NCT07296458RecruitingPhase 3
FIREFLY Trial: Fenofibrate Intervention---Randomized Evaluation in First-Line PBC Therapy
A Multicenter, Randomized, Double-Blind, Double-Dummy, Active-Controlled Clinical Trial of Fenofibrate in Treatment-Naïve Patients With Primary Biliary Cholangitis
Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Last updated 2 Nov 2026
Brief summary (registry, in English)
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if the drug Fenofibrate works to treat adults with a liver disease called Primary Biliary Cholangitis (PBC) who have not received previous treatment. It will also learn about the safety of Fenofibrate. The main questions it aims to answer are: Is Fenofibrate better at helping the liver return to normal function (measured by a blood test called ALP) than the standard medication, Ursodeoxycholic What kind of medical problems do participants have when taking Fenofibrate compared to those taking UDCA? Researchers will compare Fenofibrate to the active drug UDCA (the current standard treatment) to see which one works better.\*\* Participants will: Be randomly assigned to take either Fenofibrate plus a UDCA placebo, or UDCA plus a Fenofibrate placebo, every day for 12 months. (Neither they nor their doctor will know which group they are in.) Visit the clinic 5 times over the year (at 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months) for check-ups, blood tests, and questionnaires. Undergo a special scan (like FibroScan) to measure liver stiffness at some visits. Be encouraged to have a liver biopsy at the start and end of the study to provide detailed information about liver health (this is optional).
- Status (registry)
- Recruiting
- Phase (registry)
- Phase 3
- Study type
- Interventional
- Enrollment
- 132 (estimated)
- First submitted
- 14 Nov 2025
- Start date
- 15 Dec 2025
- Primary completion date
- 31 Dec 2028
- Lead sponsor
- Xijing Hospital of Digestive Diseases
- Diseases
- Primary biliary cholangitis
- NCT number
- NCT07296458
What you commit to
- Study type: Interventional · Phase 3
- Planned participants: 132
- From 15 Dec 2025 to the primary completion date, 31 Dec 2028
- 2 sites in 1 country
- Visits and tests: ask the trial team, the registry does not list them
Built from the registry fields of ClinicalTrials.gov. It describes the study, not your situation.
Who cannot take part
Copied verbatim from ClinicalTrials.gov and grouped by topic. Only the trial team decides who can take part.
Prior treatment
- Subjects who have received treatment with obeticholic acid and other fibrates (such as gemfibrozil, bezafibrate, pemafibrate, Elafibranor, Seladelpar, Lanifibranor, Saroglitizar, etc.) within the previous 6 weeks prior to screening;
- Screening for individuals who have taken colchicine, methotrexate, azathioprine, or undergone systemic hormone therapy for more than 2 weeks within the previous 2 months;
- Is currently undergoing treatment with immunosuppressants (such as cyclosporine, tacrolimus, and related biologics);
- Plan to receive organ transplantation or have already undergone organ transplantation;
Other illness
- Combined liver diseases caused by other factors: including viral hepatitis, chronic alcoholic hepatitis, steatohepatitis, drug-induced hepatitis, autoimmune hepatitis, primary sclerosing cholangitis, etc;
- Individuals who are allergic to fenofibrate or ursodeoxycholic acid;
- At the time of diagnosis or in the past, there have been variceal bleeding, hepatic encephalopathy, ascites, spontaneous bacterial peritonitis, hepatocellular carcinoma, and hepatorenal syndrome;
- Individuals with a history of severe diseases or functional failures in the heart, cerebrovascular system, kidneys, respiratory system, as well as mental illnesses (including those caused by alcohol and drug abuse);
- Clear history of HIV infection or HIV antibody positive during the screening period;
- Screen for individuals with a clear history of malignant tumor or anti-tumor treatment within the previous 2 years;
Lab values
- Transaminase greater than 5×ULN, or total bilirubin greater than 3×ULN;
- Creatinine level greater than 1.5×ULN;
- Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) ≤ 45 mL/min/1.73 m2;
- International normalized ratio (INR) ≥ 1.5 (for patients undergoing anticoagulant therapy, an INR value within the therapeutic target range is sufficient);
Other
- Pregnant women, lactating women, or those who plan to give birth during the study period;
- Other situations that researchers judge as unsuitable for enrollment.
Who the study is looking for
- Voluntarily join the group and be able to understand and sign the informed consent form;
- Age: 18 years old or above and below 75 years old;
- The diagnosis of primary biliary cholangitis follows the AASLD international diagnostic and treatment guidelines (meeting two of the following three criteria: positive AMA or gp210, sp100; elevated serum ALP; pathological manifestations of non-suppurative cholangitis and interlobular bile duct destruction);
- The patient did not receive UDCA and fenofibrate treatment in the 6 months before enrollment, and ALP was greater than the upper limit of normal (ULN).
Age in the registry: 18 years to 75 years · Sex: All · Does not accept healthy volunteers
Sites (2)
Sites in registry order. Pick your city on the disease page to sort them by distance.
| Site | City | Country | Site status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | Guangzhou | China | Recruiting |
| Xijing hospital Coordinator of this site? Confirm its status | Xi'an | China | Recruiting |
This page is information, not medical advice. Discuss any trial with your doctor.