ClinicalTrials.gg
CompletedNCT05443685Updated May 5, 2026

ADX-629 Therapy for Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome

A Phase 1/2 interventional study of ADX-629 in Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome, sponsored by University of Nebraska. Completed at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 5 Years to 50 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-05-05.

Sponsored by University of Nebraska · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 1/2
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
8
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
5 Years to 50 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

This research study will determine whether orally administered ADX-629 is safe and has biochemical efficacy in participants with Sjögren-Larsson syndrome (SLS), a rare inherited disorder of fatty aldehyde metabolism The disease is caused by bi-allelic mutations in ALDH3A2, which results in deficient activity of fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase (FALDH) and leads to the build-up of harmful long-chain (C16-C20) aldehydes and alcohols. Accumulation of these lipids and their metabolic products in skin, brain and eyes is responsible for the symptoms, which persist lifelong. ADX-629 is an aldehyde trapping agent that is expected to eliminate fatty aldehydes and negate aldehyde toxicity, improve the biochemical abnormalities and have clinical efficacy for SLS.

The primary objective of this clinical protocol is to determine whether ADX-629 is safe and tolerable for use in SLS subjects. The secondary objective is to determine the efficacy of ADX-629 in reversing the biochemical abnormalities in SLS. Exploratory objectives are to evaluate the short-term clinical effects of ADX-629 on neurologic, cutaneous and ophthalmologic disease in SLS. Participants will be treated with ADX-629 for 12 weeks and monitored for safety and biochemical efficacy.

Read the detailed description

Sjögren-Larsson syndrome (SLS) is a rare inherited disorder of fatty aldehyde metabolism characterized by congenital ichthyosis, spastic diplegia, intellectual disability, seizures and a distinctive retinopathy. The disease is caused by bi-allelic mutations in ALDH3A2, which results in deficient activity of fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase (FALDH) and leads to the build-up of harmful long-chain (C16-C20) aldehydes and alcohols. Accumulation of these lipids and their metabolic products in skin, brain and eyes is responsible for the symptoms, which persist lifelong. Investigators hypothesize that elimination of fatty aldehydes using the oral pharmacologic aldehyde trapping agent ADX-629 will negate aldehyde toxicity, improve the biochemical abnormalities and have clinical efficacy for SLS patients.

This study is an open label, Phase 1/2, single center investigation of ADX-629 in SLS. The primary objective is to determine whether ADX-629 is safe and tolerable for use in SLS participants. The secondary objective is to determine the efficacy of ADX-629 in reversing the biochemical abnormalities in SLS. Exploratory objectives are to evaluate the short-term clinical effects of ADX-629 on neurologic, cutaneous and ophthalmologic disease in SLS.

Up to 10 paticipants with genetically confirmed SLS who meet eligibility criteria will be enrolled. All participantss will be studied at the University of Nebraska Medical Center/Children's Hospital \& Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska. Participants will be treated with ADX-629 administered orally as 250 mg tablets for 12 weeks. Participants will be monitored for safety of ADX-629 every 4 weeks by physical examination and biochemical safety tests.

The effects of ADX-629 on SLS-specific biomarkers will be determined after 12 weeks of drug treatment. Clinical tests will monitor neurological, dermatological and ophthalmologic response to drug.

02

Conditions studied

  • Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome

Keywords

  • ichthyosis
  • spasticity
  • intellectual disability
  • retinopathy
  • spastic diplegia
03

In context

Ichthyosis

33 studies on the registry are indexed under Ichthyosis; 11 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 8 is below the median of 26 across 23 interventional studies indexed under Ichthyosis.

Browse Ichthyosis studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Nebraska is the lead sponsor of 496 studies on the registry; 67 are open to participants now.

Of its 83 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 53 (64%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
5 Years to 50 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

  • Patricipant or participant's guardian is willing to provide written prior to the initiation of any study procedures. Assent will be solicited from participant intellectually capable of providing assent.
  • Participant is willing to comply with all study procedures and availability for the duration of the study.
  • Participant is 5-50 years of age at the time of enrollment.
  • Participant has a genetically-confirmed diagnosis of SLS with two pathogenic sequence variants in ALDH3A2.
  • Participant has active ichthyosis and neurologic symptoms of spasticity.
  • Participant is able to swallow oral tablet medication and is willing to adhere to the study regimen.
  • Participant is willing to suspend use of all topical creams 7 days before initial baseline evaluation and before the 12-week center visit.
  • Participant has not been treated with any experimental drug for 1 month before baseline visit and during ADX-629 treatment.
  • Participant who is sexually active agrees to use adequate throughout the duration of the study, as follows:
  • For females of : Negative pregnancy test at Baseline and compliant with a medically approved contraceptive regimen during the study or documented to be surgically sterile or .
  • For sexually-active men: Compliant with a barrier contraceptive regimen during the study.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • History of any within 5 years of screening except for basal cell or squamous cell in situ skin carcinomas or carcinoma in situ of the cervix that has been treated with no evidence of recurrence.
  • Participant is known to be (HIV) positive or has other known immunodeficiency.
  • Participant has evidence of an active systemic or skin infection, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2).
  • History of significant tachycardia, bradycardia, acute or chronic cardiovascular disease, or any abnormalities in rhythm or conduction detected on (ECG), or corrected for heart rate using Fridericia's formula (QTcF) of >440 ms or \<340 ms during screening.
  • History or presence of gastrointestinal, hepatic disease, moderate or severe hepatic impairment (defined as Class B and Class C) or any other condition known to interfere with absorption, distribution, metabolism, or excretion of drug.
  • Acute or chronic renal disease, moderate or severe renal impairment, history of renal disease, or estimated (eGFR) \<60 mL/min/1.73 m2 calculated by Chronic Kidney Disease Epidemiology (CKD-EPI) equation.
  • History of any other condition that, in the opinion of the Investigator, would compromise the participant's ability to comply with the protocol or that might compromise the participant's safety or the interpretation of the study results.
  • Participant is currently receiving therapy, including intermittent or low-dose and is not able or willing to suspend its use for a period from 2 weeks before and throughout the study.
  • Participant is currently receiving and refuses to interrupt any systemic or topical medication that is excluded.
  • Participant received an systemic or topically administered prescription drug within 30 days before enrollment.
  • Participant has received botulinum toxin (Botox) injections within 6 months of enrollment.
  • Participant has a known allergic reaction to any ingredients of study drug formulation.
  • Participant is currently participating in any other therapeutic clinical study.
  • Participant is pregnant, intending to become pregnant, or breastfeeding.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(14)

