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Study identifier: NCT05395195 Synced from ClinicalTrials.gov · July 29, 2026
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Erythropoietin for Neonatal Encephalopathy in LMIC (EMBRACE Trial)

Condition: Encephalopathy · Erythropoietin · Newborn Asphyxia  ·  Sponsor: Imperial College London

PhasePhase 3
Planned participants504
Who can joinAll sexes, 1 Hour to 6 Hours
Healthy volunteersNo

About this study

One million babies die, and at least 2 million survive with lifelong disabilities following neonatal encephalopathy (NE) in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), every year. Cooling therapy in the context of modern tertiary intensive care improves outcome after NE in high-income countries. However, the uptake and applicability of cooling therapy in LMICs is poor, due to the lack of intensive care and transport facilities to initiate and administer the treatment within the six-hours window after birth as well as the absence of safety and efficacy data on hypothermia for moderate or severe NE. Erythropoietin (Epo) is a promising neuroprotectant with both acute effects (anti-inflammatory, anti-excitotoxic, antioxidant, and antiapoptotic) and regenerative effects (neurogenesis, angiogenesis, and oligodendrogenesis),which are essential for the repair of injury and normal neurodevelopment when used as a mono therapy in pre-clinical models (i.e without adjunct hypothermia). The preclinical data on combined use of Eythropoeitin and hypothermia is less convincing as the mechanisms overlap. Thus, the HEAL (High dose erythropoietin for asphyxia and encephalopathy) trial, a large phase III clinical trial involving 500 babies with with encephalopathy reported that that Erythropoietin along with hypothermia is not beneficial. In contrast, the pooled data from 5 small randomized clinical trials (RCTs) (n=348 babies), suggests that Epo (without cooling therapy) reduce the risk of death…

This description comes directly from the study's public registry record.

Talk to the study team

Reema Garegrat, DM  ·  02033132473  ·  r.garegrat@imperial.ac.uk

Ismita Chhettri, PhD  ·  02033132473  ·  i.chhetri@imperial.ac.uk

Always discuss trial participation with your own doctor first.

Locations (10)

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical UniversityDhaka, BangladeshRecruiting
Dhaka Medical CollegeDhaka, BangladeshNot Yet Recruiting
Aurangabad Medical CollegeAurangabad, IndiaRecruiting
Bangalore Medical CollegeBangalore, IndiaRecruiting
Indira Gandhi Institute of Child HealthBangalore, IndiaRecruiting
Institute of Child Health, Madras Medical CollegeChennai, IndiaRecruiting
Kasturba Gandhi Medical CollegeChennai, IndiaRecruiting
Karnataka Institute of Medical SciencesHubli, IndiaRecruiting
Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical CollegeMumbai, IndiaRecruiting
University of KelaniyaKelaniya, Sri LankaNot Yet Recruiting

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Source record: clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05395195