HBV). While HDV can replicate autonomously inside the hepatocyte, the virus requires co-infection with HBV to complete virion assembly and to facilitate transmission. HDV causes the most severe form of viral hepatitis, with rapid progression to cirrhosis and high rates of development of hepatocellular carcinoma. Currently there are no FDA approved therapies for chronic HDV infection (CHD) which presents an unmet medical need. The off-label use of pegylated interferon alpha (Alpha) for the treatment of CHD has so far been explored in several small single-arm studies and in 2 randomized controlled clinical trials, showing limited efficacy and high relapse rates. In addition, Alpha is associated with a poor tolerability profile and its use is limited in patients with advanced disease.

Lonafarnib (LNF), a FT inhibitor has been evaluated in over 2,000 subjects in clinical studies, comprising more than fifty Phase 1 and Phase 2 studies and two Phase 3 studies, with healthy subjects and patients with HDV, cancer, Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) and progeroid laminopathies. Treatment with LNF has been administered as continuous (up to 11 years in HGPS) and intermittent therapy (exceeding one year in cancer patients).

The use of LNF in CHD has been assessed in a proof of concept study, a series of four phase 2 clinical trials (the LOWR program) and an on-going phase 3 clinical trial (D-LIVR study).

Hypothesis: that treatment with LNF50/RTV200 QD for 48 weeks will be safe and lead to a reduction in HDV RNA levels at end of treatment and end of follow up.

Procedures: At baseline, systems review, physical examination, vital signs (temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate per minute), anthropometric measurements (weight, height and BMI) and ECG will be performed. Information regarding the use of alcohol and drugs, symptoms and use of concomitant medications collected. Blood will be drawn for testing of local CBC, chemistry, coagulation studies, HDV antibody and RNA levels, HCV antibody (\& RNA if necessary), HBsAg levels, HBeAg status, HBV DNA levels, liver elastography and ultrasound. All blood tests besides HDV RNA levels, will be performed at a local lab. HDV RNA level testing will be performed at a central laboratory. Pregnancy test will be performed in females of child-bearing potential. Trial medications will be dispensed. Use of anti-HBV therapy (tenofovir or entecavir) will be confirmed.

Follow up visits will be conducted at week 4, 12, 24, 36 and 48 of treatment and at 24 weeks after stopping treatment and will include systems review, ECG recordings, evaluation of concomitant medications use, adverse events monitoring and assessment of compliance with trial medications and anti HBV therapy. In addition, blood will be drawn for measurement of CBC, chemistry panel, coagulation tests and HDV RNA and HBV DNA levels at each visit. Trial medications will be dispensed at each visit during the treatment phase of trial.

Adverse events and concomitant medications will be collected throughout the trial.

Data to capture:

  • Demographic data: Gender, age, ethnicity, country of birth
  • Detailed medical history: including currently prescribed medications, recently administered medications, dispensing date, past medications use and dispensing date, past medical diagnosis including diagnosis date, past medical procedures including procedure date, allergies.
  • Habits: history of recreational drugs and alcohol consumption (using CAGE questionnaire).
  • Clinical evaluation: Systems review, anthropometric measurements (weight, height and BMI), physical examination, vital signs, symptom questionnaire and AE assessment.
  • Blood tests: Complete blood count, biochemistry panel, coagulation tests, anti-HDV antibody, anti HCV antibody, HDV RNA, HBV DNA.

Safety data collected during the trial (e.g., AEs and laboratory test results) will be monitored on an ongoing basis by the trial team.

02

Conditions studied

  • Hepatitis D, Chronic

Keywords

  • Hepatitis D
  • Lonafarnib
  • Ritonavir
  • Hepatitis B
03

In context

Hepatitis D, Chronic

43 studies on the registry are indexed under Hepatitis D, Chronic; 9 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 10 is below the median of 46 across 30 interventional studies indexed under Hepatitis D, Chronic.

