Study of BEGEDINA® vs "Conventional Treatment" for Treating Steroid-Resistant Acute GvHD

The objectives of this study are to determine the efficacy and safety of BEGEDINA® in subjects with steroid resistant acute graft versus host disease (GvHD). GvHD is a rare and complex immunological disease occurring in some recipients of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplants (HSCTs) and affecting principally the skin, liver and gastrointestinal (GI) tissues. The disease is life threatening and may be acute or chronic and the first choice treatment for patients with acute GvHD (Grade II or higher) is the immunosuppressive corticosteroid hormone methylprednisolone. However, some GvHD patients may be resistant to this treatment leading to disease progression and a high rate of morbidity and mortality, primarily from infections and/or multi-organ failure. There are currently no other satisfactory therapies. BEGEDINA® is a therapeutic monoclonal antibody that recognises and binds to CD26 on CD4+ T lymphocytes. BEGEDINA® reduces the activity of CD26 in these cells and inhibits the immune response leading to improvement in patients that have shown steroid resistance. This study is therefore aimed at demonstrating that BEGEDINA® is a safe and effective treatment for steroid-resistant GvHD patients where no other such treatments are currently available.