Abrocitinib and Ritlecitinib Start A Phase-IIΔ Clinical Trail in Honeymooners (JAKPOT)

(Note: JAKPOT is a name of at least two different clinical trials.  If you are reading about a French clinical trial targeting Rheumatoid Arthritis, that is a different clinical trial.)

The site's web page describes the drugs involved this way:  Abrocitinib and Ritlecitinib are in a new class of autoimmune treatments called Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors.  Abrocitinib is approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat eczema. Ritlecitinib is being studied as a treatment for several autoimmune diseases, including Alopecia, Ulcerative Colitis, Crohn’s Disease, Vitiligo, and Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Researchers believe Abrocitinb and Ritlecitinib may be able to calm the immune system response that harms beta cells.  Located in the pancreas, beta cells are responsible for making insulin.  Continuing to make even a small amount of insulin helps keep blood glucose levels in the normal range, lowering the risk of long-term complications.

The Study

This study enrolls 78 people in three groups: a placebo group, an Abrocitinib group and a Ritlecitinib group.  The drugs are in pill form and people will get them for a year and then be followed for another year.  The are recruiting Honeymooners (within 100 days of diagnosis) who are 12 to 25 years old, and will be measuring C-peptides as primary end point.  No secondary end points are listed (which is very unusual, but I don't know what it means).

The study started in October 2023 and is expected to finish in June 2026, but that is dependent on successful recruiting.  They are recruiting at a total of 15 locations in the United States, including both UCSF and Stanford.  Here is contact information: 

Jessica S Conaty  +1-813-396-9234  Jessica.Conaty@epi.usf.edu
Melissa Parker  +1-813-396-9378  Melissa.Parker@epi.usf.edu

Web Page: https://www.trialnet.org/our-research/newly-diagnosed-t1d/jakpot-t1d
Clinical Trial Registry: https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05743244

Discussion

I have previous reported on another JAK inhibitor (Baricitinib), which had medium-good results in a phase-IIΔ study:
https://cureresearch4type1diabetes.blogspot.com/2024/01/results-from-phase-ii-baricitinib.html
and there is a lot of interest in JAK inhibitors in general for a wide variety of immune and autoimmune diseases.  The American Diabetes Association scientific sessions (held last month) had several talks, papers, and posters on JAK inhibitors.

Joshua Levy

http://cureresearch4type1diabetes.blogspot.com

publicjoshualevy at gmail dot com

All the views expressed here are those of Joshua Levy, and nothing here is official JDRF or JDCA news, views, policies or opinions. My kid has type-1 diabetes and has participated in clinical trials, which might be discussed here. My blog contains a more complete non-conflict of interest statement. Thanks to everyone who helps with the blog.