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NCT Number: NCT06332534

Crohn's Disease: Efficacy, Safety, and Pharmacokinetics of Upadacitinib in Pediatric Subjects With Moderately to Severely Active Crohn's Disease

Crohn's disease (CD) is a long-lasting disease that causes severe inflammation (redness, swelling), in the digestive tract, most often affecting the bowels. It can cause many different symptoms including abdominal pain, diarrhea, tiredness, and weight loss. This study will assess how safe and effective oral Upadacitinib is in treating moderately to severely active Crohn's Disease in pediatric participants aged 2 to 18 years old who have had inadequate response, loss of response, intolerance, or medical contraindications to corticosteroids, immunosuppressants, and/or biologic therapy.

Upadacitinib (RINVOQ) is a drug approved in adults for moderate- to severely active CD and is being developed for moderate- to severely active CD in pediatric participants. This study is conducted in 2 periods: Period 1 is comprised of two phases: a 12-week open-label induction phase which means that the study doctor and participants know that participants will receive UPA Dose-A (or the adult equivalent based on body weight) followed by a 52-week double-blind maintenance phase meaning that neither the participants nor the study doctors will know which dose of upadacitinib will be given (UPA Dose B or Dose C). Period 2 is a 156-week open-label extension of Period 1. Approximately 110 pediatric participants with moderate to severely active CD will be enrolled at approximately 92 sites worldwide.

Participants will receive upadacitinib oral tablets once daily or oral solution twice daily at approximately the same time each day, with or without food. Participants will have a safety follow up for 30 days after discontinuation from any time point within the study.

There may be higher treatment burden for participants in this trial compared to their standard of care (due to study procedures). Participants will attend regular (weekly, monthly) visits during the study at a hospital or clinic. The effect of the treatment will be checked by medical assessments, blood tests, checking for side effects and completing questionnaires.

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Key information

Age range

2 year–17 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Phase 3

Primary location

Sydney Children's Hospital /ID# 262352, Randwick, New South Wales, Australia

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Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Weight at Screening and Baseline must be >= 10 kg
  • Moderate to severe Crohn's Disease (CD) defined as Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (PCDAI) > 30 and endoscopic evidence of mucosal inflammation as documented by a centrally read SES-CD of >= 6 (or SES-CD of >=4 for isolated ileal disease) excluding the presence of narrowing component.
  • Documented diagnosis of CD prior to Baseline, confirmed by colonoscopy during the screening period, with exclusion of current infection, colonic dysplasia and/or malignancy. Appropriate documentation of biopsy results consistent with the diagnosis of CD, in the assessment of the investigator, must be available
  • Demonstrated an inadequate response, loss of response, or intolerance to corticosteroids, immunomodulators (IMMs), and/or biologic therapy or in whom use of those therapies is medically contraindicated. For participants in the US and South Korea, participants must have demonstrated an inadequate response, loss of response, or intolerance to one or more anti-TNFs (tumor necrosis factor).

Exclusion criteria

  • History of:
  • A diagnosis of CD prior to 2 years of age.
  • Currently known complications of CD such as:
  • Active abscess (abdominal or perianal);
  • Symptomatic bowel strictures;
  • More than 2 missing segments of the following 5 intestinal segments: terminal ileum, right colon, transverse colon, sigmoid and left colon, and rectum;
  • Ostomy or ileoanal pouch;
  • Surgical bowel resection within the past 3 months prior to Baseline, or a history of more than 3 bowel resections.
  • Japan participants only: positive result of beta-D-glucan or two consecutive indeterminate results of beta-D-glucan during the Screening period (screening for Pneumocystis jiroveci infection)
  • History of any of the following:
  • Current diagnosis of ulcerative colitis (UC), indeterminate colitis, or monogenic inflammatory bowel disease (IBD);
  • Fulminant colitis or toxic megacolon;
  • Gastrointestinal (GI) perforation (other than due to appendicitis or mechanical injury), diverticulitis, or significantly increased risk for GI perforation per investigator judgment including history of volvulus and/or intussusception (telescoping of bowels);
  • Current diagnosis of any primary immune deficiency
  • Conditions that could interfere with drug absorption including but not limited to short bowel syndrome or gastric bypass surgery; subjects with a history of gastric banding/segmentation are not excluded.

