Last Update: Oct 13, 2026
A Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, 2-arm Multicenter Phase III Study to Assess the Efficacy and Safety of Ianalumab in Participants With Sjogren's Disease With High Symptom Burden (THALASSA)
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
Novartis Reference Number:CVAY736A22301
All compounds are either investigational or being studied for (a) new use(s). Efficacy and safety have not been established. There is no guarantee that they will become commercially available for the use(s) under investigation.

Study Description

The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the efficacy and safety of ianalumab (VAY736) 300 mg administered subcutaneously (s.c.) monthly for 52 weeks in adult participants with Sjögren's disease who have high symptom burden. This is a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled multicenter 2-arm Phase III study, evaluating 300 mg ianalumab s.c. against placebo s.c. in adult participants with Sjögren's disease with high symptom burden.

Sjögren´s Disease
Phase3
Recruiting
570
Jul 16, 2026
Aug 14, 2033
All
18 Years - (Adult, Older Adult)

Interventions

Drug

Placebo

Placebo once monthly solution for injection for subcutaneous use.
Drug

VAY736

VAY736 once monthly solution for injection for subcutaneous use.

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

* Male or female participants ≥ 18 years of age or as per country-specific legal adult age, whichever is higher
* Classification of Sjögren's disease according to ACR/EULAR 2016 criteria.
* Seropositive for anti-Ro/SSA antibodies at screening
* SSSD oral dryness score ≥ 5 and overall SSSD summary score ≥5 collected over 14 consecutive days during the Screening 2 period
* Screening ESSDAI biologic and/or hematologic domain \> 0 Note: laboratory abnormalities for scoring must be confirmed as associated with Sjögren's disease and not be due to other underlying conditions.
* Stimulated whole salivary flow (sSF) rate \> 0.3 mL/min at screening
* Participants taking hydroxychloroquine (≤ 400 mg/day) are allowed to continue their medication, and must have been on a stable dose for at least 4 weeks prior to screening, which should be maintained throughout the 52 weeks of the blinded treatment period.
* Predniso(lo)ne ≤ 5 mg/day or equivalent are allowed for up to 16 weeks post-randomization.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Presence of another autoimmune rheumatic disease that is active and constitutes the principal illness, specifically:
* Systemic sclerosis (SSc)
* Any other associated connective tissue disease (e.g., lupus nephritis (LN), large vessel vasculitis (LVV), Sharp syndrome (mixed connective tissue disease)) that is active and requires immunosuppressive treatment outside the scope of this trial and would impede on Sjögren's disease organ domain assessments.
* Concurrent diagnosis or history of fibromyalgia or overlapping inflammatory diseases
* Prior treatment with B-cell-depleting therapy (e.g., rituximab, other anti-CD20 mAb, anti-CD22 mAb, or anti-CD52 mAb) within:
* 36 weeks prior to randomization, or
* As long as B-cell count is less than the lower limit of normal (LLN) or baseline value prior to receipt of previous B-cell-depleting therapy (whichever is lower) at Screening.
* Prior treatment with ianalumab
* Prior treatment with any of the following within the given period prior to Screening:
* Within 5 half-lives prior to Screening: iscalimab (anti-CD 40 mAb), belimumab (anti-BAFF mAb), abatacept (CTLA4-Fc Ig), anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) biologic agents, immunoglobulins (i.v./s.c.), plasmapheresis, any other investigational biologic medicines under investigation for Sjögren's disease
* Within 4 weeks OR drug-specific 5 half-lives elimination period (if longer than 4 weeks) prior to screening: i.v. or oral cyclophosphamide, mycophenolate mofetil (MMF), methotrexate, azathioprine, i.v. or oral cyclosporine A or any other immunosuppressants (e.g., JAK inhibitors or other kinase inhibitors).
* History of hypersensitivity to any of the study drugs or their excipients, or to drugs of similar chemical classes (e.g., mAb of IgG1 class) or to any of the constituents of the study drug formulation (sucrose, L-histidine hydrochloride/L-histidine, polysorbate 20).

Novartis Investigative Site

Recruiting

Maroochydore,Queensland,4558,Australia

Novartis Investigative Site

Recruiting

Rimouski,Quebec,G5l 5t1,Canada

Novartis Investigative Site

Recruiting

Sydney,Nova Scotia,B1p 1p3,Canada

Novartis Investigative Site

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Sherbrooke,Quebec,J1e 0n8,Canada

Novartis Investigative Site

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Beijing,100730,China

Novartis Investigative Site

Recruiting

Le Kremlin-Bicêtre,94275,France

Novartis Investigative Site

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Jaipur,Rajasthan,302004,India

Novartis Investigative Site

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Belagavi,590001,India

Novartis Investigative Site

Recruiting

Nashik,Maharashtra,422101,India

Novartis Investigative Site

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Bundang Gu,Gyeonggi-do,13620,South Korea

Novartis Investigative Site

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Gwangju,61469,South Korea

Novartis Investigative Site

Recruiting

Seoul,06591,South Korea

Novartis Investigative Site

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Hsinchu,302,Taiwan

Arthritis Rheumatology and Bone Disease Associates PA

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Voorhees Township,New Jersey,08043,United States

Nadishani Dissanayaka
Shannon Chalginow

St Lawrence Health System

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Potsdam,New York,13676,United States

Mckailey Lyndaker
Eyal Kedar

Tufts Medical Center

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Boston,Massachusetts,02111,United States

Elizabeth Tzavaras
Athena Papas

Carolina Arthritis Associates

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Wilmington,North Carolina,28401,United States

Jodi Daniel
Mark Harris

Arthritis Northwest PLLC

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Spokane,Washington,99216,United States

Michael C Coan
Corine Nguyen

Shelby Research LLC

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Memphis,Tennessee,38119,United States

Subhash Eedarapalli
Ramesh C Gupta

Willow Rheumatology Wellness

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Willowbrook,Illinois,60527,United States

Angela R Crowley
Avni Singh

West Tennessee Research Institute

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Jackson,Tennessee,38305,United States

Judith Padilla
Jacob A Aelion

RAO Research LLC

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Oklahoma City,Oklahoma,73116,United States

Mary Turner
John Goetzinger

On Site Clinical Solutions Llc

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Charlotte,North Carolina,28202,United States

Roshini Narayanaswamy
Rakesh C Patel

Accurate Clinical Research

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League City,Texas,77573,United States

David Batista
Sabeen Najam

Sun Valley Arthritis Center Ltd

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Peoria,Arizona,85381,United States

Jessica Peters
Joy Schechtman

Clinical Res Of W Florida

Recruiting

Clearwater,Florida,33765,United States

Bridget Ben-Hayon
Rodney Daniel

Clinical Research of West Florida Inc

Recruiting

Tampa,Florida,33606,United States

John Carter
Sydney K Mullen

Clinical Research Inst of MI

Recruiting

Saint Clair Shores,Michigan,48081,United States

Amelia Laurence
Andrew Sulich

Novel Research LLC

Recruiting

Bellaire,Texas,77401,United States

Hassan Khan
Wajeeha Yousaf

Arthritis Care of Texas

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Corpus Christi,Texas,78415,United States

Eric Ping Chiang
Tatum Trevino

Precision Comprehensive Clinical Research Solutions

Recruiting

Euless,Texas,76040,United States

Akshay Shetty
Renuka Basavaraju

Abigail Neiman MD PA

Recruiting

Houston,Texas,77024,United States

Abigail Neiman
Hina Arshad

TEKTON

Recruiting

Leander,Texas,78641,United States

Michael Helms
Paul K Pickrell

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