A Translational and Neurocomputational Evaluation of a Dopamine Receptor 1 Partial Agonist for Schizophrenia

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Keywords

Abstract

This study will test whether PF-06412562, a dopamine 1 partial agonist novel compound, affects working memory neural circuits in patients with early episode schizophrenia. The overall aim is to establish neuroimaging biomarkers of the Dopamine Receptor 1/Dopamine Receptor 5 Family (D1R/D5R) target engagement to accelerate development of D1R/D5R agonists in humans to treat cognitive impairments that underlie functional disability in schizophrenia, a key unaddressed clinical and public health concern.

Description

This study proposes to examine the effects of PF-06412562, a dopamine-1 receptor partial agonist, on the neural signal of brain regions involved in cognition in patients with schizophrenia and related psychotic disorders. The primary objective of this study is to understand the neural circuit targets of this compound as it relates to improving cognition in schizophrenia, using a spatial working memory task (sWM). The secondary objective will quantify dose-related drug effects on sWM precision based on behavioral data collected during scanning and examine effects on functional connectivity.

All patients will be psychiatrically stable with early course (psychotic symptom onset within the past 5 years) schizophrenia spectrum disorder (e.g. schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophreniform disorder) and will have working memory deficits (defined as below average performance on the letter n-back task of the PennCNB battery). As part of the study, they will receive oral administration of specified doses of PF-06412562, in a random order with repeated functional magnetic resonance imaging and cognitive testing during those visits. The most common side effects of this compound are nausea and headache. This is a multi-site study that requires the efforts of 4 study sites in total (Columbia, State University of New York Stony Brook, UPenn, and Yale).

Dates

Last Verified:	05/31/2020
First Submitted:	06/28/2020
Estimated Enrollment Submitted:	06/28/2020
First Posted:	07/06/2020
Last Update Submitted:	06/28/2020
Last Update Posted:	07/06/2020
Actual Study Start Date:	07/31/2020
Estimated Primary Completion Date:	11/29/2022
Estimated Study Completion Date:	11/29/2022

Condition or disease

Early Course Schizophrenia Spectrum Disorder

Intervention/treatment

Drug: PF-06412562 1 mg

Drug: PF-06412562 4 mg

Drug: PF-06412562 15 mg

Drug: PF-06412562 25 mg

Other: Placebo

Phase

Phase 1/Phase 2

Arm Groups

Arm	Intervention/treatment
Experimental: PF-06412562 1 mg Each subject will complete 5 test visits each involving the administration of PF-06412562 (at different doses) or placebo. Subjects will be randomized to the order of doses of PF-0612562 (1 mg, 4 mg, 15 mg, or 25 mg) or placebo for the next 5 visits. The randomization will assign 75% of patients to the highest dose on the last visit and 25% would receive the highest dose on one of the other four visits. Only the highest dose (25 mg) will be subject to this pseudo-randomization strategy; all other doses will be randomly distributed.	Drug: PF-06412562 1 mg Each subject will complete 5 test visits each involving the administration of PF-06412562 (at different doses) or placebo. Each test visit will be separated by at least 48 hours (six half-lives of PF-06412562).
Experimental: PF-06412562 4 mg Each subject will complete 5 test visits each involving the administration of PF-06412562 (at different doses) or placebo. Subjects will be randomized to the order of doses of PF-0612562 (1 mg, 4 mg, 15 mg, or 25 mg) or placebo for the next 5 visits. The randomization will assign 75% of patients to the highest dose on the last visit and 25% would receive the highest dose on one of the other four visits. Only the highest dose (25 mg) will be subject to this pseudo-randomization strategy; all other doses will be randomly distributed.	Drug: PF-06412562 4 mg Each subject will complete 5 test visits each involving the administration of PF-06412562 (at different doses) or placebo. Each test visit will be separated by at least 48 hours (six half-lives of PF-06412562).
Experimental: PF-06412562 15 mg Each subject will complete 5 test visits each involving the administration of PF-06412562 (at different doses) or placebo. Subjects will be randomized to the order of doses of PF-0612562 (1 mg, 4 mg, 15 mg, or 25 mg) or placebo for the next 5 visits. The randomization will assign 75% of patients to the highest dose on the last visit and 25% would receive the highest dose on one of the other four visits. Only the highest dose (25 mg) will be subject to this pseudo-randomization strategy; all other doses will be randomly distributed.	Drug: PF-06412562 15 mg Each subject will complete 5 test visits each involving the administration of PF-06412562 (at different doses) or placebo. Each test visit will be separated by at least 48 hours (six half-lives of PF-06412562).
Experimental: PF-06412562 25 mg Each subject will complete 5 test visits each involving the administration of PF-06412562 (at different doses) or placebo. Subjects will be randomized to the order of doses of PF-0612562 (1 mg, 4 mg, 15 mg, or 25 mg) or placebo for the next 5 visits. The randomization will assign 75% of patients to the highest dose on the last visit and 25% would receive the highest dose on one of the other four visits. Only the highest dose (25 mg) will be subject to this pseudo-randomization strategy; all other doses will be randomly distributed.	Drug: PF-06412562 25 mg Each subject will complete 5 test visits each involving the administration of PF-06412562 (at different doses) or placebo. Each test visit will be separated by at least 48 hours (six half-lives of PF-06412562).
Placebo Comparator: Placebo Each subject will complete 5 test visits each involving the administration of PF-06412562 (at different doses) or placebo. Subjects will be randomized to the order of doses of PF-0612562 (1 mg, 4 mg, 15 mg, or 25 mg) or placebo for the next 5 visits. The randomization will assign 75% of patients to the highest dose on the last visit and 25% would receive the highest dose on one of the other four visits. Only the highest dose (25 mg) will be subject to this pseudo-randomization strategy; all other doses will be randomly distributed.	Other: Placebo Each subject will complete 5 test visits each involving the administration of PF-06412562 (at different doses) or placebo. Each test visit will be separated by at least 48 hours (six half-lives of PF-06412562).

