This is a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, international, multicentre, confirmatory Phase III study in patients with grass pollen-related allergic rhinoconjunctivitis. After having given written informed consent, the patients will be examined to establish eligibility according to inclusion/exclusion criteria. The eligible patients will be randomised to Placebo or gpASIT+™ treatment according to a 1:1 ratio. Study treatment will be administered before the start of the pollen season in 2019
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
QUADRUPLE
Enrollment
624
4 x 2 injection over 21 days the dosage is100 µg/ml
4 x 2 injection over 21 days the dosage is100 µg/ml
Average daily Combined Symptom and Medication Score collected during the peak of the grass pollen season
Symptoms are measured on a scale from 0 to 3- No symptoms= 0 mild symptoms=1 moderate symptoms =2 severe symptoms =3. Daily symptom score is calculated as: daily RTSS/6. Medication score: No rescue medications used =0 Tablet of antihistamine = 1 Nasal spray of fluticasone propionate with or without antihistamine= 2 Tablet of methylprednisolone with or without antihistamine/ fluticasone propionate= 3 Maximum daily Rescue Medication Score (RMS):3 CSMS= dSS (daily symptom score) (0-3) + dMS (daily medication score)(0-3)= 0-6 The daily symptom score and the daily RMS each range from 0 to 3 and, thus, the daily CSMS ranges from 0 to 6. The average CSMS of the peak of the grass pollen season or the whole grass pollen season will be calculated, per patient, as the sum of the daily CSMS within the peak of pollen season or the whole pollen season divided by the number of days of the peak pollen season or the whole pollen season, respectively (as defined by Pfaar et al. 2014).
Time frame: the patients assessed up to 9 months. [Safety Issue: No]
Combined symptom and medication score (CSMS) over the entire grass pollen season
Symptoms are measured on a scale from 0 to 3- No symptoms= 0 mild symptoms=1 moderate symptoms =2 severe symptoms =3. Daily symptom score is calculated as: daily RTSS/6. Medication score: No rescue medications used =0 Tablet of antihistamine = 1 Nasal spray of fluticasone propionate with or without antihistamine= 2 Tablet of methylprednisolone with or without antihistamine/ fluticasone propionate= 3 Maximum daily Rescue Medication Score (RMS):3 CSMS= dSS (daily symptom score) (0-3) + dMS (daily medication score)(0-3)= 0-6 The daily symptom score and the daily RMS each range from 0 to 3 and, thus, the daily CSMS ranges from 0 to 6. The average CSMS of the peak of the grass pollen season or the whole grass pollen season will be calculated, per patient, as the sum of the daily CSMS within the peak of pollen season or the whole pollen season divided by the number of days of the peak pollen season or the whole pollen season, respectively (as defined by Pfaar et al. 2014).
Time frame: the patients assessed up to 9 months. [Safety Issue: No]
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Symptom subscores (eyes and nose) over the peak period and the entire grass pollen season
Symptom scores for nose (rhinorrhoea, sneezing, nasal pruritus, nasal congestion) and eye (ocular pruritus, watery eyes) symptoms will be collected on a daily basis, using a four-point ordinal scale. Nasal symptoms: (Score 0-3) 0 = no symptoms 1. = mild symptoms (sign/symptom clearly present, but minimal awareness; easily tolerated) 2. = moderate symptoms (definite awareness of sign/symptom that is bothersome but tolerable) 3. = severe symptoms (sign/symptom that is hard to tolerate; causes interference with activities of daily living and/or sleeping) Itchy nose:0-3 Sneezing:0-3 Runny nose:0-3 Blocked nose:0-3 Conjunctival symptoms: Itchy/red eyes:0-3 Watery eyes:0-3
Time frame: the patients assessed up to 9 months. [Safety Issue: No]
Total Symptom Score (TSS: the sum of the eyes, nose and lung symptom scores) in asthmatic patients only over the peak period and the entire grass pollen season
The daily Rhinoconjunctivitis Total Symptom Score (RTSS) will correspond to the sum of the six nose and eye symptoms (score ranging from 0 to 18). Then, daily symptom score is calculated as: daily RTSS/6.The common rating system is the following: * 0 = no symptoms; * 1 = mild symptoms (sign/symptom clearly present but minimal awareness, easily tolerated); * 2 = moderate symptoms (definite awareness of any sign/symptom that is bothersome but tolerated); * 3 = severe symptoms (sign/symptom that is hard to tolerate, causing interference with activities of daily living and/or sleeping) as defined by Pfaar et al. 2014
Time frame: the patients assessed up to 9 months. [Safety Issue: No]
Use of rescue medication to relieve asthma symptoms in asthmatic patients
Patients will be instructed to use the rescue medications according to the following standardised and stepwise procedure: 1. In first instance: oral H1 antihistamine (desloratadine, one 5 mg tablet/day); 2. If Step 1 fails or is insufficient, intranasal corticosteroid: fluticasone propionate (50 µg/dose, one puff/nostril as needed) (alone or combined with oral antihistamine); 3. If Step 2 fails: oral corticosteroid (methylprednisolone 16 mg tablet, one tablet/day for a maximum of 3 days).
