Can an arthritis drug help cystic fibrosis lungs?
NCT ID NCT03925194
First seen Sep 21, 2026 · Last updated Sep 21, 2026
Summary
Researchers are testing whether anakinra, a drug that blocks inflammation, can improve lung function in people with cystic fibrosis. The trial enrolls about 52 participants aged 12 and older who receive daily injections of anakinra or a placebo for 28 days, then switch to the other treatment. The main measure is a lung test called the lung clearance index, which detects early changes in how well air moves through the lungs. The study also checks safety and quality of life.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- anakinra, an anti-inflammatory drug given as a daily injection
- What this could lead to
- If anakinra helps, it could offer a new way to ease lung inflammation in cystic fibrosis and slow the decline in lung function.
- What could go wrong
- This is a small, early-stage trial testing a drug not approved for cystic fibrosis. The results may not hold up in larger studies, and daily injections can cause side effects.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 2
Tests whether the treatment actually works, and watches for side effects, in a larger group.
- Participants
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About 52 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Dec 2022
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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12 years and older
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: 1. Age ≥ 18 years (1st cohort). If justified by interim analysis, 18 \> age ≥ 12 years (2nd cohort), 2. Informed consent of the patient (if applicable) and/or all legal guardians, 3. Sufficient fluency of patient and/or his/her representative in German language to comply with study-specific procedures (e.g. to complete required quality of life questionnaires), 4. Confirmed diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, fulfilling at least one of the following three criteria: 1. sweat chloride ≥ 60mEq/L, 2. two CF causing mutations in the CFTR gene, 3. alterations of transepithelial potential difference of nasal or rectal epithelia typical for CF, 5. FEV1 ≥ 50 % pred. at screening, 6. LCI2.5 ≥ 7.05 at screening, 7. Ability to perform reproducible multiple breath washout and spirometry, 8. Oxyhaemoglobin saturation of ≥ 90% on room air at screening, 9. No changes in the medication for cystic fibrosis lung disease for at least 4 weeks prior to the first administration of the IMP of each treatment period (in case of medication changes in Period 1 and/or the washout phase the wash-out may be extended for up to 12 weeks in order to fulfill this criterion), 10. Adequate bone marrow function assessed on the basis of: neutrophils \>1.5 x 109/L, platelets \>100 x 109/L, hemoglobin \>9.0 g/dL, 11. Adequate liver function assessed on the basis of: GGT, ASAT, and ALAT \<3 x upper limit of normal (ULN), 12. Adequate blood clotting assessed on the basis of: aPTT \<39 sec., INR \<1.2, 13. Negative serology for HIV (anti-HIV 1/2 IgG/IgM and p24-Ag), HBV (anti-HBs quantitative and anti-HBc IgG/IgM) and HCV (anti-HCV IgG), negative Interferon-gamma release assay, 14. Negative Beta-HCG blood/urine test in women of childbearing potential (of childbearing potential are females who have experienced menarche and are not permanently sterile or postmenopausal (postmenopausal: 12 consecutive months with no menses without an alternative medical cause)), 15. Use of adequate contraception in sexually active female subjects (sexual abstinence, hormonal contraceptives or intrauterine device). Exclusion Criteria: 1. Expected non-compliance, i.e. inability or unwillingness to comply with study-specific procedures, 2. Known allergy to anakinra or any ingredient of the pharmaceutical formulation of Kineret®, 3. Planned immunization with attenuated (live) vaccine(s) during the treatment with the IMP or completed immunization with attenuated (live) vaccine(s) within 4 weeks prior to the first administration of the IMP, 4. Renal failure (creatinine in serum above ULN), 5. History of tuberculosis or repeated detection of non-tuberculous mycobacteria from airway samples in the last 12 months before start of each treatment period, 6. History of detection of Burkholderia cenocepacia species in the last 12 months before start of each treatment period, 7. Colonization with multi-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and/or 4-multi-resistant gram negative (MRGN) Pseudomonas aeruginosa is only an exclusion criterion if the treating physician judges that this is an increased risk for the patient, 8. Acute bronchopulmonary exacerbation (defined by modified Fuchs criteria (1) (see Appendix 1), modification includes all ways of application of an antibiotic (e.g., oral, i.v., inhaled)) within 14 days prior to the screening and before start of each treatment period, 9. Signs of other active infection within 14 days prior to the screening and before start of each treatment period (clinical symptoms (e.g. burning sensation while urinating, skin, wound or dental infection) and/or fever and/or deterioration of infection-specific laboratory parameters beyond changes driven by the underlying disease), 10. Immunosuppressive treatment due to organ transplantation, rheumatic or autoimmune diseases as well as treatment with Anakinra in the last 3 months before Day 1 of Period 1, 11. Participation in another interventional trial within the last 30 days prior to screening, 12. Current oral corticosteroid use, 13. Current oxygen supplementation, 14. Current treatment with etanercept, 15. Medical history of lung transplantation, 16. Pregnant or nursing females (females of childbearing potential must have a negative pregnancy test at Screening), 17. Known hypersensitivity to hypertonic saline (used for induction of sputum).
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin
Berlin, State of Berlin, 13353, Germany
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University Children's Hospital Heidelberg, Cystic Fibrosis Centre
Heidelberg, Baden-Wurttemberg, 69120, Germany
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Universitätsmedizin Essen, Ruhrlandklinik
Essen, North Rhine-Westphalia, 45239, Germany