Vadadustat in Patients with Anemia and Non-Dialysis-Dependent CKD.

BACKGROUND: Vadadustat is an oral hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF) prolyl hydroxylase inhibitor, a class of drugs that stabilize HIF and stimulate erythropoietin and red-cell production. METHODS: In two phase 3, randomized, open-label, active-controlled, noninferiority trials, we compared vadadustat with the erythropoiesis-stimulating agent (ESA) darbepoetin alfa in patients with non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD) not previously treated with an ESA who had a hemoglobin concentration of less than 10 g per deciliter and in patients with ESA-treated NDD-CKD and a hemoglobin concentration of 8 to 11 g per deciliter (in the United States) or 9 to 12 g per deciliter (in other countries). The primary safety end point, assessed in a time-to-event analysis, was the first major adverse cardiovascular event (MACE; a composite of death from any cause, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke), pooled across the two trials. Secondary safety end points included expanded MACE (MACE plus hospitalization for either heart failure or a thromboembolic event). The primary and key secondary efficacy end points in each trial were the mean change in hemoglobin concentration from baseline during two evaluation periods: weeks 24 through 36 and weeks 40 through 52. RESULTS: A total of 1751 patients with ESA-untreated NDD-CKD and 1725 with ESA-treated NDD-CKD underwent randomization in the two trials. In the pooled analysis, in which 1739 patients received vadadustat and 1732 received darbepoetin alfa, the hazard ratio for MACE was 1.17 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.01 to 1.36), which did not meet the prespecified noninferiority margin of 1.25. The mean between-group differences in the change in the hemoglobin concentration at weeks 24 through 36 were 0.05 g per deciliter (95% CI, -0.04 to 0.15) in the trial involving ESA-untreated patients and -0.01 g per deciliter (95% CI, -0.09 to 0.07) in the trial involving ESA-treated patients, which met the prespecified noninferiority margin of -0.75 g per deciliter. CONCLUSIONS: Vadadustat, as compared with darbepoetin alfa, met the prespecified noninferiority criterion for hematologic efficacy but not the prespecified noninferiority criterion for cardiovascular safety in patients with NDD-CKD. (Funded by Akebia Therapeutics and Otsuka Pharmaceutical; PRO2TECT ClinicalTrials.gov numbers, NCT02648347 and NCT02680574.).

Cardiovascular safety and efficacy of vadadustat for the treatment of anemia in non-dialysis-dependent CKD: Design and baseline characteristics.

Current clinical practice guidelines for anemia management in non-dialysis-dependent chronic kidney disease (NDD-CKD) recommend the use of erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) as standard of care. Vadadustat, an investigational oral hypoxia-inducible factor prolyl-hydroxylase inhibitor, stimulates endogenous erythropoietin production. The PRO2TECT program comprises 2 global, Phase 3, randomized, open-label, active-controlled, sponsor-blind clinical trials to evaluate safety and efficacy of vadadustat vs darbepoetin alfa in adult patients with anemia associated with NDD-CKD. Patients recruited into the ESA-untreated NDD-CKD trial (N = 1751) had hemoglobin <10 g/dL and had not received an ESA within 8 weeks prior to inclusion in the study. Patients recruited into the ESA-treated NDD-CKD trial (N = 1725) had hemoglobin between 8 and 11 g/dL (US) or 9 and 12 g/dL (non-US) and were actively treated with an ESA for anemia associated with CKD. Trial periods in both trials include (1) correction/conversion (weeks 0-23); (2) maintenance (weeks 24-52); (3) long-term treatment (week 53 to end of treatment); and (4) safety follow-up (end-of-treatment to 4 weeks later). The primary safety endpoint is time to first adjudicated major adverse cardiovascular event, defined as all-cause mortality, nonfatal myocardial infarction, or nonfatal stroke, pooled across both trials. The primary efficacy endpoint in each trial is change in hemoglobin from baseline to primary evaluation period (weeks 24-36), comparing vadadustat vs darbepoetin alfa treatment groups. Demographics and baseline characteristics are similar among patients in both trials and broadly representative of the NDD-CKD population. These trials will help to evaluate the safety and efficacy of vadadustat for management of anemia associated with NDD-CKD.

Efficacy and Safety of Single-Dose Oral Delafloxacin Compared With Intramuscular Ceftriaxone for Uncomplicated Gonorrhea Treatment: An Open-Label, Noninferiority, Phase 3, Multicenter, Randomized Study.

