Treatment of Myasthenia Gravis Exacerbation or Crisis With Efgartigimod
1 other identifier
interventional
20
1 country
1
Brief Summary
This study plans to learn more about if the drug efgartigimod can be used in the hospital to treat exacerbations in participants with myasthenia gravis (MG). Efgartigimod has been approved by the FDA for ongoing (chronic) treatment of generalized MG in adult patients who are anti-acetylcholine receptor (AChR) antibody positive but has not been studied in the treatment of worsening weakness requiring hospital admission (known as "exacerbation"). This investigation aims to see if using efgartigimod in this way improves symptoms and recovery from exacerbation, and how it affects certain MG markers in the blood. The main questions it aims to answer are:
- Is efgartigimod effective as a hospital-administered acute therapy for participants with worsening MG (MG exacerbation) who require hospitalization?
- Will efgartigimod lead to clinical improvement with a similar reduction in validated research scales, such as the Quantitative MG (QMG) scale, as standard of care therapies? Participants will receive 4 doses of efgartigimod over the course of 4 weeks with an additional follow-up visit at the clinic.
Trial Health
Trial Health Score
Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach
participants targeted
Target at below P25 for phase_4
Started Mar 2025
1 active site
Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.
Trial Relationships
Click on a node to explore related trials.
Study Timeline
Key milestones and dates
First Submitted
Initial submission to the registry
February 28, 2025
CompletedFirst Posted
Study publicly available on registry
March 6, 2025
CompletedStudy Start
First participant enrolled
March 6, 2025
CompletedPrimary Completion
Last participant's last visit for primary outcome
December 31, 2026
ExpectedStudy Completion
Last participant's last visit for all outcomes
December 31, 2026
July 11, 2025
July 1, 2025
1.8 years
February 28, 2025
July 10, 2025
Conditions
Keywords
Outcome Measures
Primary Outcomes (1)
Change from baseline in the Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) score at day 11
The Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) is a scoring system that quantifies disease severity by measuring ocular, bulbar, respiratory and limb strength. The total scores range from 0 to 39, with higher scores indicating greater disease severity.
Baseline, Day 11
Secondary Outcomes (19)
Percentage of participants requiring rescue therapy with Plasma Exchange (PLEX) or Intravenous Immunoglobulin (IVIG)
During hospitalization, approximately 7 days
Change from baseline in Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Life (MG-ADL) scale at day 18
Baseline, Day 18
Change from baseline in Myasthenia Gravis Activities of Daily Life (MG-ADL) scale at day 32
Baseline, Day 32
Change from baseline in Myasthenia Gravis Manual Muscle Test (MG-MMT) at day 11
Baseline, Day 11
Change from baseline in Myasthenia Gravis Manual Muscle Test (MG-MMT) at day 18
Baseline, Day 18
- +14 more secondary outcomes
Study Arms (1)
Efgartigimod
EXPERIMENTALParticipants receive 4 doses of efgartigimod via intravenous (IV) infusion over the course of the study on days 1, 4, 11 and 18.
Interventions
Dose of 10 mg/kg for IV infusion on days 1, 4, 11 and 18
Eligibility Criteria
You may qualify if:
- Adults ≥ age 18 years with known generalized MG as identified by characteristic signs of generalized MG on clinical assessment and positive serology for AchR antibodies as well as one of the following:
- Documented positive response to cholinesterase inhibitors such as pyridostigmine or edrophonium
- Abnormal decrement on slow repetitive nerve stimulation testing
- Abnormal single fiber EMG
- Evidence of worsening weakness requiring hospital admission for stabilization and change in therapy as determined by a neuromuscular expert including:
- Quantitative Myasthenia Gravis (QMG) scale ≥ 11
- MG-ADL score ≥ 6
- Worsening weakness that is unlikely to be ameliorated by adjustment of current medications including impaired respiratory status, dysarthria, dysphagia, difficulty chewing, limb weakness, diplopia, ptosis.
- Ability to sign consent and be enrolled within 24 hours of hospital admission. For participants transferred to University of Colorado Hospital, the time of admission/presentation to the outside hospital is counted towards this 24-hour cap.
