ClinicalTrials.gg
RecruitingNCT06956209Updated Sep 14, 2026

Akyva First In Human

An interventional study of Direct Bladder Wall Stimulation in Underactive Bladder, sponsored by Iota Biosciences, Inc. Recruiting at 2 sites in Australia. Open to participants aged 22 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-14.

Sponsored by Iota Biosciences, Inc (part of Astellas Pharma Inc) · Not applicable, Interventional, and Treatment

From the registry’s dates

  • Started Sep 2025; still recruiting 1 year 1 month later.
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
15
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
22 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The goal of this study is to check if the study device, the Akyva System, is safe to use and to find out if it has any possible side effects. Researchers will see if the study device can help you urinate without the need for catheterization, which involves passing a catheter (small tube) into the bladder, and if there is improvement in the leftover urine amount in your bladder after urinating or trying to urinate.

02

Conditions studied

  • Underactive Bladder

Keywords

  • Underactive Bladder
03

In context

Urinary Bladder, Underactive

31 studies on the registry are indexed under Urinary Bladder, Underactive; 6 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 15 is below the median of 66 across 21 interventional studies indexed under Urinary Bladder, Underactive.

Browse Urinary Bladder, Underactive studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Iota Biosciences, Inc as lead sponsor.

First submitted after Iota Biosciences, Inc became part of Astellas Pharma Inc.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
22 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.

List of Eligibility Criteria apply to both Non-neurogenic and Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Neurogenic underactive bladder study participants unless otherwise noted.

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Are male or female, as assigned at birth, aged ≥ 22 years of age. (SCI Only: 22 to 70 years of age)
  • Able to initiate at least three (3) volitional voiding episodes over the 7-day period based on review of their 7-day bladder diary collected between day of consent and before the implant procedure.
  • Currently performing clean intermittent catheterization (CIC) for urinary retention at a rate of ≥7 catheterization episodes over the 7-day period, as reflected in a 7-day bladder diary collected between day of consent and before the implant procedure.
  • Are medically fit to withstand abdominal-pelvic surgery under general anesthesia, as evaluated by standard-of-care pre-operative surgical clearance.
  • Females of must agree to the use of for the duration of the study
  • Are able to understand the risks associated with the study, are willing and able to provide written prior to any study-related activity, willing and capable of participating in all follow up assessments and willing to undergo all study assessments as described at an approved clinical investigator site.
  • No neurologic cause
  • SCI Only: Chronic spinal cord injury (>= 6 months post-injury) with sacral/infrasacral (L1 or below) lesions, or mixed lesions associated with neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD).

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Have or are scheduled for implant of any active implantable medical device (e.g., pacemaker or intrathecal or infusion pump). Individuals with implanted but inactive SNM may participate. Individuals with implanted and inactive SNM devices may participate.
  • Have metallic implants/fragments within 2 cm of the Lead paddles.
  • Have a documented allergy to tissue contacting Akyva System materials: tecothane, titanium, silicone, epoxy, stainless steel, nickel/cobalt/chromium/molybdenum, polyether ether ketone (PEEK), platinum, iridium, polymethylpentene (TPX), polycarbonate, polyester.
  • In the opinion of the Investigator(s), participants who need or are likely to need magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as part of their routine care for the duration of the study. If MRI is clinically indicated, during or after the study, explant of the Akyva System may be required
  • Have active infection requiring treatment with antibiotics at Screening, unless cleared before Akyva System Surgical Implant (Visit 2).
  • Previous or planned major surgical procedures, including, but not exclusive to: prior mesh implant \< 3 years old, OR history of mesh-related complications (e.g. erosion, exposure, infection, chronic pain), augmentation cystoplasty, urinary diversion, bladder reconstruction, and any other procedure that increases the risk of device implantation.
  • Active medical conditions that could increase the risk of surgery or device implantation, including, but not exclusive to: ascites, severe inflammatory diseases, bleeding or clotting disorders, severe cardiopulmonary disease, etc.
  • Have a significant clinical finding that would, in the opinion of the Surgical Co-Investigator, increase the risk associated with the implant procedure (e.g. ascites, severe inflammatory disease, bleeding or clotting disorder, other interfering devices etc.).
  • Have complete urinary retention.
  • An acontractile detrusor.
  • Any evidence of current bladder outlet obstruction from any cause, including, but not exclusive to, bladder neck stenosis, prostatic hypertrophy, or urethral stricture. Participants with prior surgical treatment of BPH with no clinical evidence of obstruction and do not require routine MRI may be included.
  • Type I or Type II diabetes, with an ≥ 7.0% within the last 60 days from consent.
  • Have documented renal dysfunction, defined as an estimated (eGFR) ≤ 50 mL/min/1.73 m² or
  • Evidence of moderate to severe hydronephrosis (grade 3 or 4 per Society for Fetal Urology [SFU] grading scale) on renal and bladder ultrasound within 60 days prior to implant.
  • Have any history of dialysis or kidney transplant.
  • Have more than 1 active/symptomatic bladder stone and/or have a bladder stone > 5 mm in size.
  • Have a symptomatic kidney stone requiring intervention within the last 12 months, and/or have a kidney stone > 5 mm in size.
  • Have any history of bladder cancer.
  • Locally advanced or thoracic, abdominal, or pelvic other than bladder cancer unless disease-free for five (5) years or greater.
  • Have any history of radiation cystitis.
  • Have had botulinum toxin injection in the bladder or pelvic floor in the past 6 months measured from the day of consent.
  • Diagnosis of overactive bladder (OAB), with urge urinary incontinence (OAB-wet), whether treated or untreated.
  • In the opinion of the PI, an iatrogenic cause, e.g., prior pelvic surgery, multiple or complicated deliveries, and/or other potential events are the suspected cause of UAB symptoms.
  • Currently using an indwelling (e.g. Foley) catheter for bladder emptying, with an exception for nighttime-only use.
  • Currently using suprapubic catheters, unless the suprapubic catheter is removed at least 30 days prior to implant.
  • Participants who are unable to discontinue anticoagulant therapy for the implant procedure.
  • Females of who are pregnant, not using medical or who are planning to become pregnant during the anticipated study period.
  • Predicted of less than two years from the day of consent.
  • Any condition that, in the Investigator's opinion, would preclude participation in the study (e.g., have a medical condition that may interfere with interpretation of study results, inability to adhere to the visit schedule, poor cognitive abilities, poor compliance with treatment regimen, or poor dexterity to use the system etc.).
  • Previously (within 5.5x the terminal half-life (drug trial) or 8 weeks (device trial) of the screening visit) or currently enrolled in another drug or device trial that targets lower urinary tract symptoms/function.
  • Vulnerable persons such as prisoners, mentally-disabled or cognitively impaired, homeless or economically disadvantaged, nursing home patients, or others requiring legally authorized representatives.
  • Participants that work in an environment with exposures to high levels of electromagnetic interference such as working with high powered electrical equipment.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(9)

