Dr
Stephen Ian Walimbwa
Project Title
Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research, Basel, Switzerland
Project Objectives
To acquire skills and knowledge, as well as to demonstrate expertise in the design, set-up, operationalization and follow-up of phase 1 and 2a clinical trials.
Host Organisation
| Department | Institution | Country |
|---|---|---|
| Clinical Science and Inovation | Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research, Basel | Switzerland |
| Infectious Diseases Institute | Uganda |
EDCTP Project
TMA2015-1166
EDCTP Program
EDCTP2
EDCTP Project Call
EDCTP Clinical Research & Development Fellowship (R&D F)
Study Design
12 Months placement at NIBR
Project Summary
The Fellow will be involved in the planning, management and evaluation of early phase clinical trials (Phase I and Phase Ila) under the assigned mentors at the Clinical Sciences and Innovation department within NIBR Translational Medicine (TM). TM studies are designed to profile the safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of novel compounds and to provide their early proof of efficacy in humans.
Current Organisation
Infectious Disease Institute (IDI)
Current Job Title
Clinical Trial Manager
Biography
Publications
Across sub-Saharan Africa, patients with HIV on antiretrovirals often get malaria and need cotreatment with artemisinin-containing therapies. We undertook two pharmacokinetic studies in healthy volunteers, using standard adult doses of artemetherlumefantrine or artesunate-amodiaquine given with 50 mg once daily dolutegravir (DTG) to investigate the drug-drug interaction between artemether-lumefantrine or artesunateamodiaquine and dolutegravir. The dolutegravir/artemether-lumefantrine interaction was evaluated in a two-way crossover study and measured artemether, dihydroartemisinin, lumefantrine, and desbutyl-lumefantrine over 264 h. The dolutegravir/artesunate-amodiaquine interaction was investigated using a parallel study design due to long half-life of the amodiaquine metabolite, desethylamodiaquine and measured artesunate, amodiaquine, and desethylamodiaquine over 624 h. Noncompartmental analysis was performed, and geometric mean ratios and 90% confidence intervals were generated for evaluation of both interactions. Dolutegravir did not significantly change the maximum concentration in plasma, the time to maximum concentration, and the area under the concentration-time curve (AUC) for artemether, dihydroartemisinin, lumefantrine, and desbutyl-lumefantrine, nor did it significantly alter the AUC for artesunate, dihydroartemisinin, amodiaquine, and desethylamodiaquine. Coadministration of dolutegravir with artemether-lumefantrine resulted in a 37% decrease in DTG trough concentrations. Coadministration of dolutegravir with artesunate-amodiaquine resulted in 42 and 24% approximate decreases in the DTG trough concentrations and the AUC, respectively. The significant decreases in DTG trough concentrations with artemether-lumefantrine and artesunate-amodiaquine and dolutegravir exposure with artesunate-amodiaquine are unlikely to be of clinical significance since the DTG trough concentrations were above dolutegravir target concentrations of 300 ng/ml. Study drugs were well tolerated with no serious adverse events. Standard doses of artemether-lumefantrine and artesunateamodiaquine should be used in patients receiving dolutegravir. (This study has been registered at ClinicalTrials.gov under identifier NCT02242799.)
Background
Early diagnosis of HIV associated lymphoma is challenging because the definitive diagnostic procedure of biopsy, requires skills and equipment that are not readily available. As a consequence, diagnosis may be delayed increasing the risk of mortality. We set out to determine the frequency and risk factors associated with the misdiagnosis of HIV associated lymphoma as tuberculosis (TB) among patients attending the Uganda Cancer Institute (UCI).
Methods
A retrospective cohort study design was used among HIV patients with associated lymphoma patients attending the UCI, Kampala, Uganda between February and March 2015. Eligible patient charts were reviewed for information on TB treatment, socio-demographics, laboratory parameters (Hemoglobin, CD4cells count and lactate dehydrogenase) and clinical presentation using a semi structured data extraction form.
Results
A total of 183 charts were reviewed; 106/183 were males (57.9%), the median age was 35 (IQR, 28–45). Fifty six (30.6%) patients had a possible misdiagnosis as TB and their median time on TB treatment was 3.5 (1–5.3) months. In multivariate analysis the presence of chest pain had an odd ratio (OR) of 4.4 (95% CI 1.89–10.58, p < 0.001) and stage III and IV lymphoma disease had an OR of 3.22 (95% CI 1.08–9.63, p < 0.037) for possible misdiagnosis of lymphoma as TB.
Conclusion
A high proportion of patients with HIV associated lymphoma attending UCI are misdiagnosed and treated as TB. Chest pain and stage III and IV of lymphoma were associated with an increased risk of a possible misdiagnosis of lymphoma as TB.
To investigate the effect of food on the steady-state pharmacokinetics of rilpivirine when administered as a fixed-dose combination tablet containing tenofovir disoproxil fumarate, emtricitabine plus rilpivirine (TDF/FTC/RPV) in HIV-1-infected Ugandan patients.
This was an open-label, three-period, longitudinal pharmacokinetic study with patients serving as their own controls. Fifteen consenting and virologically suppressed HIV-1-infected adults were switched from an efavirenz-based regimen to TDF/FTC/RPV for 56 days. Enrolled patients underwent 24 h blood sampling with TDF/FTC/RPV dosing in the fasted state (day 42), with a low-fat meal (11 g of fat/353 kcal, day 49) and with a moderate-fat meal (19 g of fat/589 kcal, day 56; reference). A viral load assessment was performed on day 56.
Rilpivirine AUC0–24 was significantly decreased by 16% (geometric mean ratio, 90% CI: 0.84, 0.73–0.96) during administration in the fasted state when compared with AUC0–24 during administration with a moderate-fat meal. Similarly, rilpivirine C24 was significantly decreased by 21% (0.79, 0.65–0.97) in the fasted state compared with a moderate-fat meal. Pharmacokinetic parameters were unchanged during administration with a low-fat meal, except for C24, which was significantly increased by 15% (1.15, 1.01–1.31) when compared with the moderate-fat meal. Rilpivirine Cmax was similar under the three meal conditions. Virological suppression was unchanged at the end of the study.
A food effect was observed for steady-state pharmacokinetic parameters of rilpivirine (AUC0–24 and C24) when TDF/FTC/RPV was administered in the fasted state compared with the moderate-fat meal. The TDF/FTC/RPV formulation can be administered with either a low-fat or moderate-fat meal.