Sirolimus Injections for Autoimmune Scleritis

OBJECTIVE: Scleritis is a chronic, painful and potentially blinding inflammatory disease characterized by edema of the episcleral and scleral tissues and is commonly associated with systemic autoimmune disorders. Sirolimus suppresses cytokine-driven T-cell proliferation and thus, inhibits the production, signaling and activity of many growth factors relevant to scleritis. Subconjunctival sirolimus administration could reduce or eliminate the need for topical and/or systemic immunosuppressive drugs often taken with immunosuppressive disorders that could result in reduced morbidity. The study objective is to investigate the safety, tolerability and potential efficacy of subconjunctival sirolimus as a possible treatment for active, autoimmune, non-necrotizing, anterior scleritis. STUDY POPULATION: Five participants with active, autoimmune, non-necrotizing, anterior scleritis with scleral inflammatory grade ≥ 1+ in at least one quadrant will be initially enrolled. Participants must have a history of past flares requiring oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), or oral or topical corticosteroids or immunosuppressive medication. Up to seven participants may be enrolled, as up to two participants may be accrued to account for participants who withdraw from the study prior to receiving any investigational product. DESIGN: This is a phase I/II, single-center, open-label, non-randomized, prospective and uncontrolled pilot study to evaluate the safety and possible efficacy of subconjunctival sirolimus injections for active, autoimmune, non-necrotizing, anterior scleritis. If two eyes are active, the eye with worse inflammation will be injected first (study eye) at baseline followed two weeks later with injection of the second eye (fellow eye). If both eyes have equal inflammation, the study eye will be chosen at the physician's discretion after consultation with the participant. Participants that still demonstrate active inflammation or experience a flare-up after the initial study eye injection may be eligible for a re-injection at or after Week 4 (not to exceed a dose of 1,320 μg per eye within an eight-week period). OUTCOME MEASURES: The primary outcome is the number of participants who experience at least a 2-step reduction or reduction to grade 0 of scleral inflammation in the study eye according to a standardized photographic scleritis grading system developed at the National Eye Institute (NEI) by the Week 8 visit. Secondary outcomes include changes in visual acuity, step changes in scleral inflammation, the number of participants who experience a disease flare, the number of participants tapered from the standard immunosuppressive regimen after 16 weeks and, of the participants who experience a disease flare, the number of days to disease flare from baseline as well as the number of participants who require re-injection due to a flare. Safety outcomes include the number and severity of systemic and ocular toxicities and adverse events (AEs), the proportion of participants who experience vision loss ≥ 15 Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) letters and the number of participants who experience a substantial rise in elevated intraocular pressure (IOP).