Partnering for Successful Essential Tremor Clinical Trials

By Spyros Papapetropoulos, MD, PhD
Chief Medical Officer
Cavion, Inc.

Collaboration with the International Essential Tremor Foundation (IETF) is critical for advancing new treatment approaches for essential tremor (ET). Our company, Cavion Inc., has been engaged in the discovery and development of a new class of T-type calcium channel (Cav3) inhibitors for the treatment of neurologic diseases like essential tremor. Last fall we initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial of our lead investigational oral drug, CX-8998.

As a small precision medicine biotechnology company, we needed to recruit for our clinical trial as rapidly as possible. Our trial, called T-CALM (Tremor-CAv3 Modulation Trial), was designed to assess whether CX-8998 decreases the severity of tremors and improves quality of life by reducing abnormal activity in certain regions of the brain. In addition to evaluating a completely new class of therapy, our trial design also incorporated state-of-the-art digital tools to objectively quantify tremor. We needed to recruit more than 90 patients to participate at 25 research centers around the U.S.

While ET is relatively common, many patients are not under the regular care of a physician for the condition and do not seek out clinical trial opportunities. In addition, ET patients often do not understand the role of clinical trials in advancing new treatments. The IETF has built a community of engaged patients across the country and is a well-established source of news and information regarding tremor. Our intention was to reach patients through a trusted channel and we turned to the IETF to partner with us in informing patients and their loved ones about our clinical trial. They featured a story about T-CALM on their website, sent emails and mailed printed flyers to patients that live in our trial site communities. The information we provided explained the value of clinical trials, the design of our trial and set expectations for what patients would experience as participants in the clinical trial.

The response to the IETF’s targeted outreach was very positive, with many patients visiting our trial website to learn about the trial and contacting the sites to inquire about participating. Thanks in part to the IETF, we were able to complete our study recruitment in time. As ET research continues, I am hopeful that the IETF will continue playing an invaluable role in educating patients and their families about clinical trial opportunities for emerging therapies targeting the treatment of essential tremor.

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July is a time with the IETF draws awareness to its many research initiatives: funding research grants, advocating for more research on essential tremor,  recruiting for research studies, and more. Your generosity is the reason the IETF is able to carry out these initiatives and work toward improving the quality of life for every generation living with essential tremor. Help us keep hope alive. Donate today.