There are few therapies available to patients who are in the later stages of MS, which often disables its sufferers as it attacks the central nervous system.
Researchers at the Cleveland Clinic believe an anti-inflammatory drug called Ibudilast can significantly slow down one form of MS, called Progressive MS. They will lead a nationwide clinical trial that follows patients taking the drug for two years.
Dr. Robert Fox, a staff neurologist at the Clinic’s Mellen Center for Multiple Sclerosis, says finding the new drug is only part of the good news.
The trial will be the first to usea network created by the National Institutes of Health to coordinate the researchers, patients and data at 25 teaching hospitals across the country.
“What’s really exciting about this is we’re not just testing a drug, which is good in of its own right. We’re also identifying better ways to do clinical trials in neurologic diseases so that we can test new therapies faster and for less money," Fox says.
And that could mean getting them to patients sooner.