Browse Hepatitis D, Chronic studies →

Lead sponsor

Soroka University Medical Center is the lead sponsor of 160 studies on the registry; 2 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

  1. Chronic HDV infection, with compensated liver disease, documented by a positive HDV antibody (Ab) test and HDV RNA by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) assay, prior to initiation of trial treatment.
  2. Demonstrable suppression of (\< 100 IU/mL) following anti-HBV nucleos(t)ide treatment prior to initiating trial therapy.
  3. Willing and able to comply with trial procedures and provide written .
  4. > documented on at least one occasion during the 12 months preceding enrollment to the trial.
  5. Male and female participants who are 18 years of age or above.
  6. ECGs demonstrating no acute ischemia or (CS) abnormality and a interval by Fridericia correction formula (QTcF) \< 450 ms in males and \<470 ms in females.
  7. Sexually active female patients of and sexually active male patients with partners of childbearing potential must agree to use adequate methods of during the trial. Females of childbearing potential are all those except women who are surgically sterile, who have medically documented ovarian failure, or who are at least 1 year .

For female patients:

  • Progestin-based hormonal contraception (implant, injection, oral) associated with inhibition of ovulation for ≥ 3 months before screening. Use of a progestin-based implant or injection method requires the additional use of a barrier method (use of condom [male partner] or diaphragm with spermicide or cervical cap with spermicide) from screening. Use of a progestin-only, oral method requires the additional use of double barrier methods (use of condom [male partner] with either diaphragm with spermicide or cervical cap with spermicide) from screening, or
  • Intrauterine device (IUD) or intrauterine system (IUS) in place ≥ 3 months before screening AND a barrier method (use of condom [male partner] or diaphragm with spermicide or cervical cap with spermicide) from screening, or
  • Surgical sterilization of the partner (vasectomy ≥ 1 month before screening) AND a barrier method (use of condom [male partner] or diaphragm with spermicide or cervical cap with spermicide) from screening, or
  • Double-barrier methods (use of condom [male partner] with either diaphragm with spermicide or cervical cap with spermicide) from screening.

For male patients:

  • Surgical sterilization (vasectomy ≥ 1 month before screening) AND a barrier method (use of condom or diaphragm with spermicide or cervical cap with spermicide) from screening, or
  • Consistently and correctly use a condom from screening AND female partner must agree to use a hormonal contraceptive, a nonhormonal non-barrier method (eg, copper IUD), or a nonhormonal barrier method (eg, diaphragm with spermicide or cervical cap with spermicide).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Participation in a clinical trial with, or use of, any agent within 30 days or 5 half-lives, whichever is longer, before starting LNF treatment.
  2. Female patients who are pregnant or breastfeeding. Female patients must have a negative serum test at screening and a negative urine pregnancy test (minimum sensitivity 25 IU/L or equivalent units of human chorionic gonadotropin [hCG] at baseline, within 24 hours prior to the start of any investigational agent). Male patients with female sexual partners who are pregnant.
  3. Current or previous history of decompensated liver disease (e.g. variceal bleeding, ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, hepatorenal syndrome).
  4. count \< 70,000 cells/mm3; white blood cell (WBC) \< 3,000 cells / mm3
  5. (\< 30 mL/min by Cockroft-Gault).
  6. Co-infected with (HIV) or virus (HCV). Patients with a positive HCV Ab at baseline are allowed if they have completed a curative antiviral regimen and have documented undetectable HCV RNA 12 weeks or more following last dose of anti-HCV medications.
  7. Abnormal thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) or free thyroxine (fT4) levels. Patients with well-controlled thyroid function or TFTs that are not may be enrolled.
  8. Evidence of another form of viral hepatitis or another form of liver disease (eg, liver disease, primary biliary cirrhosis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, Wilson's disease, alcoholic liver disease, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, hemochromatosis, alpha 1 anti-trypsin deficiency).
  9. History of hepatocellular carcinoma.
  10. Retinal disorder or clinically relevant ophthalmic disorder
  11. Any within 5 preceding years. Exceptions are malignancies surgically excised with curative intent and/or evidence of being disease free for at least 5 years (eg, breast ductal carcinoma in situ [DCIS] or squamous/basal cell skin cancer treated with curative intent), or successfully treated in-situ carcinoma of the cervix
  12. Other significant medical condition that may require intervention during the trial.
  13. Any condition that may impact proper absorption (eg, short bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, atrophic gastritis, partial gastrectomy) should be discussed with the Medical Monitor.
  14. Consumption of grapefruit, Seville oranges, or product that contains grapefruit or Seville oranges.
  15. Use of heparin or warfarin during the trial.
  16. Long-term treatment (> 2 weeks) before or during the trial with agents that have a high risk for nephrotoxicity or hepatotoxicity.

