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An adaptive clinical trial for Australians living with MS is hoping to reverse neurological damage caused by progressive multiple sclerosis.

With an initial $4 million in funding, the trial, commencing in January 2024, will see researchers investigate the potential benefits of several medications simultaneously.

Progressive MS is a clinical form of MS characterised by a progressive worsening of symptoms and disability without periods of recovery.

Working with a national and international group of clinicians and researchers, the multi-arm, multi-stage (MAMS) adaptive, innovative design, known as PLATYPUS (PLatform Adaptive Trial for remYelination and neuroProtection in mUltiple Sclerosis), will test two repurposed drugs alongside each other, providing more timely results about whether the treatments are working.

MSWA is the leading funder of the trial, having contributed $3 million to PLATYPUS.

MSWA CEO Melanie Kiely said, 鈥淧LATYPUS has the potential to deliver a significant breakthrough, as we aim to provide real-life outcomes which positively impact the lives of people living with progressive MS聽鈥� which is always our focus.

鈥淏y testing two repurposed drugs, we hope to find a treatment which can be quick to market for the people we support,鈥� Kiely said.

MS Australia CEO Rohan Greenland said that currently, despite a number of traditional clinical trials for progressive MS in Australia, there is no treatment that repairs damage in progressive MS.

鈥淲ith an estimated 40% or around 13,000 people living with progressive MS, the launch of PLATYPUS today is a major milestone, the first adaptive clinical trial for MS in Australia. This will ensure a treatment opportunity for people with progressive MS, the greatest unmet need in the MS landscape,鈥� Greenland said.

PLATYPUS is an extension of the OCTOPUS (Optimal Clinical Trials Platform for Multiple Sclerosis) clinical trial, funded by the UK MS Society and launched April 2023.

Neurology Professor Simon Broadley from Griffith University鈥檚 School of Medicine and Dentistry and Chief Investigator of PLATYPUS said, 鈥淐ollaborating with our OCTOPUS partners in the UK, we鈥檒l be trialling the drugs metformin, which is typically used to treat type 2 diabetes, and alpha-lipoic acid, which is a health food supplement. These therapies have shown promise in promoting neuroprotection and/or myelin repair in MS.鈥�

The PLATYPUS trial will be rolled out across Australia through a collaboration of 20 academic and healthcare institutions and aims to recruit more than 250 participants in Australia.

鈥淭hese multi-arm, multi-stage trials will require less time and fewer participants to assess the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of metformin and alpha-lipoic acid,鈥� Broadley said.

MS Australia鈥檚 Head of Research, Dr Julia Morahan, said PLATYPUS will investigate whether these drugs reduce brain shrinkage and clinical progression of MS.

鈥淲e hope this will lead to positive trial outcomes that are readily translatable into practice, providing new hope for improved care for people with progressive MS in Australia and beyond,鈥� Morahan said.

Image credit: iStock.com/Liudmila Chernetska