To Assess Safety/Efficacy of ELAD in Subjects w/ Severe Acute Alcoholic Hepatitis (sAAH) and Lille Score Failure

A Randomized, Open-Label, Multicenter, Controlled Study to Assess Safety and Efficacy of ELAD® in Subjects With Severe Acute Alcoholic Hepatitis (sAAH) and Lille Score Failure

The purpose of this study is to determine if treatment with the ELAD System is safe and effective in subjects with severe acute alcoholic hepatitis and Lille score failures (Lille score >0.45).

The Lille score will be used to identify subjects with an increased risk of mortality (Lille score failures). The Lille score is a prognostic model combining six reproducible variables at Day 0 and Day 7 of steroid treatment. The Lille score used in this protocol is being used independent of steroid administration during the 7 days of evaluation. A Lille score >0.45 (Lille score failure) indicates that the subject is at substantially increased risk of 30- and 90-day mortality. Subjects with severe acute alcoholic hepatitis (sAAH) are often treated with steroids as soon as their diagnosis is confirmed. This study is to assess treatment with the ELAD System in subjects who have failed per the Lille criteria, independent of steroid administration. ELAD treatment is done continuously for up to 10 days in addition to standard of care treatment. The Control group (those randomized not to receive ELAD treatment) will also get standard of care treatment. Standard of care is defined as the usual care for diet, medications, treatment of complications that may arise, etc. for sAAH patients.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Age ≥18 ;
• Total bilirubin ≥8 mg/dL;
• Medical history of alcohol abuse with evidence of a causal and temporal (<6 weeks) relationship to the use of alcohol and hospital admission for this episode of sAAH;
• Maddrey score ≥32
• A clinical diagnosis of severe acute alcoholic hepatitis (sAAH);
• Subject must have liver biopsy or in investigator's opinion, if risk is too great to perform liver biopsy, then clinical diagnosis is sufficient;
• Subject must be a Lille score failure (Lille score >0.45) as defined in this study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Platelet count <50,000/mm3;
• International Normalization Ratio (INR) >3.0;
• MELD score >35;
• Evidence of infection unresponsive to antibiotics;
• Evidence of jaundice for >3 months;
• Hospital admission for any episodes of liver decompensation not related to sAAH, (other than this episode of sAAH) within the past 2 months;
• Evidence of hemodynamic instability;
• Evidence of active bleeding or of major hemorrhage defined as requiring ≥2 units of packed red blood cells to maintain a stable hemoglobin occurring within 48 hours of Screening;
• Evidence of occlusive portal vein thrombosis impairing hepatopetal flow, or evidence of bile duct obstruction;
• Evidence by physical exam, history, or laboratory evaluation of significant concomitant disease with expected life expectancy of less than 3 months;
• Clinical evidence of liver size reduction due to cirrhosis, unless Investigator interpretation of the clinical evidence indicates liver size of <10 cm or volume of <750 cc is not considered reduced for the individual subject;
• Chronic end-stage renal disease requiring chronic hemodialysis for more than 8 weeks (not classified as hepatorenal syndrome);
• Uncontrolled seizures;
• Positive serologies for viral hepatitis B or C;
• Pregnancy as determined by β-human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) results;
• Participation in another investigational drug, biologic, or device study within one month of enrollment, except for observational studies (the observational study setting should not affect the safety and/or efficacy of the VTI-210 clinical trial);
• Currently listed or scheduled for liver transplant during the 90-day study period;
• Previous liver transplant;
• Previous participation in a clinical trial involving ELAD;
• Has a Do Not Resuscitate or a Do Not Intubate (DNR/DNI) directive (or local equivalent) or any other Advanced Directive limiting Standard of Care in place (the DNR/DNI criterion is not applicable in the UK);
• Refusal to participate in the VTI-210E follow-up study;
• Is unable to provide an address for follow-up home visits.

And other inclusion/exclusion criteria