Comparison of extracorporeal cellular therapy (ELAD®) vs standard of care in a randomized controlled clinical trial in treating Chinese subjects with acute-on-chronic liver failure

Zhongping Duan,1,* Shaojie Xin,2,* Jing Zhang,1 Shaoli You,2 Yu Chen,1 Hongling Liu,2 Sujun Zheng,1 Zheng Li,3 Robert Ashley,3 Michael Millis4 1Artificial Liver Center, Beijing You’an Hospital of Capital Medical University, Beijing, China; 2Department of Infectious Disease, Division III, 302 Military Hospital of China, Beijing, China; 3Research and Development, Vital Therapies, Inc, San Diego, CA, USA; 4Department of Surgery, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA *These authors contributed equally to this work Background: Preliminary evidence of safety and efficacy of an extracorporeal cellular therapy (ELAD®) has been demonstrated in subjects with acute forms of liver failure. This study compared ELAD with standard of care in Chinese subjects with acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF), predominantly secondary to chronic viral hepatitis.Subjects and methods: Subjects meeting eligibility criteria were randomized to either the ELAD group or the control group. All subjects received plasma exchange and venovenous hemofiltration and either ELAD treatment for 3–5 days, unless terminated early, along with standard of care or standard of care alone (control) and were then followed up for 12 weeks.Results: Forty-nine subjects (ELAD subjects, 32; controls, 17) were randomized under this protocol. Kaplan–Meier analysis of transplant-free survival (TFS) revealed a significant difference in favor of ELAD vs control (P=0.049, Wilcoxon signed-rank test). There was a significant difference in TFS on day 28 in ELAD vs control (P=0.022). In a multiple regression model, the relationship between group assignment and outcome was significant (P=0.031) when changes in food intake and Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores at screening were included as additional independent variables. The duration of ELAD treatment alone was a significant predictor of TFS (P=0.043). Median time to a 5-point increase in MELD, transplant, or death was longer