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.

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.

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.

HbA1c

A blood test of average blood sugar over the past two to three months, given as a percentage or in mmol/mol. 6.5% (48 mmol/mol) or more is the usual threshold for diabetes, normally confirmed by a second test.

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.

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.

Life expectancy

The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.

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
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Not applicable
Intervention model
Single group
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
15 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Akyva System

    Participants in the study arm will receive a device called the "Akyva System." The Akyva System is an implantable device intended to electrically stimulate the bladder muscle that controls bladder emptying or urination. Both non-neurogenic and spinal cord injury neurogenic underactive bladder patients will be included.

    Device: Direct Bladder Wall Stimulation

Interventions

  • DeviceDirect Bladder Wall Stimulation

    The Akyva System is an implantable device intended to electrically stimulate the bladder muscle that controls bladder emptying or urination

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. To characterize the safety of implantation and use of the Akyva System

    Justification of Endpoint: As this is a first-in-human study, the primary objective is to assess the safety of the implantation and use of the Akyva System for bladder wall stimulation. Treatment-emergent incidence rates of ADEs, SADEs, and UADEs

    Time frame: From enrollment to 6 and 18 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. To assess the effect of bladder wall stimulation on bladder emptying

    Justification of Endpoint: This would be assessed by decrease in residual urine/increase in voiding efficiency or decreases in catheter reliance. * Mean number of daily volitional, satisfactory voiding episodes pre- and post-implant as recorded in the bladder diary over a 3-day or 7-day period * Mean daily voiding efficiency pre- and post- implant as recorded in the bladder diary over a 3-day or 7-day period * Mean number of daily catheterizations pre- and post-implant as recorded in the bladder diary over a 3-day or 7-day period

    Time frame: From enrollment through 18 months

  2. To assess the surgical feasibility of the Akyva system implantation procedure based on clinical usability survey data

    Justification of Endpoint: Although the surgical approach to accessing the anterior-lateral bladder wall is common in practice, the placement and use of the Akyva IPG and Leads is unique. This endpoint aims to analyze the feasibility of the Akyva implantation. * Two Akyva Leads sutured to the anterior-lateral bladder wall connected to the Akyva IPG, and an Akyva systems check demonstrating functionality verified with no non-compliance errors.

    Time frame: Perioperative/Periprocedural

07

Study locations

2 of 2 sites recruiting
08

References and documents

Individual participant data

Plan to share: Undecided

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 Sep 14, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT06956209
Collaborators
Astellas Pharma Inc, H&A LifeSciences Pty Ltd
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
May 4, 2025
Start date
Sep 24, 2025
Primary completion
Sep 2028 (estimated)
Completion
Sep 2028 (estimated)
Last update
Sep 14, 2026

Study contacts

Akyva Study Team
Contact
akyvastudy@iota.bio
+1 925-788-5929
Carmela Cusumano, MS, CCRP, CMDA
study director · Iota Biosciences
Mike Woods, MD
study chair · iota Biosciences

Oversight

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

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