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

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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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

ECG (electrocardiogram)

A recording of the heart’s electrical activity, taken with stickers on the chest, arms and legs. It takes a few minutes and does not hurt.

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.

Child-Pugh class

A score of how well the liver works in people with liver disease such as cirrhosis: class A is mild, B moderate and C severe.

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.

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.

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    ADX-629 treatment

    Open label treatment with ADX-629

    Drug: ADX-629

Interventions

  • Particpants 10-50 years old will be administered ADX-629 250 mg tablets twice daily. Participants 5-9 years old will be administered ADX-629 125 mg tablets twice daily.

    Also known as: Open label

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Number of Participants With Treatment-related Adverse Events as Assessed by CTCAE v4.0

    Participants are required to report any adverse events as they arise and will be contacted weekly for information regarding adverse events. Physical examinations with vital signs will be done monthly.

    Time frame: weekly for 12 weeks

  2. Number of Participants With Abnormal Drug-related Safety Blood Tests

    Participants will have monthly medical tests to monitor safety of ADX-629 including complete blood count, comprehensive chemistry panel, vitamin A, vitamin B6 (pyridoxal phosphate), homocysteine, and urinalysis.

    Time frame: monthly for 12 weeks

  3. Compliance and Tolerability of ADX-629

    A written drug log will be required for recording daily administration of ADX-629 tablets and any problems tolerating the drug. Unused tablets will be counted as a measure of compliance.

    Time frame: daily for 12 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Biochemical Efficacy of ADX-629 as Determined by Reversal of Abnormal Biomarkers

    Biochemical efficacy of ADX-629 in reversing disease-specific abnormalities in blood levels of fatty alcohols, alkylglycerol lipids, SLS metabolomic profile, SLS lipid profile, and oxidative stress markers. Skin elasticity and thickness, transepidermal water loss, stratum corneum fatty alcohols and alkylglycerol lipids will also be measured.

    Time frame: Tests will be done at week 1 and week 12.

Other outcomes

  1. Exploratory Clinical Outcomes to Determine Drug Dependent Changes in Abnormal Clinical Measures

    Clinical response to ADX-629 will be determined with brain MRI, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, EEG, clinical spasticity scores, visual index of ichthyosis severity score, and SLS retinopathy based on eye exam and retinal photographs.

    Time frame: Examinations and procedures will be done at week 1 and week 12.

07

Study locations

1 site
  • University of Nebraska Medical Center
    Omaha, Nebraska 68198, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Rizzo WB. Sjogren-Larsson syndrome: molecular genetics and biochemical pathogenesis of fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase deficiency. Mol Genet Metab. 2007 Jan;90(1):1-9. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgme.2006.08.006. Epub 2006 Sep 22. PubMed 16996289 ↗
  • Rizzo WB. Genetics and prospective therapeutic targets for Sjogren-Larsson Syndrome. Expert Opin Orphan Drugs. 2016 Apr;4(4):395-406. doi: 10.1517/21678707.2016.1154453. Epub 2016 Mar 10. PubMed 27547594 ↗
  • Rizzo WB, S'aulis D, Dorwart E, Bailey Z. Sjogren-Larsson syndrome: A biochemical rationale for using aldehyde-reactive therapeutic agents. Mol Genet Metab Rep. 2021 Dec 23;30:100839. doi: 10.1016/j.ymgmr.2021.100839. eCollection 2022 Mar. PubMed 35242571 ↗

Individual participant data

Plan to share: No — Aggregate de-identified data will be shared with other investigators by request.

09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on May 5, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT05443685
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jul 5, 2022
Start date
Jan 2, 2023
Primary completion
Apr 1, 2026
Completion
Apr 1, 2026
Last update
May 5, 2026

Study contacts

William B Rizzo, MD
principal investigator · University of Nebraska

Oversight

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

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