Clinical Research Directory

A Study to Learn More About the Long-Term Safety and Effects of Felzartamab Infusions in Adults With Kidney Transplants Who Have Antibody-Mediated Rejection (AMR)

In this study, researchers will learn more about a drug called felzartamab in people who have received a kidney transplant and then developed a condition called antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). AMR happens when the body's immune system creates antibodies that attack the transplanted kidney. In late AMR, this happens more than 6 months after the kidney transplant. It can lead to serious kidney problems over time. An earlier study called 299AR301 (TRANSCEND) (NCT06685757) began in 2024 and is investigating felzartamab in participants with AMR. It includes a treatment period of about 1 year. It first compares treatment with felzartamab to placebo for about 6 months and then all participants are given felzartamab to complete the study. This study, 299AR301 LTE, is a long-term extension of the parent study 299AR301. Participants who join this study will have the opportunity to receive felzartamab for up to 4 more years. The goals of this study are to learn more about the long-term safety and effects of felzartamab in people with AMR. This study is part of a group of studies looking at long-term felzartamab use in people with organ transplants. This study is a substudy of the main study 299AR302. The main question researchers will answer relate to safety. Namely, how many participants have adverse events during the study and how lab test results change over time. Adverse events are health problems that may or may not be caused by the study drug. Researchers will perform kidney biopsies to track kidney health. Researchers will also study how felzartamab affects kidney inflammation, kidney function, immune activity, and overall health. The study will be done as follows: * Participants who complete the final visit of the treatment period in the parent study can enroll in this study. This includes participants who stopped receiving felzartamab early but still attended their final visits. * Participants who did not stop receiving felzartamab in the parent study will continue to receive felzartamab for up to 4 more years in this study. Participants may also stop felzartamab during this study at any time. * Participants who stopped receiving felzartamab in the parent study will only attend study visits for health monitoring- they will not receive felzartamab. * Felzartamab will be given as an intravenous (IV) infusion, which is a slow injection into a vein using a needle. * Participants receiving felzartamab may have up to 27 study visits over 200 weeks with an additional safety follow-up visit 4 weeks after their final dose. * Participants who are not receiving felzartamab may have up to 9 study visits over 200 weeks.

A Study to Evaluate the Safety and Tolerability of Efgartigimod PH20 SC Given by Prefilled Syringe in Kidney Transplant Recipients With Antibody-Mediated Rejection (AMR)

The purpose of this study is to assess the safety, tolerability, and efficacy of efgartigimod PH20 SC given by a prefilled syringe in participants with Antibody-Mediated Rejection (AMR) after kidney transplantation. After a screening period of up to 6 weeks, eligible participants will be randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio. The study drug will be administered subcutaneously while patients remain on their standard background immunosuppression therapy (tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil, steroids) during the treatment period (48 weeks). At the end of the treatment period, the participants will enter an observational/follow-up period (approximately 24 weeks). The participants will be in the study for up to 78 weeks.

A Study to Learn More About the Effects and Safety of Felzartamab Infusions in Adults With Kidney Transplants Who Have Antibody-Mediated Rejection (AMR)

In this study, researchers will learn more about the use of felzartamab in kidney transplant patients who have antibody-mediated rejection, also known as AMR. Kidney transplants can save lives for people with kidney failure. But even after a successful transplant, the body's immune system can sometimes attack the new kidney. Antibody-mediated rejection (AMR) is when a person's immune system attacks a transplanted organ, like a new kidney. In the person receiving the transplant, their immune system creates specific antibodies. Antibodies are proteins that help the body fight infections. In people with AMR, these antibodies mistakenly see the new organ as a threat and damage its blood vessels. This can cause the new organ to fail. In this study, researchers will learn more about how a study drug called felzartamab affects people with AMR. Felzartamab is a monoclonal antibody, which means it is an antibody made in a laboratory. Felzartamab can target immune cells that produce antibodies, helping to lower their buildup in the kidneys. The main goal of this study is to compare how felzartamab works in participants with kidney transplants who experience AMR compared to a placebo. A placebo is something that looks like the study drug but does not contain any medicine. A placebo is also given in the same way as the study drug. All participants in this study will have active AMR or AMR that has lasted for at least 6 months after their kidney transplant. The main question that researchers want to answer is: • How many participants have biopsy results showing that their transplanted kidney tissue looks normal or near normal after 24 weeks of treatment? Researchers will also learn about: * How long it takes before the participants' disease gets worse * How long the participants' urine protein levels stay low * Kidney biopsy scores to check for blood vessel inflammation at 6 months and 1 year * How many people have no blood vessel inflammation at these times * Changes in donor deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) levels in blood from the start of treatment * Biopsy test scores for signs of rejection and inflammation at 6 months and 1 year * Changes in kidney function from the start of treatment * How many people have biopsy results showing their kidney tissue looks normal again * How long the transplanted kidney keeps working * How many participants have medical problems during the study * How many participants show signs of another type of kidney transplant rejection called T-cell-mediated rejection (TCMR) at Week 24 and Week 52 * How do results from vital signs, electrocardiograms (ECGs), and blood and urine tests change over time * How felzartamab is processed by the body * How many participants develop antibodies against felzartamab in the blood The study will be done as follows: * Participants will be screened to check if they can join the study. This will take up to 42 days. * There will be 2 parts in this study. * Part A of the study is "double blind." This means that neither the participants, study doctor, or site staff know if the participants received the study drug or a placebo. During Part A, participants will be randomized to receive up to 9 doses of either felzartamab or placebo. * Part B of the study is "open label." This means that the participants, study doctor, and site staff know which study drug the participant is receiving. During Part B, all participants from Part A will receive up to 9 doses of felzartamab. * All doses will be given through an "intravenous" infusion. This means it will be given into a vein. The dose the participants receive will depend on their body weight. * Part A will last up to 24 weeks. Part B will last up to 28 weeks. In total, participants will have up to 21 study visits and will be in the study for about 1 year.