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study	18 Years To 18 Years
Sexes Eligible for Study	All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers	Yes
Criteria	Inclusion Criteria: - Able to provide informed consent (as established by consent interview), and voluntary, signed informed consent prior to the performance of any study-specific procedures - Willing and able to perform study-relevant clinical assessments and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). - Meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5) criteria for schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or schizophreniform disorder on the basis of the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5). - Be within 5 years of the onset of psychosis based on the SCID-5. - Treatment seeking and willing to accept the constraints on treatment entailed by the study. - Working memory impairment based on below average (of healthy adult normative performance) performance on the PennCNB letter nback task (1). - Demonstrate a premorbid IQ of ≥80 based on the Penn Reading Assessment (PRA) (2). The PRA correlates with other measures of IQ including the Wide Range Achievement Test (WRAT), but is computerized, based in the laboratory of co-investigators Ruben C. Gur and Raquel E. Gur, and brief to administer, allowing us to lessen the assessment burden on an already lengthy first visit. - Be fluent in English. - Clinically stable treatment for at least two months prior to randomization (no Emergency Room visits, hospitalizations, or current suicidal/homicidal active ideation, intent, or plan). - On a stable psychotropic medication regimen (can include no psychotropic medications) for at least 3 weeks prior to study, and willing to maintain an unchanged regimen during the study. If on depot anti-psychotics, participants must have stable dosing for at least two consecutive injections as the most recent injections. If on Invega Trinza, there must be no plans to change dosing during the course of the study. - For women of child bearing potential, no intention to become pregnant during the study period, and agreement to use a reliable method of birth control (e.g. non-copper Intra-Uterine Device (IUD), hormonal contraception, abstinence, condoms) during the study period. Women will be asked to continue their method of contraception for 1 month after receiving their final dose of medication. Any individual who becomes pregnant during the study will be immediately removed, and discussion of the risks and benefits of ongoing pharmacotherapy will proceed on purely clinical grounds. Exclusion Criteria: - Any unstable medical, psychiatric, or neurological condition (including active or otherwise remarkable suicidal or homicidal ideation) that may necessitate urgent treatment. Active medical conditions that are minor or well controlled are not exclusionary if they do not affect risk to the patient, metabolism of study drug, or the study results (e.g. well controlled type II diabetes or hypertension) as per the judgement of the investigator. - Be currently treated with any of the following: olanzapine, clozapine, ziprasidone or asenapine, in order to avoid prominent D1 receptor effects. - Any major neurological disease, brain injury, epilepsy, or history of severe head trauma, including concussion with loss of consciousness > 15 minutes, or of psychosurgery. - History of significant cardiac disease (ischemia, arrhythmia). - Any clinically significant abnormality on baseline medical screening tests (electrocardiogram (EKG), complete blood count with differential (CBC), complete metabolic profile (CMP). - Hepatitis B or C (by report or testing) in the presence of abnormal liver function tests - Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) (by report or by testing) due cognitive effects of HIV and AIDS. - Baseline EKG showing prolonged QTc interval (>450 for males, >470 for females, Framingham correction(3)), with repeat measurement showing the same abnormality. - Current mood episode meeting criteria for a major depressive episode or a manic or hypomanic episode. - History of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or treatment with neurostimulation in the past 6 months, or with plans to begin either such treatment during the study. - Current history of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with pharmacologic treatment. - Meeting SCID-5 moderate or severe substance use disorder for any substance other than nicotine within the 3 months prior to the initial assessment. If substance use is positive on urine toxicology testing, participants will be excluded if unwilling to abstain until urine clears for the duration of the proposed enrollment period. - Pregnancy or intention to become pregnant during the study. - Lactating/breast-feeding or intending to do so during the study - Any metal in the body (including a copper IUD) or other contraindication to MR imaging. - Severe claustrophobia, back pain, morbid obesity, or other condition that may make an extended MR session difficult or lead to excessive movement during the imaging session. Color blindness, strabismus or other uncorrectable visual problems. Those wearing glasses would be asked to use MRI-safe glasses. - Use of the following medication for at least 3 weeks prior to the study or during the study: Long-acting nighttime or daytime gamma aminobutyric acid-A (GABA-A) receptor facilitators; anticonvulsant medications except for those indicated for mood stabilization, or psychostimulants or medical cannabis. Participants can be reassessed for eligibility once they have been free of these medications for >3 weeks. Participants may take non-GABAergic sleep medications, short-acting GABA-A receptor facilitators (benzodiazepine, non-benzodiazepine) prior to and during the study. - Any change in type or dose of psychotropic medications within 3 weeks prior to initial visit or during study to avoid transient effects of medication regimen change. Medication type and dose will be carefully recorded and used as a covariate in analyses. Participants can be reassessed for eligibility once they have been on a stable dose of medication for >3 weeks. - PF-06412562 is metabolized by P450 CYP3A4. In order to avoid pharmacokinetic interactions, medications or substances that induce (barbiturate, carbamazepine, etc.) or are moderate-strong inhibitors (ketoconazole, etc.; grapefruit juice) are excluded if used for 3 weeks prior to and during study. - Active attempts to discontinue smoking, vaping or other nicotine products within the 3 weeks prior to study or during the study. - Diastolic blood pressure >95 or <50 mmHg or systolic blood pressure > 170 or <80 mmHg with repeat measurement showing the same abnormality. History of allergy or other contraindication to the proposed pharmacotherapy. - Other medication treatment with which proposed pharmacotherapy is contraindicated, in the opinion of study psychiatrists or of a subject's prescribing psychiatrist.

