The International Progressive MS Alliance is a global effort to accelerate the development of effective treatments for progressive MS.
\nTwo new studies funded by the Alliance have found that the repurposed drugs, bavisant and nimodipine, target different biological processes involved in nerve damage.
\nThese early laboratory studies provide potential new avenues for treating progressive MS.
\nAustralian MS neurologist and researcher Professor Tomas Kalincik will join the Alliance\u2019s scientific leadership in 2026.<\/p>\n
Speeding development of treatments for progressive MS<\/p>\n
Worldwide, more than 2.9 million people live with MS. More than half of these people live with a progressive MS. Progressive MS is characterised by symptoms that progressively worsens over time.<\/p>\n
The International Progressive MS Alliance<\/a> (the Alliance) is\u00a0a global initiative working to accelerate the development of effective treatments for people with progressive MS, with the aim of improving quality of life.<\/p>\n It brings together MS organisations, researchers, health professionals, the pharmaceutical industry, companies, trusts, foundations, donors and people affected by progressive MS from around the world. MS Australia is a managing member of the Alliance.<\/p>\n One important strategy of the Alliance is to test if existing medicines can be repurposed to treat progressive MS, helping to bring new treatments to people faster. Two recently published studies have progressed this goal.<\/p>\n Repairing myelin and protecting nerves: a new approach from existing medicines<\/p>\n Current MS treatments do not fully prevent the ongoing nerve damage that can lead to disability over time, particularly in progressive MS. Finding new treatments that can protect nerves and repair myelin, the insulating layer around nerve fibres, remains a major challenge.<\/p>\n One of the new studies, published in Science Translational Medicine<\/a>, explored whether existing medicines could be \u2018repurposed\u2019 to support myelin repair and nerve protection in MS.<\/p>\n Using advanced computer modelling, researchers screened more than 1,500 known drugs and identified several hundred with the potential to promote myelination and protect nerve cells. These candidate drugs were then tested in a series of laboratory models, including those \u00a0that replicate key features of MS.<\/p>\n The researchers identified 32 drugs that helped myelin\u2011producing cells mature and survive, while also protecting nerve cells from damage. These drugs appeared to work through different biological pathways, suggesting there may be multiple ways to encourage repair and protection in the brain of people with MS.<\/p>\n One drug, bavisant, originally developed to treat sleep and wake disorders, was examined in more detail. Bavisant was tested across several laboratory models of MS\u2011like damage.<\/p>\n In these studies, bavisant improved myelin repair and reduced nerve damage, with similar effects also seen in laboratory models using human myelin\u2011producing cells.<\/p>\n This is early\u2011stage research, but it provides important proof\u2011of\u2011concept supporting the possibility of testing bavisant in clinical trials focused on nerve protection and repair in people with MS.<\/p>\n This strategy aligns closely with that of PLATYPUS,<\/a> the Australian arm of the international OCTOPUS clinical trial, testing repurposed drugs for neuroprotection and remyelination in progressive MS.<\/p>\n How brief inflammation may lead to long\u2011term disability in MS<\/p>\n