A Phase 1/2 interventional study of LNP.UCD.ABE in Urea Cycle Disorders and Carbamoyl-Phosphate Synthase I Deficiency, sponsored by Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 24 Hours to 5 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-26.
Sponsored by Rebecca Ahrens-Nicklas · Phase 1/2, Interventional, and Treatment
This is a single-site Phase 1/2 open-label umbrella clinical trial designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of a single intravenous dose of LNP.UCD.ABE in 5 pediatric subjects with severe infantile-onset UCDs. This is a master clinical protocol in which subjects with a variant in a urea cycle disorder (UCD) gene (CPS1, OTC, ASS1, ASL, ARG, NAGS, or SLC25A15) that is demonstrated to be amenable to corrective editing by an adenine base editor (ABE) would be eligible for enrollment.
Humans ingest protein to support growth and the synthesis of a number of key macromolecules. Nitrogen waste generated from protein catabolism is converted to ammonia, which under normal physiologic conditions is converted to urea via the urea cycle. Urea is then excreted in urine to maintain whole-body nitrogen homeostasis. Loss of function of any of the six enzymes of the urea cycle-encoded by CPS1 (carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1), OTC (ornithine transcarbamylase), ASS1 (argininosuccinate synthetase), ASL (argininosuccinate lyase), ARG (arginase), and NAGS (N-acetylglutamate synthetase)-results in a urea cycle disorder (UCD). In addition loss of the ornithine transporter, ORNT1 (encoded by SLC25A15), can also lead to disease.
Severe UCD patients typically present as neonates and have a profound decrease in function in any one of the six enzymes of the urea cycle or a lack of function of the ornithine transporter that carries urea cycle intermediates. This results in toxic accumulation of ammonia in the blood and accumulation of specific urea cycle amino acids that aid in diagnoses and therapeutic monitoring. Patients are at risk of developing extremely elevated blood ammonia levels (hyperammonemia) that can lead acutely to coma and death and chronically to profound neurologic dysfunction.
LNP.UCD.ABE is an investigational in vivo gene editing product proposed for the treatment of hyperammonemia in patients under 5 years of age with deficiencies in enzymes or a related transporter of the urea cycle who are homozygous or compound heterozygous for a pathogenic variant in any UCD gene, including CPS1, OTC, ASS1, ASL, ARG, NAGS, and SLC25A15, that can be efficiently corrected by an adenine base editor (ABE).
Each subject will have a personalized variant-specific LNP.UCD.ABE developed and evaluated during the Screening period, which may last up to 8 months. Subjects will eligible for a lead in period to establish a stable diet. After the subject's drug is developed and lead in has been completed, the subject will be administered LNP.UCD.ABE via a single intravenous infusion. After LNP.UCD.ABE administration, participants will be followed for safety and efficacy for 52 weeks.
A history of an ammonia level of ≥400 μmol/L prior to age 12 months, unless a diagnosis was made prenatally and care was initiated immediately after birth
Subjects more than 8 weeks from the initial diagnosis of a UCD must have demonstrated:
Exclusion Criteria:
Biological: LNP.UCD.ABE
Each subject will have a personalized variant-specific LNP.UCD.ABE developed and evaluated in real time. Each member of the LNP.UCD.ABE drug product (DP) family is a lipid nanoparticle (LNP)-based editing therapeutic comprising lipid excipients, a messenger RNA (mRNA) drug substance (DS) encoding an adenine base editor (ABE), and a single guide RNA (gRNA) DS.
Safety and tolerability of a single intravenous dose of LNP.UCD.ABE
Incidence of treatment-emergent adverse events as assessed by CTCAE version 6.0 criteria at 52 weeks after LNP.UCD.ABE administration.
Time frame: 52 weeks
Clinical efficacy of a single intravenous dose of LNP.UCD.ABE
The proportion of the population that can tolerate: 1. an increase in protein intake to 100% of the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for age and/or at least a 50% reduction in the nitrogen scavenger medication dose, without an associated hyperammonemic event \[defined as an ammonia level ≥ 2.5× upper limit of normal (ULN) on a non-hemolyzed specimen and the presence of symptoms of hyperammonemia\], by 16 weeks after administration of LNP.UCD.ABE.
Time frame: 16 weeks
Plan to share: No
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