Clinical Trials
Advancing medical knowledge
Winchester District Memorial Hospital’s (WDMH)
research program launched its first clinical
trial to benefit patients in the fall of 2022.
This is a major advancement in our research program. Clinical trials are a key
research tool for advancing medical knowledge and patient care. The knowledge
gained will support the treatment we will provide in the years to come.
Clinical trials can provide positive
impacts for many patients in the future, offering benefits such as new
treatments or better drug options. Through rigorous testing, evidence-based trials
ensure the solutions are safe and effective before they are used in clinical
practice.
WDMH has an extensive referral network to support our research:

Heart Disease - Pfizer
This is a three-year clinical trial looking at heart disease.
Heart
disease is currently the second leading cause of death within Canada, with an
estimated 750,000 Canadians living with heart failure. In rural areas
specifically, patients with heart failure may have a harder time accessing
necessary medical services.
WDMH is part of an international study to look at the
prevalence of Transthyretin Amyloid Cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM), which is the stiffening and thickening of the heart muscle.
ATTR-CM leads to heart muscle dysfunction, cardiomyopathy, congestive
heart failure, and death. It is believed that ATTR-CM is significantly underdiagnosed.
The primary purpose of
this study is to assess how common ATTR-CM is among patients with heart
failure, to estimate the global prevalence of ATTR-CM. Knowing how prevalent the disease is will allow for further
investigation into early diagnosis and treatment.
COVID Treatment - Pfizer
In a healthy individual, the immune system works to clear the
body of any viral or bacterial infections. However, certain conditions,
medications, or diseases can cause the immune system to become compromised, or
suppressed.
Immunocompromised patients with
COVID-19 are at a higher risk of developing severe infections, due to a decreased
immune response, a higher viral load within the body, and the increased
potential for treatment-resistant strains to develop. This increased potential
for the emergence of new variants puts the general population at risk.
Paxlovid is an approved treatment
for mild-moderate COVID symptoms in adults and pediatric (12+) patients, but
for immunocompromised patients, the current 5-day treatment protocol may not be
long enough to fully clear the virus from the body. This study will explore the
efficacy and safety of various treatment lengths, to determine the most
effective and safe protocol for use within immunocompromised populations.
COVID Relapse - Pfizer
Paxlovid has been shown to be a safe and effective
treatment for mild to moderate COVID-19. However, in some people whose immune
systems are compromised, the current 5-day treatment of Paxlovid might not be
long enough to fully clear the virus from their body.
Immunocompromised
patients are at a higher risk for complications and severe symptoms and are
also at a higher risk for developing treatment-resistant strains. Some
immunocompromised patients are experiencing a “rebound” in Covid-19 symptoms,
where their symptoms return after they have recovered and tested negative.
This study is a double-blind study, to assess the safety and efficacy of a second, 5-day treatment course of Paxlovid. It will focus on patients over the age of 12, who have completed their initial treatment course but have had a reoccurrence of symptoms within two weeks.
E-Coli Vaccine Trial - Janssen
E-Coli is a very common bacteria, and is the number one cause of
Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs). Left untreated, and especially in older
adults, this bacteria can progress further into the internal organs and blood
stream, leading to systemic bacterial infection. Once the bacteria travels into
the bloodstream and internal organs, it requires the use of complex IV
antibiotics to treat. However, E-Coli bacteria is becoming highly resistant to
most commonly-used antibiotics. This antibiotic resistance can lead to
treatment failure, increased hospitalization, morbidity, and mortality rates,
and increased healthcare costs.
This study will focus on patients
65+ with recurrent UTIs, who will receive an E-Coli vaccine, to determine
whether the vaccine will help to provide protection from E-Coli bacteria, and
prevent the systemic bacterial infections that can occur. The development of an
E-Coli vaccine will prevent over-use of antibiotics, which in turn will
minimize the development of antibiotic resistance.
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) - AstraZeneca
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD) refers to two conditions in which your airways become constricted, or
“blocked”: obstructive chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. With bronchitis, your
airways become inflamed and filled with a thick, sticky mucus. In cases of
emphysema, the air sacs within your lungs are unable to effectively exchange
oxygen and carbon dioxide. These conditions can occur separately or together,
and can cause many debilitating symptoms.
Interleukin-33 is a protein which is expressed by the cells in
your lungs, in response to cell injury (eg. respiratory viral infections). This
protein increases mucus production, inflammation, and increases the number of
cells capable of producing mucus. In patients with COPD, this protein
expression is increased. This leads to mucus induced airway obstruction, and
increased risk of COPD exacerbations. MEDI3506 is a treatment that binds to
these proteins, and blocks their ability to work. By blocking the signalling of
this protein, it has the potential to disrupt the cycle of inflammatory
structural damage in lungs of patients with COPD, and thereby provide symptom
relief and management for patients with COPD.
The purpose of this Phase III study is to evaluate the efficacy
and safety of MEDI3506 given subcutaneously every 8 weeks and every 4 weeks, in
adult participants with symptomatic COPD and history of ≥ 2 moderate or ≥ 1
severe exacerbation of COPD in the previous 12 months.
Atrial Fibrillation - Incarda
Atrial fibrillation (AFib) occurs when
the upper two chambers of your heart beat irregularly, or inefficiently, which
means that blood is unable to flow into the lower chambers of your heart as
well as it should. AFib is the most common cardiac arrhythmia seen in clinical
settings, with an estimated global prevalence of 33.5 million people. In
patients with AFib, systemic blood clots, unstable blood pressure, decreased
blood flow, and ventricular arrhythmias contribute to a significant increase in
morbidity, mortality, and frequent hospitalizations.
This
study is a double-blind study, designed to assess the efficacy of flecainide
acetate inhalation in converting atrial fibrillation to a normal heart rhythm,
in patients with recent-onset, symptomatic, newly diagnosed or paroxysmal AFib.
It will also evaluate the effects of flecainide acetate inhalation solution and placebo
on the time to conversion of AFib to normal heart rhythm, AFib-related
symptoms, hospitalizations, AFib-related interventions, and the time to
discharge.
If you would like to participate in any of our future research
studies or would like any information on our current projects, please contact
our research department at research@wdmh.on.ca.