ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT06613360Updated Oct 26, 2026

A Study of CLN-978, a Subcutaneously Administered CD19-directed T Cell Engager, in Subjects With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

A Phase 1 interventional study of CLN-978 in SLE and SLE (Systemic Lupus), sponsored by Cullinan Therapeutics Inc.. Recruiting at 24 sites in 9 countries. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 70 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-10-26.

Sponsored by Cullinan Therapeutics Inc. · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Jan 2025; still recruiting 1 year 9 months later.
Updated Oct 22, 2026First sites in Germany and SpainSite recruiting status changed+1 moreGo to Updates ↓
Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
24
Allocation
Non-randomized
Ages
18 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Phase 1b, open-label study of CLN-978 administered subcutaneously in patients with Moderate to Severe Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE).

02

Conditions studied

  • SLE
  • SLE (Systemic Lupus)

Keywords

  • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
03

In context

Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic

1,207 studies on the registry are indexed under Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic; 405 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 24 is below the median of 52 across 876 interventional studies indexed under Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic.

Browse Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic studies →

Lead sponsor

Cullinan Therapeutics Inc. is the lead sponsor of 12 studies on the registry; 6 are open to participants now.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 70 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

  • Diagnosis of SLE at least 24 weeks prior to Screening and meet 2019 EULAR / ACR Classification Criteria at screening.
  • Presence of one or more of the following autoantibodies documented during screening or in the previous 12 months before screening: positive anti-nuclear antibody (ANA) test (≥1:80); anti dsDNA above the (ULN); anti-Sm above the ULN.
  • Active SLE disease, as demonstrated by a SLEDAI total score ≥6 at screening.
  • Inadequate response to at least 2 of the following treatments: oral , antimalarials, conventional , or biologics. At least one of the failed treatments should be an immunosuppressive or biologic standard-of care agent.
  • If on corticosteroid and/or antimalarial, the dose must be stable prior to day 1.
  • Laboratory parameters including the following:

    • Absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) ≥0.5 x 109/L
    • Peripheral B cell count ≥25 cells/µL
    • (ANC) ≥1.0 x 109/L
    • ≥8 g/dL
    • count ≥75 x 109/L.
    • Estimated (eGFR) (based on CKD-EPI formula) ≥30 mL/min/1.73m2
    • Total ≤1.5 × ULN, except patients with confirmed Gilbert's Syndrome
    • (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) ≤2.5 × ULN
  • Part B only: For patients who were treated in Part A and did not experience dose-limiting toxicity (DLT) or discontinue CLN-978 treatment due to AEs are eligible for retreatment at a higher dose or longer schedule in Part B if they otherwise meet eligibility criteria and at least 90 days have passed since the last dose of CLN-978.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Active inflammatory disease other than SLE. Thyroiditis or secondary Sjogren's syndrome is allowed.
  • Considered at high risk for thrombosis.
  • Rapidly progressive glomerulonephritis, and/or urine protein/creatinine >3 mg/mg (339 mg/mmol).
  • Active severe neuropsychiatric/CNS manifestations of SLE.
  • Evidence of , (HCV) infection, (HIV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), or cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection.
  • History of splenectomy.
  • Prior treatment with the following:

    • Cellular or gene therapy product directed at any target.
    • therapy within 30 days or 5 drug-elimination half-lives (whichever is longer) prior to Day 1.
    • Any anti-CD19 or anti-CD20 therapy less than 3 months prior to Day 1.
    • Non-biologic DMARD within 14 days prior to Day 1.
    • Cyclophosphamide within 1 month or a biologic immunomodulating therapy during 2 months prior to Day 1.
  • Live or attenuated vaccine within 28 days prior to screening or during screening.
  • Active, bacterial, viral, fungal, mycobacterial, parasitic, or other infection, including SARS-CoV-2 infection, within 14 days before Day 1.
  • Active or latent tuberculosis (TB) evidenced by a positive or indeterminant Interferon Gamma Release Assay (IGRA), unless the patient has documented previous completion of TB treatment and no current clinical indication of TB.
  • Any condition for which, in the opinion of the Investigator and/or Sponsor, would not be in the best interest of the patient to participate in the study or that could prevent, limit, or confound any protocol-defined assessment.
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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
Non-randomized
Intervention model
Sequential assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
24 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Part A Dose Escalation

    Patients with SLE treated with CLN-978 in dose escalation cohorts

    Drug: CLN-978

  • Experimental
    Part B Further Dose Evaluation

    Further evaluation of CLN-978 treatment of patients with SLE

    Drug: CLN-978

Interventions

  • Specified dose on specified days

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Safety and tolerability

    Incidence and severity of adverse events (AEs)/adverse events of special interest (AESIs)/serious adverse events (SAEs)

    Time frame: 48 weeks

Secondary outcomes

  1. Pharmacokinetics

    Serum concentrations of CLN-978

    Time frame: 48 weeks

  2. Immunogenicity

    Level of anti-drug antibodies

    Time frame: 48 weeks

  3. Pharmacodynamics-related biomarker

    Levels of total B lymphocytes in the peripheral blood

    Time frame: 48 weeks

Other outcomes

  1. hybrid Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (hSLEDAI)

    Change in hybrid Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (hSLEDAI) score on a scale of 0 to12 with a higher score meaning worse outcome

    Time frame: 48 weeks

  2. Physicians Global Assessment

    Change in Physicians Global Assessment (PGA) score on a scale of 0 to 3 with a higher score indicating worse outcome

    Time frame: 48 weeks

07

Study locations

22 of 24 sites recruiting
08

Updates

2 registry updates since Sep 25, 2026
Sites
4 sites added — first sites in Germany and Spain. Columbia University Medical Center is now Withdrawn
Show 4 added (2 United States, 1 Germany, 1 Spain)
  • Boston Children's Hospital · Boston, United States
  • NYU Grossman School of Medicine · New York, United States
  • Klinikum der Ruprecht-Karls Universitaet Heidelberg · Heidelberg, Germany
  • Hospital Quironsalud Infanta Luisa · Seville, Spain
Oct 22, 2026
Site contacts
Changed at 1 site. See the sites
Show the site
  • Stryde Research · Plano, United StatesContact a•••@stryderesearch.com · •••7721→m•••@stryderesearch.com · •••7558
Oct 26, 2026
Show all 2 updates
  1. Oct 26, 2026
    Site contacts Changed at 1 site. See the sites
    Show the site
    • Stryde Research · Plano, United StatesContact a•••@stryderesearch.com · •••7721→m•••@stryderesearch.com · •••7558
  2. Oct 22, 2026
    4 sites added — first sites in Germany and Spain. Columbia University Medical Center is now Withdrawn
    Show 4 added (2 United States, 1 Germany, 1 Spain)
    • Boston Children's Hospital · Boston, United States
    • NYU Grossman School of Medicine · New York, United States
    • Klinikum der Ruprecht-Karls Universitaet Heidelberg · Heidelberg, Germany
    • Hospital Quironsalud Infanta Luisa · Seville, Spain
    + 1 other change: 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 ↗

09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06613360
Lead sponsor
Cullinan Therapeutics Inc.
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Sep 25, 2024
Start date
Jan 21, 2025
Primary completion
Dec 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2027 (estimated)
Last update
Oct 26, 2026

Study contacts

Meagan Sardinha
Contact
ClinOps@cullinantx.com
+1 617 410 4650

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
No
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: Anti-CD19/CD3 T-cell Engaging Bispecific Antibody CLN-978

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