This is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled parallel-group Phase II study. The study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of TLL-018 in adult patients with moderate to severe active rheumatoid arthritis who have inadequate response or intolerance to conventional synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (csDMARDs).
The study will consist of a 35-day screening period, a 12-week randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled treatment period (Period 1: primary efficacy observation period), a 12-week open-label treatment period with TLL-018 (Period 2: extension observation period), and a 14-day safety follow-up period. Approximately 90 study participants will be randomized at a 2:1 ratio to the TLL-018 20 mg group (treatment group, 60 participants, administered twice daily \[BID\]) or the placebo group (placebo group, 30 participants, administered twice daily \[BID\]). Treatment group: TLL-018 20 mg BID in Period 1 → TLL-018 20 mg BID in Period 2 Placebo group: Placebo BID in Period 1 → TLL-018 20 mg BID in Period 2
Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
DOUBLE
Enrollment
90
Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences
Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
Percentage of Participants With an American College of Rheumatology 20% (ACR20) Response at Week 12
Participants who met all of the following 3 conditions for improvement from baseline were classified as achieving the ACR20 response criteria: 1. ≥ 20% improvement in tender joint count (68 joints); 2. ≥ 20% improvement in swollen joint count (66 joints); and 3. ≥ 20% improvement in at least 3 of the following 5 parameters: 1. Physician's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PGA); 2. Patient's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PtGA); 3. Patient self-assessed pain (VAS); 4. Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI); 5. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP); C-reactive protein (CRP) is also acceptable.
Time frame: Week 12
Percentage of Participants With an American College of Rheumatology 20/50/70% (ACR20/50/70) Response
Participants who met all of the following 3 conditions for improvement from baseline were classified as achieving the ACR20/50/70 response criteria: 1. ≥ 20/50/70% improvement in tender joint count (68 joints); 2. ≥ 20/50/70% improvement in swollen joint count (66 joints); and 3. ≥ 20/50/70% improvement in at least 3 of the following 5 parameters: 1. Physician's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PGA); 2. Patient's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PtGA); 3. Patient self-assessed pain (VAS); 4. Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI); 5. High-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP); C-reactive protein (CRP) is also acceptable.
Time frame: Week 2 to Week 24 (ACR20, excluding Week 12)
Change From Baseline in Disease Activity Score 28 (DAS28) (hsCRP)
The DAS28 is a composite index used to assess rheumatoid arthritis disease activity, calculated based on the tender joint count (out of 28 evaluated joints), swollen joint count (out of 28 evaluated joints), Patient's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (0-100), and hsCRP (in mg/L). Scores on the DAS28 range from 0 to approximately 10, where higher scores indicate more disease activity.
Time frame: Baseline to Week 24
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Percentage of Participants Achieving Low Disease Activity (LDA) Based on DAS28(hsCRP)
Low disease activity based on DAS28 (hsCRP) is defined a DAS28 (hsCRP) score of ≤ 3.2.
Time frame: Week 2 to Week 24
Percentage of Participants Achieving Clinical Remission Based on DAS28 (hsCRP)
Clinical remission (CR) based on DAS28 (hsCRP) is defined as achieving a DAS28 (hsCRP) score of less than 2.6.
Time frame: Week 2 to Week 24
Change From Baseline in CDAI Scores
Change from baseline in Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) at scheduled assessment time points. CDAI = tender joint count (68 joints) + swollen joint count (66 joints) + Physician's Global Assessment + Patient's Global Assessment.
Time frame: Baseline to Week 24
Change From Baseline in SDAI Scores
Change from baseline in Simplified Disease Activity Index (SDAI) at scheduled assessment time points. SDAI = CDAI + high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP).
Time frame: Baseline to Week 24
Change From Baseline in Health Assessment Questionnaire Disability Index (HAQ-DI)
he Health Assessment Questionnaire - Disability Index is a patient-reported questionnaire that measures the degree of difficulty a person has in accomplishing tasks in 8 functional areas (dressing, arising, eating, walking, hygiene, reaching, gripping, and errands and chores) over the past week. Participants assessed their ability to do each task on a scale from 0 (without any difficulty) to 3 (unable to do). Scores were averaged to provide an overall score ranging from 0 to 3, where 0 represents no disability and 3 represents very severe, high-dependency disability. A negative change from Baseline in the overall score indicates improvement.
Time frame: Baseline to Week 24
Change From Baseline in Duration of Morning Stiffness
Participants were asked to indicate the time it took for them to get as limber as possible after awakening with morning stiffness over the past 7 days. A negative change from Baseline indicates improvement.
Time frame: Baseline to Week 24
Change From Baseline in Patient's Assessment of Pain
Participants were asked to indicate the severity of their arthritis pain within the previous week on a visual analog scale (VAS) from 0 to 10. A score of 0 indicates "no pain" and a score of 10 indicates "worst possible pain." A negative change from Baseline indicates improvement.
Time frame: Baseline to Week 24
Change From Baseline in Patient's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PtGA)
Participants rated their disease activity for the past 24 hours using a Patient's Global Assessment of Disease Activity Global visual analogue scale (VAS). The range is 0 to 10 cm, with 0 representing no disease activity and 10 representing severe disease activity. Negative values indicate improvement from baseline.
Time frame: Baseline to Week 24
Change From Baseline in Physician's Global Assessment of Disease Activity (PGA)
The physician assessed a participant's disease activity at the time of the visit using a Physician's Global Assessment of Disease visual analogue scale (VAS). The range is 0 to 100 cm, with 0 representing no disease activity and 10 representing severe disease activity. Negative values indicate improvement from baseline.
Time frame: Baseline to Week 24
Change From Baseline in Morning Stiffness Severity
Morning stiffness severity was assessed by a numeric rating-scale (NRS). Participants rated the severity of morning stiffness during the past week from 0 to 10 with 0 representing "not severe" and 10 "very severe". Negative values indicate improvement from baseline.
Time frame: Baseline to Week 24
Percentage of Participants Achieving Low Disease Activity (LDA) Based on Clinical Disease Activity Index (CDAI) Criteria
The CDAI is a composite index for assessing disease activity based on the summation of the total tender joint count (out of 28 evaluated joints), swollen joint count (out of 28 evaluated joints), patient global assessment of disease activity measured on a VAS from 0 to 10 cm, and physician global assessment of disease activity measured on a VAS from 0 to 10 cm. The total CDAI score ranges from 0 to 78 with higher scores indicating higher disease activity. Low Disease Activity (LDA) based on CDAI is defined as achieving a total CDAI score of less than or equal to 10.
Time frame: Week 2 to Week 24