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Not yet recruitingNCT07606664FAVES-BUpdated Aug 19, 2026

Fezolinetant and Vascular Health and Brain Health

A Phase 3 interventional study of Placebo and Fezolinetant in Menopause Hot Flashes, sponsored by Rebecca Thurston. Not yet recruiting at 2 sites in United States. Open to female participants aged 40 Years to 65 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-19.

Sponsored by Rebecca Thurston · Phase 3, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 3
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
220
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
40 Years to 65 Years
Sex
Female
01

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn whether a study drug called fezolinetant impacts cardiovascular and cognitive health in women who have moderate to severe menopausal hot flashes and night sweats.

Researchers will compare fezolinetant to a placebo. A placebo is a pill that looks like the study drug but does not contain any active medicine. This comparison helps researchers understand whether fezolinetant works better than no treatment.

Participants will:

Be randomly assigned to take either fezolinetant (45 mg) or a placebo once a day for 12 weeks.

Visit the research clinic for regular checkups and tests during the study. Complete tests that measure blood vessel function and cognition.

Participants and study staff will not know which treatment each participant receives during the study.

Read the detailed description

Double-blind, placebo-controlled randomized trial to determine whether 12 weeks of 45 mg of fezolinetant, a non-hormonal treatment for hot flashes associated with menopause, improves vascular and brain health in participants with moderate to severe menopausal hot flashes. Participants will be randomized to either 12 weeks of fezolinetant 45 mg or placebo. Primary endpoints include change from baseline in endothelial function and verbal memory.

02

Conditions studied

  • Menopause Hot Flashes

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Keywords

  • menopause
  • hot flashes
  • vascular health
  • brain health
  • women's health
  • cognition
03

In context

Hot Flashes

339 studies on the registry are indexed under Hot Flashes; 56 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 220 is above the median of 90 across 306 interventional studies indexed under Hot Flashes.

Browse Hot Flashes studies →

Lead sponsor

This is the only study on the registry with Rebecca Thurston as lead sponsor.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
40 Years to 65 Years
Sexes eligible
Female
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

  • Born female
  • Age ≥40 - ≤65 years at the time of the screening visit
  • (BMI) ≥18 to ≤38 kg/m2
  • Seeking treatment or relief for moderate to severe VMS associated with menopause
  • Confirmed menopausal as per one of the following criteria at the time of screening: Reporting spontaneous amenorrhea for ≥12 consecutive months; spontaneous amenorrhea for ≥6 and \< 12 months with follicle-stimulating hormone >40 IU/L
  • Negative urine pregnancy test at screening (if \<12 months of amenorrhea)
  • A minimum average of 7-8 moderate to severe VMS per day, or 50-60 per week prior to randomization as reported in the 7-day hot flash diary
  • Agrees to not participate in another interventional study (pharmaceutical or device) while participating in this current study

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Pregnancy/lactation (past 6 months)
  • Any treatment for hot flashes with demonstrated efficacy for hot flashes
  • Currently using systemic sex-hormone medications.
  • Currently using cytochrome P450 1A2 (CYP1A2) inhibitors (as listed according to the FDA).
  • Severely elevated blood pressure [systolic blood pressure (SBP) >180 and/or diastolic blood pressure (DBP) >110]
  • A medical condition or chronic disease (including history of hepatic, renal, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, pulmonary [e.g., moderate asthma], endocrine or gynecological disease) or that could confound interpretation of the study in the opinion of the investigator or study physician
  • Self-reported narcolepsy
  • Previous/current history of a malignant tumor, except for basal cell carcinoma
  • Participants with known cirrhosis, active liver disease, jaundice, or elevated liver aminotransferases or total (, AST, and total bilirubin), should not be enrolled if ALT or AST is ≥ 2 x or if the total bilirubin is ≥ 2 x ULN for the evaluating laboratory. Participants with ALP > 1.5 × ULN and judged by the study physician.
  • Severe renal impairment [estimated (eGFR) 15 to \<30 mL/min per 1.73 m2] or end-stage renal disease (ESRD) (eGFR \< 15 mL/min/1.73 m2) at screening as per USPI
  • Positive virus antibody, surface antigen, and/or antibody screen at screening
  • History within the last 6 months of undiagnosed uterine bleeding
  • Key medical conditions (history of cardiovascular disease, stroke/cerebrovascular accident, brain injury with loss of consciousness for more than 60 seconds within the last five years, cognitive disorders, brain tumor, dementia, Parkinson's disease, chemotherapy, psychotic disorders)
  • Metal in the body, claustrophobia, or cannot undergo 3T magnetic resonance imaging (MRI); Inability to meet MRI eligibility criteria
  • Lymph node removal on both sides of the body, mastectomy, or dialysis
  • Hysterectomy; levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine systems initiated before 12 months of spontaneous amenorrhea (Not exclusionary if placed after 12 months of spontaneous amenorrhea), or history of endometrial ablation will be excluded due to inability to stage menopause; Bilateral oophorectomy if completed prior to 12 months of spontaneous amenorrhea
  • Cardiovascular medication use.
  • Prior exposure to fezolinetant or elinzanetant
  • Current participation in another interventional study or participated in an interventional study or received any drug within 3 months
  • Illicit substance use reported in the past week or detected by urine toxicology screen.
  • Subject has any condition, which in the investigator's or study physician's opinion, makes the subject unsuitable for study participation.
Terms in these criteria, in plain language(11)