Outcome

Primary Outcome Measures

1. Neural activity across brain regions during a spatial working memory (sWM) task. [Up to two hours for each fMRI session.]

Neural activity will be measured by blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal that will be assessed during functional magnetic resonance (fMRI) sessions. During each fMRI session, subjects will participate in a sWM task that involves the ability to keep a spatial location in mind over a short period of time. The sWM task includes four conditions: 1) only sWM; 2) a motor response without sWM; 3) sWM with a distracter presented near the original memory location; and 4) sWM with a distractor presented far away from the original memory location. For each condition, BOLD signal will be assessed over 20 timepoints, each measuring for 16 seconds. Each subject will undergo 5 fMRI sessions, one at each dose.

Secondary Outcome Measures

1. Performance during spatial working memory (sWM) task [Up to two hours for each fMRI session.]

During each fMRI session, subjects will participate in a sWM task that involves the ability to keep a spatial location in mind over a short period of time. The sWM task includes four conditions: 1) only sWM; 2) a motor response without sWM; 3) sWM with a distracter presented near the original memory location; and 4) sWM with a distractor presented far away from the original memory location. Performance will be assessed with the average accuracy measured during this task for each task condition and each PF-06412562 dose. Accuracy refers to the angular distance between a cued location and a participant's memory of the location. The range of accuracy is between 0-180 degrees. 0 degrees would indicate the best possible performance, and 180 degrees the worst performance. Each subject will undergo 5 fMRI sessions, each at a different dose of PF-06412562.

2. Association between neural activity and task performance [Up to two hours for each fMRI session.]

Neural activity will be measured by blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) signal that will be assessed during fMRI, where subjects will participate in a spatial working memory (sWM) task. The sWM includes four conditions: 1) only sWM; 2) a motor response without sWM; 3) sWM with a distracter presented near the original memory location; and 4) sWM with a distractor presented far away from the original memory location. The performance of sWM at each trial of each condition will be used as the predictor variable, and the BOLD signal at the corresponding trial and condition will be used as the outcome variable. A trial refers to a single probing and measurement of sWM, and is repeatedly presented to get a number of sWM measurements. The performance of sWM from each trial will be regressed with the BOLD signal from that trial, and we will report the resulting beta weights at each condition and dose. Each subject will undergo 5 fMRI sessions, each at a different dose of PF-06412562.

3. Functional connectivity across brain regions with the fronto-parietal network during sWM task [Up to two hours for each fMRI session.]

Functional connectivity will be assessed during each fMRI session. Functional connectivity refers to the correlation between the time series of different brain regions collected during fMRI. During each fMRI session, subjects will participate in a sWM task that involves the ability to keep a spatial location in mind over a short period of time. The sWM task includes four conditions: 1) only sWM; 2) a motor response without sWM; 3) sWM with a distracter presented near the original memory location; and 4) sWM with a distractor presented far away from the original memory location. For each condition, the functional connectivity of the fronto-parietal network will be measured with the rest of the brain. The range of functional connectivity is between -4.95 and 4.95. -4.95 would indicate highly negative functional connectivity and 4.95 would indicate highly positive functional connectivity. Each subject will undergo 5 fMRI sessions, each at a different dose of PF-06412562.

4. Resting state global brain functional connectivity [Up to two hours for each fMRI session.]

BOLD signal will be collected during the resting state aspect of the fMRI session, using a data-driven global brain connectivity (GBC) metric. GBC examines connectivity from a given voxel (or area) to all other voxels (or areas) simultaneously by computing average connectivity strength. The range of GBC is between -4.95 and 4.95. -4.95 would indicate highly negative broad functional connectivity in synchrony with the rest of the brain and 4.95 would indicate highly positive broad functional connectivity in synchrony with the rest of the brain. GBC will be obtained at each PF-06412562 dose.