Last Update: Aug 18, 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 13, 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

RAO Research LLC

Recruiting

Oklahoma City,Oklahoma,73116,United States

Mary Turner
John Goetzinger

TEKTON

Recruiting

Leander,Texas,78641,United States

Paul K Pickrell
Michael Helms

Abigail Neiman MD PA

Recruiting

Houston,Texas,77024,United States

Hina Arshad
Abigail Neiman

Precision Comprehensive Clinical Research Solutions

Recruiting

Euless,Texas,76040,United States

Renuka Basavaraju
Akshay Shetty

Arthritis Care of Texas

Recruiting

Corpus Christi,Texas,78415,United States

Tatum Trevino
Eric Ping Chiang

Novel Research LLC

Recruiting

Bellaire,Texas,77401,United States

Wajeeha Yousaf
Hassan Khan

On Site Clinical Solutions Llc

Recruiting

Charlotte,North Carolina,28202,United States

Rakesh C Patel
Roshini Narayanaswamy

Clinical Research Inst of MI

Recruiting

Saint Clair Shores,Michigan,48081,United States

Andrew Sulich
Amelia Laurence

Clinical Research of West Florida Inc

Recruiting

Tampa,Florida,33606,United States

Sydney K Mullen
John Carter

Clinical Res Of W Florida

Recruiting

Clearwater,Florida,33765,United States

Rodney Daniel
Bridget Ben-Hayon

Sun Valley Arthritis Center Ltd

Recruiting

Peoria,Arizona,85381,United States

Joy Schechtman
Jessica Peters

Accurate Clinical Research

Recruiting

League City,Texas,77573,United States

Sabeen Najam
David Batista

Worldwide Contacts

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Novartis Pharmaceuticals

Novartis Pharmaceuticals