Two Arm, Double-blind, Phase III Study Assessing Efficacy and Safety of Ianalumab Versus Placebo, in Participants With Sjögren's Disease With High Symptom Burden
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)
- Sjögren´s Disease
At a glance
- Phase
- Phase 3
- Study type
- Interventional
- Sponsor
- Novartis Pharmaceuticals
- Enrolment target
- 570
- Started
- 16 July 2026
- Main results due
- 14 August 2029
- Study sites
- 26
- Registry updated
- 28 September 2026
Can you take part?
- Aged 18 years and over.
- Open to any sex.
- You need the condition being studied — healthy volunteers are not accepted.
These are the headline rules only. Every study has a longer list, and whether you are eligible is decided by the research team at the site — never by this page.
Read the full 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).
What this study is about
In the sponsor’s own words, from the registry.
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.
Study sites(26)
Sun Valley Arthritis Center Ltd
Peoria, Arizona, United States
Recruiting
Clinical Res Of W Florida
Clearwater, Florida, United States
Recruiting
Clinical Research of West Florida Inc
Tampa, Florida, United States
Recruiting
Willow Rheumatology Wellness
Willowbrook, Illinois, United States
Recruiting
Tufts Medical Center
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Recruiting
Clinical Research Inst of MI
Saint Clair Shores, Michigan, United States
Recruiting
St Lawrence Health System
Potsdam, New York, United States
Recruiting
On Site Clinical Solutions Llc
Charlotte, North Carolina, United States
Recruiting
RAO Research LLC
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, United States
Recruiting
West Tennessee Research Institute
Jackson, Tennessee, United States
Recruiting
Shelby Research LLC
Memphis, Tennessee, United States
Recruiting
Novel Research LLC
Bellaire, Texas, United States
Recruiting
Arthritis Care of Texas
Corpus Christi, Texas, United States
Recruiting
Precision Comprehensive Clinical Research Solutions
Euless, Texas, United States
Recruiting
Abigail Neiman MD PA
Houston, Texas, United States
Recruiting
Accurate Clinical Research
League City, Texas, United States
Recruiting
TEKTON
Leander, Texas, United States
Recruiting
Arthritis Northwest PLLC
Spokane, Washington, United States
Recruiting
Novartis Investigative Site
Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia
Recruiting
Novartis Investigative Site
Rimouski, Quebec, Canada
Recruiting
Novartis Investigative Site
Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
Recruiting
Novartis Investigative Site
Beijing, China
Recruiting
Novartis Investigative Site
Nashik, Maharashtra, India
Recruiting
Novartis Investigative Site
Belagavi, India
Recruiting
Novartis Investigative Site
Gwangju, South Korea
Recruiting
Novartis Investigative Site
Seoul, South Korea
Recruiting
Showing 26 of 26 sites. 26 of the 26 sites on this study are recruiting right now — a site can stop enrolling while the study as a whole is still open.
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov record NCT07621809. Trialion does not run this study, is not paid to refer anyone to it, and cannot enrol you. Eligibility is always decided by the research team at the site.
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