You may not qualify if:
- MG worsening thought to be related to active infection or due to medications (e.g. fluoroquinolone or aminoglycoside antibiotics, magnesium, chloroquine derivatives)
- Intubation prior to ability to sign informed consent or intubation within 24 hours of hospitalization
- Use of IVIG within 2 weeks, or having undergone plasma exchange or received efgartigimod in the 4 weeks prior to admission
- Current ongoing use of ravulizumab or eculizumab (monoclonal antibody C5-complement inhibitors).
- Known history of coagulopathy, blood clotting, recent severe bleeding (e.g. GI bleed).
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding. Pregnancy must be excluded for all potential participants who are able to become pregnant prior to initiation of treatment.
- IgG levels \< 600mg/dL
- Evidence of active or chronic Hepatitis B infection, untreated Hepatitis C infection, HIV with low CD4 (\<200) count.
Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.
Sponsors & Collaborators
- University of Colorado, Denverlead
- argenxcollaborator
Study Sites (1)
University of Colorado
Aurora, Colorado, 80045, United States
Related Publications (27)
Phillips LH 2nd. The epidemiology of myasthenia gravis. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2003 Sep;998:407-12. doi: 10.1196/annals.1254.053.
PMID: 14592908BACKGROUNDSchneider-Gold C, Hagenacker T, Melzer N, Ruck T. Understanding the burden of refractory myasthenia gravis. Ther Adv Neurol Disord. 2019 Mar 1;12:1756286419832242. doi: 10.1177/1756286419832242. eCollection 2019.
PMID: 30854027BACKGROUNDGilhus NE. Myasthenia Gravis. N Engl J Med. 2016 Dec 29;375(26):2570-2581. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1602678. No abstract available.
PMID: 28029925BACKGROUNDHabib AA, Sacks N, Cool C, Durgapal S, Dennen S, Everson K, Hughes T, Hernandez J, Phillips G. Hospitalizations and Mortality From Myasthenia Gravis: Trends From 2 US National Datasets. Neurology. 2024 Jan 23;102(2):e207863. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000207863. Epub 2023 Dec 18.
PMID: 38165317BACKGROUNDGajdos P, Chevret S, Toyka KV. Intravenous immunoglobulin for myasthenia gravis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2012 Dec 12;12(12):CD002277. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD002277.pub4.
PMID: 23235588BACKGROUNDIpe TS, Davis AR, Raval JS. Therapeutic Plasma Exchange in Myasthenia Gravis: A Systematic Literature Review and Meta-Analysis of Comparative Evidence. Front Neurol. 2021 Aug 31;12:662856. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2021.662856. eCollection 2021.
PMID: 34531809BACKGROUNDGelfand EW. Intravenous immune globulin in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. N Engl J Med. 2012 Nov 22;367(21):2015-25. doi: 10.1056/NEJMra1009433. No abstract available.
PMID: 23171098BACKGROUNDBarth D, Nabavi Nouri M, Ng E, Nwe P, Bril V. Comparison of IVIg and PLEX in patients with myasthenia gravis. Neurology. 2011 Jun 7;76(23):2017-23. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0b013e31821e5505. Epub 2011 May 11.
PMID: 21562253BACKGROUNDGuo Y, Tian X, Wang X, Xiao Z. Adverse Effects of Immunoglobulin Therapy. Front Immunol. 2018 Jun 8;9:1299. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.01299. eCollection 2018.
PMID: 29951056BACKGROUNDNorda R, Stegmayr BG; Swedish Apheresis Group. Therapeutic apheresis in Sweden: update of epidemiology and adverse events. Transfus Apher Sci. 2003 Oct;29(2):159-66. doi: 10.1016/S1473-0502(03)00121-6.
PMID: 12941356BACKGROUNDKaya E, Keklik M, Sencan M, Yilmaz M, Keskin A, Kiki I, Erkurt MA, Sivgin S, Korkmaz S, Okan V, Dogu MH, Unal A, Cetin M, Altuntas F, Ilhan O. Therapeutic plasma exchange in patients with neurological diseases: multicenter retrospective analysis. Transfus Apher Sci. 2013 Jun;48(3):349-52. doi: 10.1016/j.transci.2013.04.015. Epub 2013 Apr 22.
