Clinical trials

Maternal anemia remains a significant public health concern in low and middle income countries including Bangladesh, contributing to adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes. Despite the widespread use of oral ferrous fumarate, gastrointestinal intolerance and suboptimal adherence remain persistent challenges, indicating the need for alternative iron formulations with improved efficacy and safety profiles. Hence, this study aims to evaluate the efficacy and safety of oral ferric citrate compared to oral ferrous fumarate in the management of maternal iron deficiency anemia during second trimester of pregnancy. This phase 3, open-label, two-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial will be conducted among pregnant women aged 18-35 years, with gestational age between 13 and 26 weeks, diagnosed with moderate to severe iron deficiency anemia (hemoglobin 7-9.9 g/dL and serum ferritin \<30 μg/L). Exclusion criteria are non-iron deficiency anemia, multiple pregnancy, severe comorbidities, and recent intravenous iron therapy. Eligible participants will be randomized in a 1:1 ratio to receive either oral ferric citrate 210 mg (210 mg elemental iron) once daily for 8 weeks or oral ferrous fumarate 200 mg (66 mg elemental iron) twice daily for 12 weeks or until delivery, whichever occurs earlier. The primary endpoint is the change in maternal hemoglobin concentration from baseline to week 4 of randomization. Secondary endpoints include maternal outcome such as prevalence of anemia and iron deficiency at 36 weeks gestation and at 6 weeks postpartum, changes in maternal health-related quality of life (assessed by EQ-5D-5L), incidence of severe anemia requiring transfusion, and serious maternal medical events and neonatal outcomes such as birth weight, placental weight, birth weight percentiles, rates of low birth weight, abortion, stillbirth, preterm birth, and cord blood hemoglobin and ferritin levels, as well as infant hemoglobin and iron indices at 6 weeks of age. Safety endpoints will include incidence of adverse events, serious adverse events, maternal sick visits during the follow-up period. Ethical approval for this trial was obtained from the institutional review boards of Dhaka Medical College, and written informed consent will be secured from all participants prior to enrollment. The findings from this trial are expected to inform clinical guidelines by establishing whether ferric citrate offers a clinically advantageous alternative to Ferrous fumarate for managing iron deficiency anemia during pregnancy.

Low dose factor VIII prophylaxis is practiced around the world. Role of standard dose Emicizumab prophylaxis is well established. Emicizumab is an expensive drug. Standard dose Emicizumab prophylaxis is very expensive for hemophilia A patients and troublesome for government to ensure continuous supply. This study intends to compare low dose Factor VIII prophylaxis with low dose Emicizumab prophylaxis and compare whether low dose Emicizumab is as effective as low dose Factor VIII prophylaxis. So, it is possible to continue prophylaxis program in hemophilia A patients with a cost-effective way in our country without risking the patient health. Moreover, Emicizumab prophylaxis reduces the chance of developing inhibitor to Factor VIII and it is convenient for administration due to less frequent and subcutaneous administration. 20 severe hemophilia A patients will be selected randomly from interested patients for this study. 6 patients with inhibitor will be randomized in Low dose Emicizumab with Inhibitor group (I) and rest 14 will be randomized by block randomization in Low dose Emicizumab (without inhibitor-WI) and low dose Factor VIII group at 4:10 ratio. Initial loading dose will be given and the participants will be followed up for 6 months. At the end of the study Annualized bleeding rate (ABR), Annualized joint bleeding rate (AJBR), Annualized spontaneous bleeding rate (ASBR), APTT will be compared among the groups. Inhibitor to factor VIII will also be evaluated after six months in Factor VIII group.