A example of a myelinated neuron

Old antibiotic offers potential cost-effective MS treatment

pharmafile | June 2, 2017 | News story | Medical Communications, Research and Development Myelin, multiple sclerosis 

The cost of treatment for multiple sclerosis varies wildly, in the UK treatment can cost £56,000 per year while in the US this can range up to $120,000 and, for the same treatment, this can drop to C$20,000 in Canada.

This is why the latest research into the potential for an antibiotic that is 50 years old is so promising – it means that patients could be offered treatment at a fraction of the cost of some alternative treatments.

The antibiotic, minocycline, is commonly used to treat acne and works by reducing inflammation. It was for this reason that researchers turned to the antibiotic to determine whether it could aid in the autoimmune condition MS, whereby the immune system mistakenly attacks the protective covering of the nervous system. The condition results in inflammation and damage to the myelin, which the body then must attempt to repair – a process that becomes slower and more difficult as the disease progresses.

However, treatment with minocycline was able to show, in a Phase 3 clinical trial, that over six months of treatment there was a 27.6% reduction in the chance of participants to develop the full symptoms of MS against placebo treatment.

“The clinical results are compelling,” says HBI member Dr. Luanne Metz, the study’s lead author and professor in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences at the CSM. “Based on these findings, neurologists will be able to prescribe minocycline for people experiencing their first symptoms of demyelination if an MRI suggests the cause will likely prove to be MS.”

The next step for the treatment will be further clinical trials, the study hit a stumbling block due to the low number of participants (142) and the difficulty in doing follow up with patients for the full two years. The risk of developing the full symptoms of MS were also found to be equivalent after two years in the minocycline and placebo treatments.

Regardless, it is clear that more research is needed but it points towards a potentially cheaper form of treatment for those who have not yet developed MS to be taken as a precautionary measure. The trouble the researchers will have is finding the funding to pursue the research further, as there is little profit to be made from such a treatment.

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