TRPC6 inhibitor (BI 764198) to reduce risk and severity of ARDS due to COVID-19: a phase II randomised controlled trial

Lorraine B Ware*, Nima Soleymanlou, Danny Francis McAuley, Vicente Estrada, George A Diaz, Peter Lacamera, Renee Kaste, Wansuk Choi, Abhya Gupta, Tobias Welte

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)
32 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Background: Despite the availability of COVID-19 vaccinations, there remains a need to investigate treatments to reduce the risk or severity of potentially fatal complications of COVID-19, such as acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of the transient receptor potential channel C6 (TRPC6) inhibitor, BI 764198, in reducing the risk and/or severity of ARDS in patients hospitalised for COVID-19 and requiring non-invasive, supplemental oxygen support (oxygen by mask or nasal prongs, oxygen by non-invasive ventilation or high-flow nasal oxygen).

Methods: Multicentre, double-blind, randomised phase II trial comparing once-daily oral BI 764198 (n=65) with placebo (n=64) for 28 days (+2-month follow-up). Primary endpoint: proportion of patients alive and free of mechanical ventilation at day 29. Secondary endpoints: proportion of patients alive and discharged without oxygen (day 29); occurrence of either in-hospital mortality, intensive care unit admission or mechanical ventilation (day 29); time to first response (clinical improvement/recovery); ventilator-free days (day 29); and mortality (days 15, 29, 60 and 90).

Results: No difference was observed for the primary endpoint: BI 764198 (83.1%) versus placebo (87.5%) (estimated risk difference –5.39%; 95% CI –16.08 to 5.30; p=0.323). For secondary endpoints, a longer time to first response (rate ratio 0.67; 95% CI 0.46 to 0.99; p=0.045) and longer hospitalisation (+3.41 days; 95% CI 0.49 to 6.34; p=0.023) for BI 764198 versus placebo was observed; no other significant differences were observed. On-treatment adverse events were similar between trial arms and more fatal events were reported for BI 764198 (n=7) versus placebo (n=2). Treatment was stopped early based on an interim observation of a lack of efficacy and an imbalance of fatal events (Data Monitoring Committee recommendation).

Conclusions: TRPC6 inhibition was not effective in reducing the risk and/or severity of ARDS in patients with COVID-19 requiring non-invasive, supplemental oxygen support.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)816–824
JournalThorax
Volume78
Issue number8
Early online date06 Apr 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 13 Jul 2023

Keywords

  • Respiratory infection
  • 1506
  • 2474
  • 2313
  • ARDS
  • ambulatory oxygen therapy
  • assisted ventilation
  • critical care
  • emergency medicine
  • non-invasive ventilation

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