Humacyte Presents Clinical Results of Human Acellular Vessel for Vascular Trauma

November 17, 2023—Humacyte, Inc., which is company developing universally implantable, bioengineered human tissue at commercial scale, announced the presentation of positive results from the V005 phase 2/3 clinical trial of the investigational human acellular vessel (HAV) in the treatment of vascular trauma, as well as results from the treatment of wartime injuries in Ukraine.

The results showed the HAV had higher rates of patency as well as lower rates of amputation and infection compared to historic synthetic graft benchmarks. The company plans to file a Biologics License Application (BLA) for the HAV for an indication in vascular trauma patients with the FDA during the current quarter.

The HAV, which is under investigation as an infection-resistant alternative for revascularization, is not approved for sale by the FDA or any other regulatory agency. The two presentations were made at the 50th annual VEITHsymposium held November 14-18 in New York, New York.

According to the company, the V005 trial was a single-arm study conducted in the United States and Israel. The comparators for the HAV results were a systematic literature review and meta-analysis of studies conducted with synthetics grafts, providing a benchmark for comparison.

The V005 study enrolled 69 patients with arterial injuries resulting from gun shots, workplace injuries, car accidents, or other traumatic events for whom the standard of care, saphenous vein, was not feasible or available to use as a bypass graft. Of these 69 patients, 51 had vascular injury of the extremities and comprised the primary evaluation group for the study.

The company reported that the V005 trial met its objectives, and the HAV demonstrated a higher 30-day secondary patency rate of 90.2% for the extremity patients compared to 78.9% historically reported for synthetic grafts.

Primary patency for the HAV was 81.2% for the extremity patients, although no comparison to synthetic graft primary patency was possible since this measure was not reported in the benchmark publications.

The HAV also demonstrated lower amputation rates, with a rate of 9.8% for extremity patients compared to 24.3% historically reported for synthetic grafts. Additionally, the HAV demonstrated lower rates of infection, with a rate of 2.0% for the extremity patients compared to 8.4% historically reported for synthetic grafts.

In the V005 trial, the most common reasons reported by clinicians for using the HAV instead of the standard of care of saphenous vein was the need to avoid the time required to harvest saphenous vein (32.3%), the quality of the patient’s vein (25.8%), and concomitant injuries to the vein (16.1%). These reasons suggest that the ready, off-the-shelf feature of the HAV has the potential to save valuable time for surgeons in the restoration of blood flow.

“These results indicate that the HAV performed well in this vascular trauma population who were at a very high risk of limb loss due to the nature of their injuries,” commented V005 trial investigator Ernest E. Moore, MD, in the company’s press release. “These results are most notable considering the high risk of wound infection and immediate availability of a durable conduit. I look forward to the HAV being available in my practice.”

Dr. Moore is Director of Research at the Ernest E. Moore Shock Trauma Center at Denver Health in Denver, Colorado.

Humacyte noted that the FDA has advised Humacyte to include patient outcomes from a humanitarian program conducted in Ukraine in the BLA submission patient.

Results for the 16 extremity patients from Ukraine who provided consent for use of their results in the BLA filing—a set of data known as the V017 trial—were presented at the VEITHsymposium.

As summarized in the Humacyte press release, the rate of success for treatment of patients with the HAV in the V017 trial was high, with a 30-day secondary patency of 93.8%, zero amputations, and zero cases of infection of the HAV.

Additionally, the results of a meta-analysis combining the V005 and V017 trials concluded that the HAV demonstrated higher patency with a 30-day secondary patency rate of 91.5% for the extremity patients compared to 78.9% historically reported for synthetic grafts.

For the secondary comparison of amputation rates, the HAV demonstrated an improvement with a rate of 4.5% for extremity patients compared to 24.3% historically reported for synthetic grafts. For the secondary comparison of infection, the HAV demonstrated an improvement with a rate of 0.9% for the extremity patients compared to 8.4% historically reported for synthetic grafts.

“As a former Army surgeon, I appreciate the patient outcomes in Ukraine as I have seen first-hand too many front-line fighters who have had their lives cut short, or were forever damaged, as a result of the devastating wounds they suffered defending their country,” stated V005 investigator Charles J. Fox, MD, in the company’s press.

Dr. Fox, who is Director of Vascular Surgery at the University of Maryland Capital Region in Largo, Maryland. “The HAV offered a new option to Ukraine’s war-wounded in the V017 trial and to civilian patients in the V005 trial, and I look forward to the advancements this technology may bring to the future of vascular regenerative medicine.”

Dr. Fox discussed the results of the V005 trial in a podium presentation titled “Phase 2/3 Study for the Evaluation of Safety and Efficacy of HAV for Vascular Reconstruction in Patients with Limb or Life-Threatening Vascular Trauma.”

Results from V005, the Ukraine humanitarian program, and statistical comparison to historic benchmarks were presented at a symposium titled “Vascular Trauma Repair Clinical Study Results with Humacyte Human Acellular Vessel (V005 & V017 Data)” by Dr. Moore, Dr. Fox, and Laura Niklason, MD, Chief Executive Officer of Humacyte.

Humacyte reported that there were no unexpected safety signals for the HAV in the V005 and V017 studies. Common adverse events reported were anemia, vascular graft thrombosis, blood loss anemia, pyrexia, thrombocytopenia, constipation, nausea peripheral edema, and tachycardia. There were four deaths among the extremity patients in the V005 trial, and zero deaths in the V017 trial. There were no deaths among extremity patients in the V005 trial attributed to the HAV.

A meta-analysis combing the V005 and V017 trials showed a rate of death for extremity patients comparable to that historically reported for synthetic grafts, with a 30-day rate for the HAV of 3.5%, and a 30-day rate of deaths attributed to the HAV of 0.0%. A 30-day rate of death of 3.4% is reported historically for synthetic grafts, although deaths attributed to the synthetic grafts were not reported.