PMID: 23619327BACKGROUNDFrancois M, Daubin D, Menouche D, Gaillet A, Provoost J, Trusson R, Arrestier R, Hequet O, Richard JC, Moranne O, Larcher R, Klouche K. Adverse Events and Infectious Complications in the Critically Ill Treated by Plasma Exchange: A Five-Year Multicenter Cohort Study. Crit Care Explor. 2023 Oct 27;5(11):e0988. doi: 10.1097/CCE.0000000000000988. eCollection 2023 Nov.
PMID: 38304709BACKGROUNDBril V, Szczudlik A, Vaitkus A, Rozsa C, Kostera-Pruszczyk A, Hon P, Bednarik J, Tyblova M, Kohler W, Toomsoo T, Nowak RJ, Mozaffar T, Freimer ML, Nicolle MW, Magnus T, Pulley MT, Rivner M, Dimachkie MM, Distad BJ, Pascuzzi RM, Babiar D, Lin J, Querolt Coll M, Griffin R, Mondou E. Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial of the Corticosteroid-Sparing Effects of Immunoglobulin in Myasthenia Gravis. Neurology. 2023 Feb 14;100(7):e671-e682. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000201501. Epub 2022 Oct 21.
PMID: 36270895BACKGROUNDHoward JF Jr, Bril V, Vu T, Karam C, Peric S, Margania T, Murai H, Bilinska M, Shakarishvili R, Smilowski M, Guglietta A, Ulrichts P, Vangeneugden T, Utsugisawa K, Verschuuren J, Mantegazza R; ADAPT Investigator Study Group. Safety, efficacy, and tolerability of efgartigimod in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis (ADAPT): a multicentre, randomised, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial. Lancet Neurol. 2021 Jul;20(7):526-536. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(21)00159-9.
PMID: 34146511BACKGROUNDGwathmey KG, Ding H, Hehir M, Silvestri N. How should newer therapeutic agents be incorporated into the treatment of patients with myasthenia gravis? Muscle Nerve. 2024 Apr;69(4):389-396. doi: 10.1002/mus.28038. Epub 2024 Feb 3.
PMID: 38308492BACKGROUNDUlrichts P, Guglietta A, Dreier T, van Bragt T, Hanssens V, Hofman E, Vankerckhoven B, Verheesen P, Ongenae N, Lykhopiy V, Enriquez FJ, Cho J, Ober RJ, Ward ES, de Haard H, Leupin N. Neonatal Fc receptor antagonist efgartigimod safely and sustainably reduces IgGs in humans. J Clin Invest. 2018 Oct 1;128(10):4372-4386. doi: 10.1172/JCI97911. Epub 2018 Jul 24.
PMID: 30040076BACKGROUNDHoward JF Jr, Bril V, Burns TM, Mantegazza R, Bilinska M, Szczudlik A, Beydoun S, Garrido FJRR, Piehl F, Rottoli M, Van Damme P, Vu T, Evoli A, Freimer M, Mozaffar T, Ward ES, Dreier T, Ulrichts P, Verschueren K, Guglietta A, de Haard H, Leupin N, Verschuuren JJGM; Efgartigimod MG Study Group. Randomized phase 2 study of FcRn antagonist efgartigimod in generalized myasthenia gravis. Neurology. 2019 Jun 4;92(23):e2661-e2673. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000007600. Epub 2019 May 22.
PMID: 31118245BACKGROUNDKatzberg HD, Barnett C, Merkies IS, Bril V. Minimal clinically important difference in myasthenia gravis: outcomes from a randomized trial. Muscle Nerve. 2014 May;49(5):661-5. doi: 10.1002/mus.23988. Epub 2014 Feb 4.
PMID: 24810970BACKGROUNDGuptill JT, Juel VC, Massey JM, Anderson AC, Chopra M, Yi JS, Esfandiari E, Buchanan T, Smith B, Atherfold P, Jones E, Howard JF Jr. Effect of therapeutic plasma exchange on immunoglobulins in myasthenia gravis. Autoimmunity. 2016 Nov;49(7):472-479. doi: 10.1080/08916934.2016.1214823. Epub 2016 Aug 11.
PMID: 27684107BACKGROUNDWolfe GI, Herbelin L, Nations SP, Foster B, Bryan WW, Barohn RJ. Myasthenia gravis activities of daily living profile. Neurology. 1999 Apr 22;52(7):1487-9. doi: 10.1212/wnl.52.7.1487.
