Clinical trials

CAPTIVATE is an international, multi-centre, Phase III, adaptive, platform, randomised controlled trial in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). CAPTIVATE aims to find the best treatment, or combination of treatments, that slow the progression of CKD so that fewer people develop kidney failure. CAPTIVATE provides a research platform that allows many treatment-related questions to be answered within a common trial set-up. CAPTIVATE includes multiple domains examining different therapies for CKD. Participants may enrol in one or more domains and domains will be added and closed over time. The platform operates under a core protocol with each domain described in a domain specific appendix.

This research is about whether treatment with a commonly used antibiotic can prevent infections in airway and lungs and improves the chance of surviving, if it is given soon after patients commence mechanical ventilation when they have been admitted to hospital with an acute severe brain injury. An acute severe brain injury can occur as a result of a stroke, a traumatic injury or due to lack of oxygen to the brain that happens as a result of a cardiac arrest. Patients who are unconscious after an acute severe brain injury often need assistance to breath adequately, and this assistance is given by a breathing tube, connected to a mechanical ventilator. This treatment is an emergency medical treatment. The breathing tube is inserted into the patients' airway by either their mouth or neck. For patients who need assistance with their breathing from a mechanical ventilator, infections in the airways and lungs, known as pneumonia, are a common complication. Everyone naturally has bacteria in their mouth, esophagus and stomach. Clinicians think that during the process of inserting the breathing tube, small amounts of these bacteria can be introduced into the airways and lung when people are unconscious following an acute severe brain injury, or during the process of placing the breathing tube into the airways. These bacteria are now in a place they aren't meant to be and can cause an infections in the airways and lungs known as pneumonia. The purpose of this research is to see if giving one dose of a common antibiotic can prevent patients developing pneumonia, which is associated with having a breathing tube inserted and being on a ventilator, improving the chance of recovery following the acute severe brain injury and ultimately improving the chance of surviving. When patients have a known infection, current guidelines are to treat them with antibiotics. Antibiotics work to kill the bacteria causing the infection. When a patient has an infection in their lungs, they often need to stay on the mechanical ventilator for longer. While current practice is to give patients with a proven infection in their airways and lungs (pneumonia) antibiotics, it is unknown if giving an antibiotic to patients to prevent these infections before they show signs of pneumonia may lead to better outcomes.

This is a domain within the ACT-GLOBAL platform trial to compare the effectiveness of early and appropriate pharmacological interventions in acute intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) to control secondary brain injury. Up to 2000 patients with presumed spontaneous supratentorial intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) will be followed for 6 months (or death, if prior to 6 months). Adaptive interim analyses will be used, with statistical triggers to determine if any of the interventions are superior to control. The end of the trial is defined as the date that all participants have completed their 6-month assessment. A large amount of preclinical data indicates that the outcome from ICH is linked to the detrimental effects of breakdown substances from brain bleeds. However, there remains a lack of compelling evidence supporting the effectiveness of any pharmacological intervention that can mitigate the secondary cerebral injury. The INTERACT domain aims to assess the effectiveness of intravenous deferoxamine and low-dose oral colchicine, both individually and in combination, to standard of care alone, on improving functional outcome in patients with spontaneous supratentorial ICH. Those patients who meet eligibility criteria will be randomized to receive one of four interventions: 1. No deferoxamine mesylate and no colchicine (labeled as control) 2. Deferoxamine mesylate only: deferoxamine mesylate at a dose of 32mg/kg/day via intravenous infusion immediately (within 1 hour) post-randomization and continue for the following 2 consecutive days. 3. Colchicine only: 0.5mg of oral colchicine daily for 30 consecutive days. 4. Both deferoxamine mesylate and colchicine: deferoxamine mesylate at a dose of 32mg/kg/day via intravenous infusion immediately (within 1 hour) post-randomization and continue for the following 2 consecutive days; plus 0.5mg of oral colchicine daily for 30 consecutive days.

Stroke is causing 6.6 million deaths and is a major cause of disability worldwide in 2019. There remains an urgent need for interventions that improve outcomes which can be implemented with wide applicability for stroke. ACT-GLOBAL is a multi-factorial, multi-arm, multi-stage, randomised, global adaptive platform trial for stroke, aiming to identify the treatment/s associated with the highest chance of improving outcome in stroke patients. In ACT-GLOBAL multiple questions will be evaluated simultaneously and sequentially as data accrues and can evaluate interactions between different treatment options.

