Researchers have started a major trial to see if drugs normally prescribed for motor neurone disease, heart disease and depression could be some of the first therapies in the world to halt disability progression in people with multiple sclerosis (MS).
The groundbreaking ‘MS-SMART’ trial, led by BRC-researcher Dr Jeremy Chataway, will test the safety and effectiveness of amiloride (licensed to treat heart disease), or fluoxetine (depression) or riluzole (MND) against a placebo in 440 people with secondary progressive MS – a later stage and untreatable progressive form of the condition.
Participants will be monitored for two years using MRI scans and other clinical measures to test for signs of MS disease progression; it’s hoped the drugs will work by protecting the nerves from damage.
As MS-SMART will test drugs where the safety profile is already known it will potentially cut years off the time usually needed to test experimental treatments. If successful, this trial will start the process of developing a pipeline of drugs to modify the disease in people with secondary progressive MS; potentially transforming the way MS is treated across the world.
Dr Chataway, Consultant Neurologist at UCL, said: “While there are an increasing number of treatments for MS that can reduce the frequency or severity of MS relapses, there’s nothing that can stop the accumulation of disability in people with secondary progressive MS - it’s a huge unmet need in the treatment of the condition.”
The three drugs for the trial were identified after a systematic review of previously published research of potentially neuro-protective treatments. Additional studies then followed to develop the methods and techniques due to be used in MS-SMART.
Michelle Mitchell, Chief Executive of the MS Society, said: “People with MS have lived for years in hope that one day we will find an effective treatment for secondary progressive MS; this trial takes us one step closer to making that hope a reality. Our goal is to ensure people with MS have access to effective treatments including treatments which can slow, stop or reverse the accumulation of disability.”
The trial is funded by a partnership between the National Institute for Health Research and Medical Research Council and the MS Society. Additional support comes from the BRC and University of Edinburgh.
Recruitment to the MS-SMART trial is underway and there are 15 trial sites across England and Scotland. For more information on the study go to www.ms-smart.org.
