Multiple sclerosis studies underway using existing drugs
pharmafile | April 2, 2015 | News story | Research and Development, Sales and Marketing | MS, Midamor, Prozac, Rilutek, Sanofi, amiloride, covis, fluoxetine, multiple sclerosis, riluzole
Three existing drugs that fight heart disease, depression and motor neurone disease could be used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS) experts predict.
Rilutek (riluzole) a drug originally made by Sanofi but sold to Swiss biotech Covis Pharma in 2013, is one of the treatments being tested during an MS-Smart Phase II trial taking place at University College London (UCL), and the University of Edinburgh.
The 400-strong study will test the safety and effectiveness of the three drugs which also includes Lilly’s antidepressant Prozac (fluoxetine) and heart disease drug Midamor (amiloride), to find out if the treatments can slow down the progress of MS.
Professor Siddharthan Chandran, one of the neurologists at the University of Edinburgh, comments: “This is a landmark study that seeks to not only test three potential treatments, but also showcase a new approach to clinical trials for progressive neurological conditions.”
MS is a neurological illness which affects around 100,000 people in the UK, and although there are treatments for the early phases of the condition there is nothing for once the disease progresses.
People with the inflammatory disease can experience problems with walking and loss of vision, the illness causes the immune system to attack myelin, a fatty substance that coats and protects nerve fibers.
“In the same way that aspirin was developed as a painkiller and is now used to treat stroke patients, we may well have invented the drugs that we need, we just don’t know that they work in different situations than what they were invented for,” Dr Jeremy Chataway, a consultant neurologist and lead researcher on the trial based at UCL told the BBC.
The three treatments involved in the study were all identified as medicines that protect nerves from damage. The proposed trial will be the first time that these drugs have been tested on such a large number of patients.
Meanwhile Google and Biogen are also setting their sights on finding a treatment for MS. The US biotech that is a ‘market leader’ for the disease and has five offerings for the condition, is teaming up with the tech giant to study the environmental and biological contributors that lead to MS.
Tom Robinson
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