    1. Concomitant use (within 2 weeks of Day 1 and throughout trial conduct) of any medications (prescription, OTC, herbal products) or foods as follows:
    2. Known potent inhibitors of , including statins (with the exception of pravastatin and fluvastatin);
    3. Known potent inducers of CYP3A or CYP3A sensitive substrates;
    4. Known CYP2C19 and P-gp sensitive substrates with a narrow therapeutic index - refer to the Concomitant Medication Manual for additional instructions;
    5. Known sensitive substrates of OCT1 with a narrow therapeutic index; and
    6. Drugs known to prolong the PR or unless otherwise described in this protocol.
  17. Concomitant use of medications in the prescribing information for RTV.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(18)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

Creatinine clearance (CrCl)

How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.

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.

Hepatitis C tests

Hepatitis C is a virus that infects the liver. An HCV antibody test can stay positive after an infection has cleared (and is occasionally positive without one); an HCV RNA test shows whether the virus is there now.

After treatment, hepatitis C counts as cured when HCV RNA is still undetectable 12 weeks or more after the treatment ended. Studies often accept people cured this way.

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.

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.

CYP3A (CYP3A4) inhibitors and inducers

CYP3A is a group of enzymes, mainly CYP3A4, in the liver and gut that break down many medicines. Some medicines, supplements and foods (grapefruit, St John’s wort) slow them down or speed them up, which changes how much of a study drug stays in the body.

Studies list them so they can be avoided or switched; bring a list of everything you take, including supplements.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
10 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Intervention Group

    Lonafarnib 50mg co-administered with ritonavir 200 mg

    Drug: Lonafarnib · Drug: Ritonavir

Interventions

  • once-daily dosing of lonafarnib 50 mg with ritonavir 200 mg over a 48-week treatment period.

    Also known as: LNF

  • once-daily dosing of lonafarnib 50 mg with ritonavir 200 mg over a 48-week treatment period.

    Also known as: Norvir

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Viral load change

    Change from baseline in HDV viral load at end of treatment

    Time frame: 48 weeks

  2. Viral load change

    Change from baseline in HDV viral load at end of follow-up

    Time frame: 72 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. HDV RNA levels below LLOQ

    Proportion of patients with HDV RNA levels below limit of quantification (LLOQ) at end of treatment and end of follow up

    Time frame: 72 weeks

  2. Viral load change

    Change from baseline in HDV viral load at weeks 4, 12 and 24

    Time frame: 24 weeks

Other outcomes

  1. Safety: Rate of treatment-emergent and treatment-related severe adverse events

    Number of severe adverse events related to treatment

    Time frame: 72 weeks

07

Study locations

3 sites
  • Soroka UMC
    Beersheba, Israel
  • New Zealand Liver Transplant Unit, Auckland City Hospital
    Auckland, New Zealand
  • Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Koç University Medical School, Istanbul, Turkey
    Istanbul, Turkey (Türkiye)
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Apr 30, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05229991
Collaborators
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals
Responsible party
Ohad Etzion (Director, Department of Gastroenterology & Liver Diseases, Soroka University Medical Center) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 8, 2022
Start date
May 15, 2021
Primary completion
Feb 5, 2025
Completion
Feb 5, 2025
Last update
Apr 30, 2026

Study contacts

Ohad Etzion, MD
principal investigator · Soroka University Medical Center

Oversight

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

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This study is completed, as verified in Apr 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Studies of the drugs tested here: Lonafarnib · Ritonavir

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