Several clinical trials have produced variable conclusions regarding the effects of intensive blood pressure (BP) lowering in post-EVT acute ischaemic stroke (AIS) patients. Although two trials indicate harm from very intensive target-based treatment (SBP \<130 mmHg), the others neutral effects in the SBP range 140-160 mmHg. The ENCHANTED3/MT domain of the ACT-GLOBAL platform trial aims to test different approaches to the treatment of elevated SBP in post-EVT AIS patients to find an optimal BP management strategy. ENCHANTED3/MT will randomize (1:1:1) up to 2,000 patients with SBP ≥150 mmHg post-EVT to conservative (no or minimal SBP reduction by 5-10mmHg or a target of 175-180mmHg if very-high baseline SBP \[≥180mmHg\]), moderate (SBP reduction by 10-20mmHg or a target of 160 ± 5, whichever is higher; no control if low-high baseline SBP \[150-160mmHg\]), or intensive (SBP reduction by 30-50mmHg or a target of 140±5 mmHg, whichever is higher) BP management.

An investigator-initiated, evaluator-blinded, prospective, multi centre, before-and-after, effectiveness-implementation hybrid design study to assess the feasibility of essential acute stroke care in a low resource setting

The goal of this study is to compare the effectiveness of two formulations of ketamine - Spravato® and racemic ketamine - in people with treatment-resistant depression (TRD). The main questions it aims to answer are: * How the two formulations compare in terms of their effectiveness in treating TRD. * How the two formulations compare in their acceptability to patients, safety, effects on patient quality of life and function, and cost effectiveness. Participants will be randomised to receive either Spravato® or racemic ketamine treatment and asked to complete some questionnaires to assess the effects on mood, treatment acceptability, side effects, quality of life and function, and health economic outcomes.

A multi-centre, prospective, blinded, randomised clinical trial of fludrocortisone compared with placebo in patients presenting with aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage. The study aim is to determine if early administration of enteral fludrocortisone in aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage reduce death and dependency at six months.

As an investigator-initiated and conducted, multi-centre, open-label, single-arm prospective observational trial, INTERACT4 Expansion aims to evaluate the diagnostic accuracy of GFAP measured using a point-of-care device, for identifying ICH in participants presenting with acute stroke-like symptoms in the pre-hospital setting compared with imaging-confirmed ICH.

Preliminary open-label studies have suggested that non-invasive brain stimulation methods of both transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) have clinical benefits for improving psychological and eating disorder related symptoms, which can persist at long-term follow ups after acute treatment (i.e., at 6 and 12 months). Here the investigators propose to conduct the first double-blinded, randomised sham-controlled study to directly compare the therapeutic effectiveness and acceptability of both treatment modalities. Participants will be recruited and treated at one inpatient setting (Northside Clinic, St Leonards, Sydney). This facility is one of the largest specialist eating disorder settings in Australia with approximately 130 new admissions every year (2019 data). All participants who give consent and who fulfill the eligibility criteria will be randomised to receive active tDCS, sham (placebo) tDCS, active rTMS or sham rTMS over 8 weeks. Trial participants, their treating psychiatrist, ward staff, and a study staff member (who will conduct blinded assessments of mood secondary outcome measures) will be blinded after assignment to intervention until the database is locked and the primary analysis completed. All participants will complete assessments of eating disorder symptoms, mood, psychological symptoms, neurocognition and functioning at baseline, end of week 4, 8 and 20. Expected outcomes include data on the relative effectiveness and acceptability for both treatment modalities in the inpatient and at-home setting (i.e., for at-home tDCS). The investigators expect that both active treatment arms will produce clinical benefits and have high acceptability, and that clinical benefits will be maintained with long-term at-home tDCS continuation treatment. These outcomes have potential to assist in reducing hospital stay and emergency re-admissions and improving day to day functioning in participants. Health economic data for both treatment modalities will additionally have utility from a service perspective, given the disparity in resource requirements between the two treatments (TMS, tDCS) in terms of costs for patients and access to treatment for people living in remote and rural areas (i.e., for at-home tDCS).

This randomized trial compares two prescribing strategies to treat high blood pressure. One approach involves remote treatment informed by randomized trial evidence without regular monitoring of blood pressure ("fire and forget"), whilst the other involves usual care treatment with access to frequent blood pressure monitoring. The study will enrol participants with uncontrolled high blood pressure and randomize participants 1:1 to a "fire and forget" treatment group or a "more blood pressure monitoring" group for a total of 12 weeks. "Fire and forget" involves choosing the most appropriate treatment based on the highest quality evidence (randomized trial data), after which participants will stop measuring blood pressures until the end of study. The "more blood pressure monitoring" group will involve treatment as usual but with the access to frequent and high quality blood pressure monitoring. The goal of this research is to: 1. determine which prescribing approach is more effective at lowering blood pressure after 12 weeks (end of study) 2. assess the safety, feasibility and acceptability of the two treatment approaches.

The aim of the trial is to evaluate the effects of the SGLT2 inhibitor, dapagliflozin, compared to metformin on annual decline in eGFR when used as first line therapy in people with Type 2 Diabetes.