ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT05401227Updated Nov 2, 2026

Glutamatergic Mechanisms: Aim2

A Phase 1 interventional study of Ketamine and Ts-134 or XT in Healthy, sponsored by New York State Psychiatric Institute. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 55 Years, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-02.

Sponsored by New York State Psychiatric Institute · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Oct 2022; still recruiting 4 years later.
Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
120
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
18 Years to 55 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

In the present study, 120 healthy volunteers (HV) will be randomized to one of three ketamine-induced pharmacoBOLD (phBOLD) arms: low, medium, and high. Within each ketamine arm, participants will be randomized to 4 days of "study drug" [TS-134 (1st 20 participants) or XT (remaining 100 participants)] or placebo in a 5:3 ratio (25 study drug:15 placebo per arm).

During the study, each participant will undergo a Screening Period (up to 31 days), a 4-day Treatment Period, and a total of two phBOLD sessions: a first session at Baseline and a second session on Day 4 of the Treatment Period, conducted at least 7 days apart, and a follow up visit.

Read the detailed description

Schizophrenia (Sz) is associated with psychotic symptoms, such as hearing voices and paranoid beliefs that remain partially or fully refractory to standard antipsychotic medications for \~2/3 of patients. Alternative, glutamatergic approaches for treatment development have been proposed but have not yet led to FDA-approved medications. Moreover, several glutamate-targeted medications, such as pomaglumetad (POMA), have failed in pivotal clinical trials despite robust effectiveness in preclinical models. A major barrier to effective glutamatergic treatment development is the absence of validated measures for target engagement that can identify effective compounds and guide dose selection. Target" refers to a factor that an intervention is intended to modify, leading to improvement in symptoms, and target engagement biomarkers are a measure of the ability of the intervention to "engage" the target.

As part of the recently completed NIMH multicenter FAST-PS initiative and a parallel industry sponsored project, we evaluated ketamine-induced pharmacoBOLD (phBOLD) in healthy volunteers (HV) as a potential target engagement biomarker for development of metabotropic glutamate (mGluR2/3) agonists, as a prelude to planned studies in Sz. BOLD imaging indirectly measures brain energy, as a proxy for glutamate target engagement.

The structure of the R01 grant funding this protocol was split into three studies, specific aim (SA) 1, 2 and 3. In FAST-PS, a high dose of ketamine (0.23 mg/kg) was used in order to produce robust pharmacological effects.

Under SA1, which was conducted under IRB 8063, this dose was titrated downward in across two phBOLD sessions in HV in order to determine the lowest dose of ketamine that still produces a phBOLD response of Cohen's d≥1.5, hypothesizing that this dose would provide the best signal to noise for use in SA2. The study was conducted in groups of 10 subject per dose cohort, and the analysis supports using a low dose of 0.086 mg/kg for SA2.

In the present study, 120 healthy volunteers (HV) will be randomized to one of three ketamine-induced pharmacoBOLD (phBOLD) arms: low, medium, and high. Within each ketamine arm, participants will be randomized to 4 days of "study drug" [TS-134 (1st 20 participants) or XT (remaining 100 participants)] or placebo in a 5:3 ratio (25 study drug:15 placebo per arm).

During the study, each participant will undergo a Screening Period (up to 31 days), a 4-day Treatment Period, and a total of two phBOLD sessions: a first session at Baseline and a second session on Day 4 of the Treatment Period, conducted at least 7 days apart, and a follow up visit.

02

Conditions studied

  • Healthy
03

In context

Lead sponsor

New York State Psychiatric Institute is the lead sponsor of 435 studies on the registry; 27 are open to participants now.

Of its 51 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 45 (88%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 55 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
Yes

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. Age between 18-55 at screen
  2. Medically healthy, as assessed by study physician at screen
  3. Capable of understanding the study procedures and able to provide
  4. Eligible men and women must agree to use a reliable method of (See section 5.3) during the study. Women who are or otherwise not of are also eligible.
  5. Willing and reliable to participate in XT or placebo phase as an outpatient and/or agreeable to participate as an inpatient.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Current or past Axis I psychiatric history (including Substance Use Disorder/Alcohol Use Disorder, with the exception of nicotine use disorder) as assessed at screen
  2. Positive urine toxicology or alcohol at screen
  3. History of recreational ketamine use, recreational PCP use, or an adverse reaction to ketamine. Participants who have participated in prior research ketamine studies will be eligible. Participants can have infusions not more frequently than biweekly, and not more than 1/month on average, therefore participants entering the study will need to wait one month if they had a single infusion and 6 weeks if they have had two closely spaced infusions.
  4. History of first-degree relative with schizophrenia
  5. Pregnancy or breast-feeding. This exclusion criterion applies only to females of (not surgically sterilized and between menarche and 1 year ). Must test negative for pregnancy at the time of screening based on a serum pregnancy test.
  6. History of violence, including any history of using a gun, knife, or other weapon with intent to harm someone, as well as more than one physical fight without a weapon after the age of 18 years old (not including fights that happen during sports competition).
  7. Presence or positive history of significant medical illness at screen, including:

