The study included a one week screening period, followed by a treatment period ranging between 6 and 19 months.
The treatment was to be continued until the End of Treatment visit scheduled 10-15 days prior to the common Scheduled Study End Date (SSED). The SSED was defined as about 190 days after the last patient randomization date.
The expected recruitment duration was about 14 months and thus the total duration of the study about 20 months. Visits were planned to be performed at baseline, after 5 days, after 14 days, every month for 6 months and then, every three months after 6 months until the end of the study.