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.

BMI (body mass index)

Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.

What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

05

Study design

Phase
Phase 3
Primary purpose
Treatment
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
Triple (Participant, Investigator, Outcomes assessor)
Enrollment
220 participants (estimated)

Study arms

  • Placebo comparator
    Placebo Arm

    The placebo tablet will be an identical tablet appearing to active medication. The placebo tablets contain the following inactive ingredients: ferric oxide, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hypromellose, low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose, magnesium stearate, mannitol, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, talc, and titanium dioxide.

    Drug: Placebo

  • Experimental
    Active Study Drug

    Fezolinetant is a white powder. It is very slightly soluble in water (0.29 mg/mL). Fezolinetant tablets that will be used in this study are round, light red film-coated tablets with no marking on the tablets. Each fezolinetant tablet for oral use contains 45 mg of fezolinetant and the following inactive ingredients: ferric oxide, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hypromellose, low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose, magnesium stearate, mannitol, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, talc, and titanium dioxide.

    Drug: Fezolinetant

Interventions

  • DrugPlacebo

    The placebo tablet will be an identical tablet appearing to active medication. The placebo tablets contain the following inactive ingredients: ferric oxide, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hypromellose, low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose, magnesium stearate, mannitol, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, talc, and titanium dioxide).

  • Fezolinetant is a white powder. It is very slightly soluble in water (0.29 mg/mL). Fezolinetant tablets that will be used in this study are round, light red film-coated tablets with no marking on the tablets. Each fezolinetant tablet for oral use contains 45 mg of fezolinetant and the following inactive ingredients: ferric oxide, hydroxypropyl cellulose, hypromellose, low-substituted hydroxypropyl cellulose, magnesium stearate, mannitol, microcrystalline cellulose, polyethylene glycol, talc, and titanium dioxide.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Flow-Mediated Dilation

    Endothelial function assessed by flow-mediated dilation

    Time frame: Baseline and end of treatment at 12 weeks.

  2. Verbal Memory Performance

    Verbal memory performance on the California Verbal Learning Test

    Time frame: Baseline and end of treatment at 12 weeks.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Endothelial Biomarkers

    Blood-based endothelial function biomarkers

    Time frame: Baseline and end of treatment at 12 weeks.

  2. Brain Activation during Verbal Encoding

    Memory circuitry as measured by changes in brain activation during performance of a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task of verbal encoding

    Time frame: Baseline and end of treatment at 12 weeks.

  3. Functional Connectivity during recall

    Memory circuitry as measured by changes in functional connectivity during performance of a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) task of verbal recall

    Time frame: Baseline and end of treatment at 12 weeks.

  4. Subjective Vasomotor Hot Flash Diary

    frequency of subjectively assessed VMS using a digital hot flash diary

    Time frame: Baseline and end of treatment at 12 weeks.

  5. Objective Vasomotor Monitoring

    Frequency of objectively measured VMS using 24-hour skin conductance monitoring

    Time frame: Baseline and end of treatment at 12 weeks.

  6. Sleep Monitoring

    Objective sleep monitoring.

    Time frame: Baseline and end of treatment at 12 weeks.

07

Study locations

2 sites
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 Aug 19, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07606664
Lead sponsor
Rebecca Thurston
Responsible party
Rebecca Thurston (Associate Dean for Women's Health Research; Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, Epidemiology, and Clinical and Translational Sciences, University of Pittsburgh) — Sponsor-investigator
First posted
May 26, 2026
Start date
Sep 25, 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Nov 30, 2029 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 30, 2029 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 19, 2026

Study contacts

Sarah M Conklin, PhD
Contact
conklinsm2@upmc.edu
878-261-6899
Mollie B Bandy, BA
Contact
BandyMB@upmc.edu
412-648-9088
Rebecca C Thurston, PhD
principal investigator · University of Pittsburgh

Oversight

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

Not currently enrolling

This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Aug 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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Studies of the drug tested here: Fezolinetant

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