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RecruitingNCT07729579Updated Aug 13, 2026

An Open-Label Pharmacokinetic Study for Patients With Actinic Keratosis on the Upper Extremities or the Face

A Phase 1 interventional study of Investigational drug and Photodynamic therapy in Actinic Keratosis (AK), sponsored by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited. Recruiting at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years to 85 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-13.

Sponsored by Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited · Phase 1, Interventional, and Treatment

Phase
Phase 1
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
48
Allocation
Not applicable
Ages
18 Years to 85 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

The research study will evaluate how the body absorbs and reacts to reformulated Levulan Kerastick when applied to actinic keratosis lesions (AKs) on the skin of the forearms or face followed by photodynamic therapy (PDT), a treatment that uses application of blue light.

Read the detailed description

This is a pharmacokinetic (PK) study which involves measuring drug levels in blood. Blood levels of Levulan Kerastick's active ingredient (aminolaevulinic acid, ALA) and its by-product (protoporphyrin IX, PpIX) will be measured. PK blood samples will be collected at: pre-application, 15 minutes, 0.5 hours, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, 3.5 hours, 4 hours, 6 hours, 8 hours, 10 hours, 12 hours, and 16 hours after dose on Day 1; at 24 hours and 36 hours post-dose on Day 2; and at 48 hours post-dose on Day 3.

02

Conditions studied

  • Actinic Keratosis (AK)

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03

In context

Keratosis, Actinic

343 studies on the registry are indexed under Keratosis, Actinic; 29 are open to participants now.

This study's planned enrollment of 48 is below the median of 60 across 295 interventional studies indexed under Keratosis, Actinic.

Browse Keratosis, Actinic studies →

Lead sponsor

Sun Pharmaceutical Industries Limited is the lead sponsor of 60 studies on the registry; 5 are open to participants now.

Of its 24 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 22 (92%) have results posted.

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

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years to 85 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

  • Provided written .
  • Patient is willing and able to comply with study protocol, visit schedule, and other study-related instructions/procedures, including in-clinic stay as required.
  • Patient is a male or non-pregnant female 18 to 85 years of age (inclusive) at Screening.
  • Patient has either 4 or more AK lesions on the upper extremities; or 6 or more AK lesions on the face. Lesions must be within an area of 25 cm2.
  • Patient is in good general health and free of any disease state or physical condition.
  • Patient has veins suitable for repeat blood draws.
  • Patient is willing to abstain from sunbathing, solarium use, exposure to artificial tanning devices.
  • Patient is willing to follow a consistent skin care routine without significant change.
  • Patient is willing to stop using all topical products within the Treatment Area(s) starting from 8 hours prior to initiation of treatment.
  • Patients who are women of must agree to use a highly effective method of during the study.
  • Patients who are male with female partners of childbearing potential must use a barrier method of contraception (e.g., condom) if not surgically sterile.
  • Females of childbearing potential must have a negative serum pregnancy test at Screening and a negative urine pregnancy test before initiation of treatment at Baseline.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patient is pregnant, lactating, or is planning to become pregnant during the study.
  • Patient has severe AK lesions within the Treatment Area.
  • Patient has untreated skin cancers or lesions suspicious for skin cancer within the Treatment Area.
  • Patient has an active herpes simplex infection OR a history of ≥2 outbreaks within past 12 months in the Treatment Area.
  • Patient has significant skin abnormality involving the Treatment Area
  • Patient has a history of skin sensitivity to light.
  • Patient has known to one or more components of the IP.
  • Patient has a history of lead poisoning or a history of significant exposure to lead.
  • Patient smokes more than 10 cigarettes/day.
  • Patient has a suppressed immune system.
  • Patient has a coagulation defects.
  • Patient has a (BMI) > 32.0 kg/m2.
  • Patient has donate blood recently.
  • Patient is positive for , and/or .
  • Patient has history of alcohol or drug abuse during the past year prior.
  • Patient has a positive urine screen for drugs of abuse.
  • Patient has abnormal labs at Screening.
  • Patient had a major surgery within 30 days or plans to have surgery during the study.
  • Patient has any condition which would make it unsafe for the patient to participate in this research study or interferes with assessment/interpretation of study outcomes.
  • Patient received any topical or systemic therapies on the Treatment Area within a certain amount of time.
  • Patient is currently enrolled in an drug, investigational biologic, or investigational device study.
  • Patient has received an investigational drug, investigational biologic, or investigational device treatment within 30 days or 5 half-lives of the experimental agent, whichever is longer, prior to initiation of treatment at Baseline.
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.