PMID: 10227640BACKGROUNDBarohn RJ, McIntire D, Herbelin L, Wolfe GI, Nations S, Bryan WW. Reliability testing of the quantitative myasthenia gravis score. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1998 May 13;841:769-72. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1998.tb11015.x. No abstract available.
PMID: 9668327BACKGROUNDGajdos P, Tranchant C, Clair B, Bolgert F, Eymard B, Stojkovic T, Attarian S, Chevret S; Myasthenia Gravis Clinical Study Group. Treatment of myasthenia gravis exacerbation with intravenous immunoglobulin: a randomized double-blind clinical trial. Arch Neurol. 2005 Nov;62(11):1689-93. doi: 10.1001/archneur.62.11.1689.
PMID: 16286541BACKGROUNDHoward JF Jr, Utsugisawa K, Benatar M, Murai H, Barohn RJ, Illa I, Jacob S, Vissing J, Burns TM, Kissel JT, Muppidi S, Nowak RJ, O'Brien F, Wang JJ, Mantegazza R; REGAIN Study Group. Safety and efficacy of eculizumab in anti-acetylcholine receptor antibody-positive refractory generalised myasthenia gravis (REGAIN): a phase 3, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, multicentre study. Lancet Neurol. 2017 Dec;16(12):976-986. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30369-1. Epub 2017 Oct 20.
PMID: 29066163BACKGROUNDVu T, Meisel A, Mantegazza R, Annane D, Katsuno M, Aguzzi R, Enayetallah A, Beasley KN, Rampal N, Howard JF. Terminal Complement Inhibitor Ravulizumab in Generalized Myasthenia Gravis. NEJM Evid. 2022 May;1(5):EVIDoa2100066. doi: 10.1056/EVIDoa2100066. Epub 2022 Apr 26.
PMID: 38319212BACKGROUNDBril V, Druzdz A, Grosskreutz J, Habib AA, Mantegazza R, Sacconi S, Utsugisawa K, Vissing J, Vu T, Boehnlein M, Bozorg A, Gayfieva M, Greve B, Woltering F, Kaminski HJ; MG0003 study team. Safety and efficacy of rozanolixizumab in patients with generalised myasthenia gravis (MycarinG): a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, adaptive phase 3 study. Lancet Neurol. 2023 May;22(5):383-394. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(23)00077-7.
PMID: 37059507BACKGROUNDFarmakidis C, Pasnoor M, Dimachkie MM, Barohn RJ. Treatment of Myasthenia Gravis. Neurol Clin. 2018 May;36(2):311-337. doi: 10.1016/j.ncl.2018.01.011.
PMID: 29655452BACKGROUNDSharshar T, Porcher R, Demeret S, Tranchant C, Gueguen A, Eymard B, Nadaj-Pakleza A, Spinazzi M, Grimaldi L, Birnbaum S, Friedman D, Clair B; MYACOR Study Group. Comparison of Corticosteroid Tapering Regimens in Myasthenia Gravis: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Neurol. 2021 Apr 1;78(4):426-433. doi: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2020.5407.
PMID: 33555314BACKGROUND
MeSH Terms
Interventions
Study Officials
- PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Thomas Ragole, MD
University of Colorado, Denver
Central Study Contacts
Study Design
- Study Type
- interventional
- Phase
- phase 4
- Allocation
- NA
- Masking
- NONE
- Purpose
- TREATMENT
- Intervention Model
- SINGLE GROUP
- Sponsor Type
- OTHER
- Responsible Party
- SPONSOR
Study Record Dates
First Submitted
February 28, 2025
First Posted
March 6, 2025
Study Start
March 6, 2025
Primary Completion (Estimated)
December 31, 2026
Study Completion (Estimated)
December 31, 2026
Last Updated
July 11, 2025
Record last verified: 2025-07
Data Sharing
- IPD Sharing
- Will share
- Shared Documents
- STUDY PROTOCOL
- Time Frame
- Beginning 9 months and ending 36 months following article publication
- Access Criteria
- Researchers who provide a methodologically sound proposal. Proposals should be directed to NeurologyResearch@cuanschutz.edu. To gain access, data requestors will need to sign a data access agreement.
Individual participant data that underlie the results reported in this article, after deidentification (text, tables, figures, and appendices).