Working with Umecrime Cognition on a treatment for Primary Biliary Cholangitis

Staff at the NIHR Nottingham Clinical Research Facility talk about the UCAB trial.

The facility worked with Swedish pharmaceutical Umecrime Cognition to study using a new molecule as a treatment for Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) for patients with severe symptoms of fatigue and cognitive impairment.

Quick takeaways - 

    • one of only two UK locations for first stage drug trial

    • kept to tight, complex timelines

    • exceeded recruitment targets by building on existing relationships

    • patients praised care and treatment

The NIHR Nottingham Clinical Research Facility (CRF)  was one of just two centres worldwide – and the only UK facility – to conduct the first part of a clinical study.

We were picked because of our expertise in liver disease.

We hosted five patients on a purpose-built inpatient ward within the CRF, to confirm the correct dose of the molecule. During their seven-day stay, our team of research nurses and physicians assessed and cared for the patients around the clock.

Nottingham CRF has 18 adult and five paediatric inpatient beds dedicated for research, alongside our dedicated outpatient and specialist clinics. In total, there is over 3,400m² of clinical space at our CRF. The PBC study was a randomised, double-blinded and placebo controlled two-part study to evaluate the pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability, and preliminary efficacy of two dose levels of the new drug.

There’s more about it at https://nottinghamcrf.nihr.ac.uk/facilities/case-studies

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Watch a video explainer about clinical trials: https://youtu.be/SWS4FCSMWAQ 

Read more at https://www.nottinghamresearch.org/get-involved and https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/take-part-in-a-trial and https://www.nuh.nhs.uk/researchvolunteers

Email us at  getinvolved@nuh.nhs.uk