BACKGROUND: We evaluated single oral dose of delafloxacin versus single intramuscular ceftriaxone in participants with uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea (primary objective). Secondary objectives included the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of delafloxacin versus ceftriaxone for uncomplicated urogenital, rectal, and/or pharyngeal gonorrhea. METHODS: In this open-label, multicenter study, 460 participants at 25 study centers were randomized (2:1) to receive a single 900-mg oral dose of delafloxacin or 250-mg intramuscular ceftriaxone. Neisseria gonorrhoeae culture, nucleic acid amplification test, and clinical responses were evaluated. The primary efficacy end point was the urogenital microbiological cure in the urogenital microbiological intention-to-treat population; noninferiority (NI) was assessed using a 10% NI margin. RESULTS: In the urogenital microbiological intention-to-treat population, urogenital cure rates for delafloxacin were 85.1% (194/228) versus 91.0% (91/100) for ceftriaxone (95% confidence interval, -13.18% to 1.36%). Because the lower bound of the confidence interval exceeded the prespecified -10% NI margin, delafloxacin did not demonstrate NI to ceftriaxone. Treatment failures were more often associated with N. gonorrhoeae with higher delafloxacin minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values. In microbiologically evaluable participants, failure occurred in 1 (0.6%) of 177 urogenital infections caused by isolates with delafloxacin MICs <0.008 µg/mL and 31 (64.6%) of 48 infections caused by isolates with delafloxacin MICs ≥0.008 µg/mL. Gastrointestinal adverse events were common with 900-mg of delafloxacin and typically included mild to moderate diarrhea, flatulence, nausea, and vomiting. The most common adverse event was diarrhea in both treatment groups. CONCLUSIONS: A single 900-mg dose of delafloxacin is not a reliable treatment of uncomplicated urogenital gonorrhea. Treatment failures were common in infections caused by N. gonorrhoeae with delafloxacin MICs ≥0.008 µg/mL. Additional testing with alternative dosing regimens could be considered.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02015637.

Impact of concomitant medication use on myocardial 123I-mIBG imaging results in patients with heart failure.

INTRODUCTION: Medications that interfere with sympathetic neuronal norepinephrine uptake and storage, such as neuropsychiatrics (NP) and sympathomimetic amines, are most likely to affect cardiac uptake of iodine-123 metaiodobenzylguanidine (I-mIBG). The present study examined these and other medications reported to affect I-mIBG uptake using measurements of cardiac I-mIBG uptake on the heart failure (HF) patients in the ADMIRE-HF extension (X) study. METHODS: Baseline concomitant medications taken by the 961 HF patients were categorized into five groups: calcium channel blockers, NP medications, ß agonists and sympathomimetics, α antagonists, and other antihypertensives. NP medications were further subcategorized into those expected to have high and low impact on norepinephrine transporter (NET) function. Myocardial I-mIBG heart/mediastinum (H/M) uptake ratios on 4 h planar images were compared among the groups. Impact of medication group on the prognostic value of the H/M ratio for all-cause (AC) and cardiac death during a median 2-year follow-up was also examined. RESULTS: A total of 283 (29%) patients were using at least one calcium channel blocker, NP medication, or ß agonist or sympathomimetic. These patients had a lower mean H/M ratio than the other study patients (1.42±0.20 vs. 1.45±0.20; P=0.022). However, the 2-year AC mortality rates in the two groups were the same [11.3% (95% confidence interval: 7.5-15.2%) vs. 11.8% (95% confidence interval: 9.2-14.4%)]. In terms of medication categories, there were no significant differences in the mean H/M ratios between patients who did and did not use NP medications, ß agonists, calcium channel blockers, and α antagonists. Across all categories, patients with H/M ratio greater than or equal to 1.60 had lower AC and cardiac mortality. Patients using higher potency (for NET inhibition) NP medications had significantly lower H/M ratio values, but the prognostic significance of H/M ratio greater than or equal to 1.60 was unchanged. CONCLUSION: Only a small number of higher potency NET-inhibiting NP medications have a measurable effect on the results of I-mIBG myocardial imaging. There appears to be no basis for restricting the use of calcium channel blockers and ß agonist respiratory medications in HF patients referred for cardiac I-mIBG imaging.