    • to XT (urinary retention, moderate or severe hepatic impairment, gastric retention, untreated narrow-angle glaucoma, hypernasality)
    • renal problems (\<60)
    • high blood pressure (defined as supine systolic blood pressure (SBP) > 140 or supine diastolic blood pressure (DBP) > 90)
    • low blood pressure (defined as supine SBP \< 100, DBP \< 60)
    • abnormal orthostatic blood pressure (change in mean arterial pressure [1/3 systolic + 2/3 diastolic] of > 20% between supine and standing blood pressures)
    • cardiac illness, as determined by the site physician
    • clinically significant abnormal screening labs, as determined by the site physician
  8. Participants with suicidal ideation with intent or plan (indicated by affirmative answers to items 4 or 5 of the Suicidal Ideation section of the baseline C-SSRS) in the 6 months prior to screening or participants who represent a significant risk of suicide in the opinion of the investigator.
  9. Presence or positive history of neurological illness, including seizures, mental retardation or any other disease/procedure/accident/intervention associated with significant injury to or malfunction of the central nervous system (CNS), or history of significant head injury.
  10. Any material in the body that is a contraindication for MRI procedures
  11. Currently taking any psychotropic medication, including antidepressant medications, benzodiazepines, antipsychotic medications, mood stabilizers, anti-epileptic medications, and stimulants. We will exclude any participant who requires treatment with any psychotropic medication from one of these classes.
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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

GFR and eGFR (kidney filtering)

GFR (glomerular filtration rate) is how much blood the kidneys filter each minute. It is usually estimated from a blood test — eGFR, by formulas such as CKD-EPI or MDRD — and some studies ask for it to be measured directly instead. Usually given in mL/min/1.73 m².

Check the method, the units and the minimum the study states. A value of 90 or above is in the normal-or-high range, but kidney damage can show in other tests too.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 1
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
120 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    High Ketamine, TS-134 (first 20 subjects) or XT (remaining 100 subjects)

    Two administrations of ketamine 0.23 mg/kg pre post 4 days of TS-134 or XT

    Drug: Ketamine · Drug: Ts-134 or XT

  • Placebo comparator
    High ketamine, placebo

    Two administrations of ketamine 0.23 mg/kg pre post 4 days of placebo

    Drug: Ketamine · Drug: Placebo

  • Experimental
    Medium Ketamine, TS-134 (first 20 subjects) or XT (remaining 100 subjects)

    Two administrations of ketamine 0.125 mg/kg pre post 4 days of TS-134 or XT

    Drug: Ketamine · Drug: Ts-134 or XT

  • Placebo comparator
    Medium Ketamine, placebo

    Two administrations of ketamine 0.125 mg/kg pre post 4 days of placebo

    Drug: Ketamine · Drug: Placebo

  • Experimental
    Low Ketamine, TS-134 (first 20 subjects) or XT (remaining 100 subjects)

    Two administrations of ketamine 0.086 mg/kg pre post 4 days of TS-134 or XT

    Drug: Ketamine · Drug: Ts-134 or XT

  • Placebo comparator
    Low Ketamine, placebo

    Two administrations of ketamine 0.06 mg/kg pre post 4 days of placebo

    Drug: Ketamine · Drug: Placebo

Interventions

  • Ketamine during an MRI

  • 4 days of TS-134 20 mg (1st 20 subjects )or XT (last 100 subjects)

  • DrugPlacebo

    4 days of placebo

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Final PharmacoBOLD signals in pre-specified ROIs

    Changes in ketamine-induced PharmacoBOLD fMRI signals in pre-specified ROIs (anterior cingulate cortex) following administrations of TS-134 or XT

    Time frame: Baseline and Day 4

  2. Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS)

    Changes in BPRS scores following administrations of TS-134 or XT

    Time frame: Baseline and Day 4

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Yes — NIMH Data archive

Supporting information: Study protocol, Informed consent form

Time frame: Per NIMH Data archive regulations

Access criteria: Qualified investigator

No publications or documents are linked to this record.

09

Updates

1 registry update since Sep 25, 2026
Minor edits
Nothing that changes what the study is or who can join. Edited: identifiers and verification date
1 update, last Nov 2, 2026
Show all 1 update
  1. Nov 2, 2026
    Minor edits only
    + 2 other changes: identifiers and verification date

From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05401227
Responsible party
Joshua Kantrowitz (Psychiatrist, New York State Psychiatric Institute) — Principal investigator
First posted
Jun 2, 2022
Start date
Oct 15, 2022
Primary completion
Aug 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Aug 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Nov 2, 2026

Study contacts

Joshua Kantrowitz
Contact
joshua.kantrowitz@nyspi.columbia.edu
6467748477
Joshua Kantrowitz, MD
principal investigator · NYSPI

Oversight

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

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Studies of the drug tested here: TS-134

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