VIRTUUS Children's Study

The objective of the VIRTUUS Children's Study is to adapt identified and validated adult noninvasive diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers for the characterization of allograft status in pediatric recipients of kidney allografts.

Biorepository and Registry for Plasma Exchange Patients

Patients who have immune mediated diseases commonly undergo plasma exchange (PLEX) procedures to remove pathological substances, typically believed to be antibodies. At our facility about 400 of these procedures are performed annually on 40-60 different patients. These procedures are considered within the standard of care for these patients and are covered by insurance. This study will not influence the treatment plan for subjects who participate in this study. The goal of the study is to collect and cryopreserve blood biospecimens (plasma, serum, PBMCs) for current and future studies. Any patient undergoing plasma exchange procedures will be eligible for the study. Patients or the legally authorized representative (LAR) will be consented for the study as soon as feasible after the are referred to DeGowin for plasma exchange. The immediate objective of the study is to examine antibody levels (IgG/IgM) and BAFF levels in the blood of these patients over the course of the plasma exchange treatments. Specimens and clinical data will be collected such that other immune factors that may regulate B cell survival, proliferation and antibody secretion can be studied. Another goal of the study is to isolate and cryopreserve PBMCs at different points during the patient's treatment. This would allow the study of immune cells that may mediate these diseases. The study will also follow pathological antibodies over time in these patients so biospecimens can be obtained even after the completion of their course of plasma exchange treatments. The collection of biospecimens and clinical information from these subjects will help us understand the impact of plasma exchange on both normal and pathological immune factors in a variety of patients undergoing these procedures.

TocIlizumab in Late/Chronic Active Antibody-mediated Rejection in Kidney Transplant Recipients

This multi-center study is an investigator-driven randomized controlled parallel group open-label clinical trial designed to evaluate the efficacy of addition of anti-IL-6 antibody tocilizumab (TCZ) to the standard of care (SOC) treatment as compared to the SOC alone in reducing the decline of graft function in kidney transplant recipients with late or chronic antibody-mediated rejection (AMR). A total of 50 recipients will be allocated to receive either TCZ (n=25) added to the standard of care (SOC) or SOC alone (n=25) for a period of 24 months. Patients will be followed for an additional 12 months. Protocol kidney graft biopsies will be performed at 12 and 24 months. The primary outcome is the mean rate of change in graft function as assessed by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) slope from baseline to 24 months after start of treatment.

Clazakizumab in Highly-HLA Sensitized Patients Awaiting Renal Transplant

Patients who have had a previous allograft failure represent a major problem for transplant centers as they are highly-human leukocyte antigen (HLA) sensitized and unlikely to receive another transplant without significant desensitization. This single center, phase I/II, open label single-arm exploratory study focuses on enrolling twenty patients (ages 15-75) who will begin desensitization therapy to achieve HLA incompatible (HLAi) renal transplantation. Patients who qualify will receive up to 6 doses of clazakizumab 25 mg monthly pre-transplantation. If patients receive an HLAi transplant during the study, the participants will continue to receive another 6 monthly doses of clazakizumab 25 mg, followed by a 6 month protocol biopsy. Patients will continue another 6 doses over 6 months if improvements are seen after the 6th dose of clazakizumab. Patients who develop evidence of persistent allograft dysfunction may have non-protocol biopsies for cause. Patients who receive 12 doses of clazakizumab post-transplant will receive a 12M protocol biopsy.

A Prospective Randomized Trial of ECP in Subclinical AMR

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the therapeutic effect of extracorporeal photopheresis in subclinical antibody-mediated rejection after lung transplantation.The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Does ECP therapy result in a significant reduction in MFI (Mean Fluorescence Intensity) from the baseline MFI in clinically stable patients with persistent (\>6 months) dnDSAs (MFI\>1000)? 2. What is the impact of ECP therapy on the following outcomes in these patients: ACR, clinical AMR, CLAD, infections, drop-out rate, survival, adverse events? Participants will be randomized into two groups. Each group will include 40 patients. The control group will be observed and no active treatment will be administered. The treatment group will receive extracorporeal photopheresis. First, a two-day treatment cycle will be performed once every second week for the first two months. Then, a two-day treatment cycle will be performed once a month for 6 months. Researchers will compare the two groups regarding: MFI value, development of ACR, clinical AMR, CLAD, infections, survival, adverse events, immunophenotyping, miRNA expression profiling, cytokine expression, gene expression signature of PBMCs and proteomic characterization.

MuLtimodality EvaluatiOn of aNtibody mEdiated Damage in Heart Transplantation (LEONE-HT)

Cross-sectional evaluation of antibody mediated injury in heart transplantation patients through a multimodal approach: electron microscopy, optic microscopy, immunohistochemistry techniques, transthoracic echocardiography, cardiac magnetic resonance, pressure guide wire, intravascular ultrasound