STELVIO Trial Shows Sustained Benefits for Emphysema Patients

Pulmonx Corporation has announced positive one-year results from its STELVIO trial, a randomized controlled study of Zephyr Endobronchial Valves (EBV) in severe emphysema patients selected using the Chartis System. EBV-treated patients showed durable improvements in lung function, exercise capacity and quality of life at one year.
 
Of the EBV-treated patients in the STELVIO trial evaluated at one year, 65 percent showed a clinically meaningful improvement in lung function (FEV1) at 12 months compared with 72 percent at six months. Similarly, at 12 months, 75 percent of EBV-treated patients showed a clinically meaningful improvement in distance on the Six Minute Walk Test compared to 77 percent at six months. The improvement in FEV1 was +17 percent and in distance on the Six Minute Walk Test was +61 meters. No late pneumothoraces occurred.
 
“The endobronchial valve treatment is shown to not only improve lung function, exercise capacity and quality of life across a broad group of emphysema patients, but its benefits are now demonstrated to be sustained over time,” said lead study author Dr. Karin Klooster, Ph.D.
 
The one-year analysis of the STELVIO trial included 40 severe emphysema patients previously confirmed with the Chartis System to be likely responders to Zephyr EBV therapy due to the absence of interlobar collateral ventilation, who volunteered to be evaluated at one year. Tiny one-way valves were placed in select airways of patients to block airflow to diseased regions of the lung, with the goal of improving their breathing. The study also included patients that were crossed over from the medical management arm to the EBV treatment arm.
 
The STELVIO trial was led by Dirk-Jan Slebos, M.D., Ph.D., pulmonologist, and Klooster, study coordinator, of the Department of Pulmonary Diseases and the Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD, University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands. The trial was funded by a Dutch government grant from ZonMW and the University Medical Center Groningen, The Netherlands, and was performed independently of Pulmonx.
 
The STELVIO trial is the first randomized, controlled trial of Zephyr EBV therapy using the Chartis System to identify patients most likely to benefit. It is also the first prospective trial to demonstrate that Zephyr EBV therapy can benefit patients regardless of heterogeneous or homogeneous distribution of the disease.
 
“Zephyr EBV therapy continues to demonstrate its long-term, life-changing benefits when used in combination with the Chartis System for patient selection,” said Pulmonx CEO Glen French. “The Chartis System’s ability to predict patients that will respond to EBV therapy is demonstrated by the positive responder rate, something that no other technology can provide.”
 
The Zephyr EBV is a minimally-invasive treatment for severe emphysema that has been proven in over a decade of clinical experience to significantly improve the lung function, exercise tolerance and quality of life for patients receiving treatment. The Chartis System is utilized prior to the procedure to identify likely responders. In the procedure, tiny, one-way valves are placed in the lungs to block airflow to diseased regions to achieve lung volume reduction. As a result, the remaining healthy regions may function more efficiently, enabling better breathing and an improved quality of life for patients who can then perform more activities of daily life. Zephyr EBVs have been implanted globally in more than 10,000 patients.

Watch the video below to learn more about the Zephyr EBV:

 

Based in Redwood City, Calif., and Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Pulmonx is an interventional pulmonology company that develops lung disease treatment technologies.