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.

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.

Hypersensitivity

An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.

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.

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.

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.

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

Study arms

  • Experimental
    Cohort A or B

    Participants will be enrolled into one of two cohorts depending on the location of the AK lesions, either the face/forehead, or the upper extremities.

    Drug: Investigational drug · Device: Photodynamic therapy

Interventions

  • The study drug will be applied to the treatment area containing an acceptable number of AK lesions. If enrolled in group A (Cohort A), the treatment area will be on both forearms. During an incubation period of 3 hours the treatment area on both forearms will be covered. After the dressing will be removed, and the light therapy will begin and last for 8 minutes and 20 seconds. If you are enrolled in group B (Cohort B), the treatment area will be on the face. During the incubation period of 3 hours the treatment area will not be covered. After, the light therapy will begin and last for 8 minutes and 20 seconds. After treatment, the study staff will perform serial blood draws for PK testing at pre-determined time points during the day.

  • DevicePhotodynamic therapy

    The study drug will be applied to the treatment area containing an acceptable number of AK lesions. If enrolled in group A (Cohort A), the treatment area will be on both forearms. During an incubation period of 3 hours the treatment area on both forearms will be covered. After the dressing will be removed, and the light therapy will begin and last for 8 minutes and 20 seconds. If you are enrolled in group B (Cohort B), the treatment area will be on the face. During the incubation period of 3 hours the treatment area will not be covered. After, the light therapy will begin and last for 8 minutes and 20 seconds. After treatment, the study staff will perform serial blood draws for PK testing at pre-determined time points during the day.

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. Plasma concentrations

    To evaluate the potential systemic exposure of ALA and protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) when reformulated Levulan Kerastick containing ALA HCl for topical solution, 20% is applied topically in a maximal use setting in separate cohorts of patients with actinic keratoses (AKs) involving the upper extremities or the face.

    Time frame: From treatment to 48 hours

Secondary outcomes

  1. Safety/Tolerability

    To evaluate safety/tolerability (local and systemic) of reformulated Levulan Kerastick in these cohorts.

    Time frame: From treatment to Day 29

07

Study locations

1 of 1 sites recruiting
08

Timeline

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
ElapsedEstimatedEstimated, not yet reached

Start is estimated for Aug 2026; primary completion for Dec 2026, 4 months later.

How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.

Registered
Jul 22, 2026
First posted
Jul 27, 2026
StartEst.
Aug 4, 2026
Primary completionEst.
Dec 2026
CompletionEst.
Dec 2026
Last update
Aug 13, 2026
What these dates mean
Start.
When the first participant enrolled; while estimated, when the study expects to open to recruitment.
Primary completion.
When the last participant was examined or treated to collect data for the study's main question, its primary outcome. A study that stopped early gives the date its data collection stopped.
Completion.
When the last participant's last visit took place, for every outcome, secondary ones and side effects included: the end of the study. Often later than primary completion, sometimes the same day.
Actual and Est.
Actual means the registry says the date has happened. Est. (estimated) is a date the sponsor plans or expects. It can still move, and the sponsor is expected to change it to actual once it has passed.
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Aug 13, 2026, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
09

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT07729579
Responsible party
Sponsor
First posted
Jul 27, 2026
Start date
Aug 4, 2026 (estimated)
Primary completion
Dec 2026 (estimated)
Completion
Dec 2026 (estimated)
Last update
Aug 13, 2026

Oversight

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

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