Time frame: the patients assessed up to 9 months. [Safety Issue: No]
Number (%) of "well days"
A "well day" is a day for which the patient does not report any intake of any rescue medication ( RMS = 0) and with no Grade ≥2 individual eye or nose symptom and overall Rhinoconjunctivitis Total Symptom Score (RTSS) ≤2.
Time frame: the patients assessed up to 9 months. [Safety Issue: No]
Standardised Rhinoconjunctivitis Quality of Life Questionnaire in all patients
to measure the functional impairments of the patients resulting from their rhinoconjunctivitis in their day-to-day life (Juniper et al. 1999)-The validated RQLQ has 28 questions in 7 domains (activity limitation, sleep problems, nose symptoms, eye symptoms, non-nose/eye symptoms, practical problems and emotional function). There are 3 'patient-specific' questions in the activity domain which allow patients to select 3 activities in which they are most limited by their rhinoconjunctivitis. Patients recall how bothered they have been by their rhinoconjunctivitis during the previous week and to respond to each question on a 7-point scale (0 = not impaired at all - 6 = severely impaired). The overall RQLQ score is the mean of all 28 responses and the individual domain scores are the means of the items in those domains.
Time frame: the patients assessed up to 9 months. [Safety Issue: No]
Patient's Global Efficacy (PGE) assessment.
At the end of the study, the patients will be asked how they have felt overall during the study grass pollen season compared to previous grass pollen seasons ("much better", "better", "the same", "worse", "much worse"
Time frame: the patients assessed up to 9 months. [Safety Issue: No]
Number of working days lost due to grass pollen-induced allergy symptoms
Absenteeism, evaluated by recording the number of working days lost due to grass pollen-induced allergic rhinoconjunctivitis
Time frame: the patients assessed up to 9 months. [Safety Issue: No]
Systemic allergic reactions <30 minutes after investigational product administration
Immediate and delayed systemic reactions will be graded according to the World Allergy Organisation classification (Cox et al. 2010).
Time frame: up to 4 months ( safety issue:No)
Local reactions at the injection site (swelling and redness) after investigational product administration
local reaction (wheal diameter) is 5 to 8 cm
Time frame: up to 4 weeks [Safety Issue: Yes]
Other treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) and serious adverse events (SAEs)
A TEAE is defined as an event that emerges during treatment having been absent pre-treatment, or which worsens relative to the pre-treatment state.Adverse Events will be tabulated by System Organ Class (SOC) and Preferred Term (PT) after medical coding using MedDRA
Time frame: up to 8 months [Safety Issue: Yes]
Induction of grass pollen-specific Immunoglobulin: IgE, IgG and IgG4 in serum of all patients
In all patients at all sites, 2 mL of blood will be withdrawn for the measurement of grass pollen-specific IgE, IgG4 and IgG in serum sites. Grass pollen-specific IgE, IgG and IgG4 measurements in patient serum will be assessed by ImmunoCAP® method in a central laboratory
Time frame: up to 8 months [Safety Issue: No]