Trial reportPharmacological research2018
Phase IIa trial in Duchenne muscular dystrophy shows vamorolone is a first-in-class dissociative steroidal anti-inflammatory drug.
Trial report in Pharmacological research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to 3 registered trials, which are not on this map. Cited by 65 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
A Phase II Pilot Trial of Vamorolone vs. Placebo for the Treatment of Becker Muscular Dystrophy
A Phase II Open-Label, Multiple Dose Study to Assess the Safety, Tolerability, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, and Exploratory Efficacy of Vamorolone in Boys Ages 2 to <4 Years and 7 to <18 Years With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD)
An Open-label Study to Collect Safety and Effectiveness Information on Long-term Treatment With Vamorolone in Boys With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy Who Have Completed Prior Studies With Vamorolone
Who cites it
65 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 94 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-analysis of the efficacy and safety of vamorolone in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Vamorolone in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: A Systematic Review.Paediatric drugs · 2024Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of different doses of vamorolone in boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy: a systematic review and network meta-analysis.Frontiers in neurology · 2024Pooled it
- Muscle and cardiac therapeutic strategies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy: past, present, and future.Pharmacological reports : PR · 2020Pooled it
- Prednisone, not vamorolone, suppresses novel serum bone and cartilage biomarkers associated with growth failure in children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Trial
- Results of a phase II open-label, multiple-dose study of vamorolone (VBP15-006) in 7- to < 18-year-old boys with duchenne muscular dystrophy.Journal of neurology · 2026Trial
- Return of participant-level clinical trial results to participants: pilot of a simplified centralised approach.BMJ open · 2024Trial
- Efficacy and Safety of Vamorolone Over 48 Weeks in Boys With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Neurology · 2024Trial
- Efficacy and Safety of Vamorolone in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: A 30-Month Nonrandomized Controlled Open-Label Extension Trial.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- Efficacy and safety of vamorolone in Duchenne muscular dystrophy: An 18-month interim analysis of a non-randomized open-label extension study.PLoS medicine · 2020Trial
- Serum biomarkers associated with baseline clinical severity in young steroid-naïve Duchenne muscular dystrophy boys.Human molecular genetics · 2020Trial
- Vamorolone trial in Duchenne muscular dystrophy shows dose-related improvement of muscle function.Neurology · 2019Trial
- Population Pharmacokinetics of Vamorolone (VBP15) in Healthy Men and Boys With Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.Journal of clinical pharmacology · 2019Trial
- Downstream Pathways of Dystrophin Deficiency in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Implications for Muscle Degeneration and Regeneration.Journal of cachexia, sarcopenia and muscle · 2026Review
- Regimen-dependent glucocorticoid effects improve muscle performance without altering CNS physiology in mdx mice.The Journal of physiology · 2026Article
- MDBiomarkers: A queryable biomarkers database integrating multiple serum and tissue datasets for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.Journal of neuromuscular diseases · 2026Article
- Adrenal Suppression in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy: Management Strategies Incorporating Novel Steroid Vamorolone.Journal of the Endocrine Society · 2026Article
- Targeting nuclear receptors in muscular dystrophies and regenerative myogenesis.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2026Review
- Test-Retest Reliability of Motor Function and Myometry Outcomes From the Vamorolone Trials in Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.Neurology. Genetics · 2025Article
5 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
32 authors at 17 institutions in 6 countries.
Funding
Abstract
We report a first-in-patient study of vamorolone, a first-in-class dissociative steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. This 2-week, open-label Phase IIa multiple ascending dose study (0.25, 0.75, 2.0, and 6.0 mg/kg/day) enrolled 48 boys with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (4 to <7 years), with outcomes including clinical safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamic biomarkers. The study design included pharmacodynamic biomarkers in three contexts of use: 1. Secondary outcomes for pharmacodynamic safety (insulin resistance, adrenal suppression, bone turnover); 2. Exploratory outcomes for drug mechanism of action; 3. Exploratory outcomes for expanded pharmacodynamic safety. Vamorolone was safe and well-tolerated through the highest dose tested (6.0 mg/kg/day) and pharmacokinetics of vamorolone were similar to prednisolone. Using pharmacodynamic biomarkers, the study demonstrated improved safety of vamorolone versus glucocorticoids as shown by reduction of insulin resistance, beneficial changes in bone turnover (loss of increased bone resorption and decreased bone formation only at the highest dose level), and a reduction in adrenal suppression. Exploratory biomarkers of pharmacodynamic efficacy showed an anti-inflammatory mechanism of action and a beneficial effect on plasma membrane stability, as demonstrated by a dose-responsive decrease in serum creatine kinase activity. With an array of pre-selected biomarkers in multiple contexts of use, we demonstrate the development of the first dissociative steroid that preserves anti-inflammatory efficacy and decreases steroid-associated safety concerns. Ongoing extension studies offer the potential to bridge exploratory efficacy biomarkers to clinical outcomes.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.