Treatment and study plan

Upadacitinib

Drug

Oral Solution/ Extended-Release Tablets

Other names: RINVOQ

Primary outcomes

  1. Percentage of participants who achieved clinical response per the Pediatric Crohn's Disease Activity Index (PCDAI) at Week 12, with clinical remission per the PCDAI at Week 64

    Time frame: At Week 64

    PCDAI is an index used to measure disease activity of pediatric patients with Crohn's disease assessing abdominal pain, stool frequency, patient functioning, hematocrit, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, albumin, weight, height, abdomen, perirectal disease, and extraintestinal manifestations. It ranges from 0 to 100; higher scores indicate more active disease. Clinical remission was defined as PCDAI ≤ 10.

  2. Achievement of endoscopic response at Week 64 in participants who achieved clinical response per PCDAI at Week 12.

    Time frame: At Week 64

    Endoscopic response is defined as > 50% reduction in Simple Endoscopic Score for Crohn's Disease (SES-CD) score from Baseline (or for participants with a Baseline SES-CD of 4, at least a 2-point reduction from Baseline), as scored by a central reader.

  3. Number of Participants with Adverse Events

    Time frame: Through Week 156

    An adverse event (AE) is defined as any untoward medical occurrence in a patient or clinical investigation participant administered a pharmaceutical product and which does not necessarily have a causal relationship with this treatment. The investigator assessed the relationship of each event to the use of study drug as either probably related, possibly related, probably not related or not related.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Achievement of clinical remission per PCDAI

    Time frame: Week 12

    Clinical remission per PCDAI is defined as PCDAI ≤ 10.

  2. Achievement of endoscopic response

    Time frame: Week 12

    Endoscopic response is defined as > 50% reduction in SES-CD score from Baseline (or for participants with a Baseline SES-CD of 4, at least a 2-point reduction from Baseline), as scored by a central reader.

  3. Achievement of endoscopic remission

    Time frame: Week 12

    Endoscopic remission is defined as SES-CD ≤ 4 with at least a 2-point reduction from Baseline and no subscore > 1, as scored by a central reader

  4. Achievement of clinical response per PCDAI

    Time frame: Week 12

    Clinical response is defined as reduction in PCDAI of ≥ 15 points from Baseline

  5. Achievement of clinical response per PCDAI at Week 64 in participants who achieved clinical response per PCDAI at Week 12

    Time frame: Week 64

  6. Achievement of endoscopic remission at Week 64 in participants who achieved clinical response per PCDAI at Week 12

    Time frame: Week 64

    Endoscopic remission is defined as SES-CD ≤ 4 with at least a 2-point reduction from Baseline and no subscore > 1, as scored by a central reader

  7. Achievement of corticosteroid (CS)-free clinical remission per PCDAI at Week 64 in participants who achieved clinical response per PCDAI at Week 12

    Time frame: Week 64

    CS-free clinical remission per PCDAI: clinical remission per PCDAI and not receiving corticosteroids at Week 12 (for Period 1 induction endpoint[s]); or for at least 90 days prior to the study visit at which endpoint is assessed (for Period 1 maintenance endpoint[s] and Period 2 endpoint[s]).

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

ABBVIE CALL CENTER

CONTACT

[email protected]

844-663-3742

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

AbbVie

Industry

Registry information

Official study title

A Phase 3 Multicenter Study to Evaluate Efficacy, Safety, and Pharmacokinetics of Upadacitinib With Open-Label Induction, Randomized, Double-Blind Maintenance and Open-Label Long-Term Extension in Pediatric Subjects With Moderately to Severely Active Crohn's Disease and Inadequate Response, Intolerance, or Medical Contraindications to Corticosteroids, Immunosuppressants, and/or Biologic Therapy

Acronym: U-EMPOWER

Important dates

Study start
2024
Primary completion
2027
Study completion
2034
First posted
Mar 27, 2024
Registry last updated
Jun 24, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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