Research in MS is progressing at a remarkable rate, with more potential therapies in the pipeline than at any other time in history. The National MS Society is a driving force of MS research, supporting and stimulating world-class research into ways to prevent, better treat and cure this unpredictable disease of the brain and spinal cord. Learn how far we’ve come, where we’re going and what the Society and others are doing to move toward a world free of MS.
Research News
Bulletins about research progress from around the world
New Funding Opportunity
The NMSS announces new funding opportunities in Health Care Delivery and Policy Research
Research We Fund
The who, what, where, why and how of the Society’s cutting-edge MS research
Intriguing Leads on the Horizon
Exciting leads and clinical trials researchers are pursuing
Clinical Trials
These treatment trials urgently need patients willing to participate
Researchers Need You
How you can help move research forward by getting involved
How Far We’ve Come
History and timeline of progress, and how the Society has helped propel these advances
Recent Research News
MS Trial Alert: Study of Oral Teriflunomide (HMR1726) Added on to Copaxone Recruiting People with Relapsing Forms of MS Worldwide
Dec 30, 2008
Summary: Investigators at six sites in the United States and others around the world are recruiting 120 people with relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS) for a study comparing two doses of teriflunomide (HMR1726), an investigational, oral MS medication, or inactive placebo, in people taking the approved drug Copaxone® (glatiramer acetate, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries). For the purposes of this study, "relapsing forms of MS" would include individuals who have experienced one MS attack in the past one year or two MS attacks in the past two years. The study is sponsored by Sanofi-Aventis.
Teva Neuroscience Launching New Needle for Copaxone
Dec 26, 2008
Teva Neuroscience has announced the launch of a new, thinner, 29-gauge pre-filled syringe for Copaxone. The company reported that a recent survey of 562 MS patients found the new thinner needle was significantly preferred by 77 percent of patients over the previous 27-gauge needle, and that approximately two out of three (66 percent) participants experienced less pain while using the thinner needle and almost half of the participants (49 percent) had a better experience dealing with injection-site reactions.
Fast Forward, LLC, Announces $1 Million Sponsored Research Agreement to Fund Proof of Principle Clinical Trial for Therapeutic Vaccine
Dec 23, 2008
Fast Forward, LLC, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s subsidiary devoted to bridging the gap between research and drug development, has announced a partnership to support Apitope International NV, the autoimmune peptide therapy company, in its proof of principle clinical trial of ATX-MS-1467. This peptide therapeutic vaccine is designed to target and prevent the abnormal pathological immune response in multiple sclerosis (MS).
Researchers Funded in Part by Society’s Promise:2010 Campaign Use Novel Technology to Identify Antibody Patterns in Blood Samples from People with MS
Dec 19, 2008
A team funded by the National MS Society used novel technology to screen the immune response in blood samples from people with various courses of MS, and were able to differentiate between different types of MS and MS patterns of damage, based on distinct immune antibody signatures against different immune targets. Francisco Quintana, PhD, Howard Weiner, MD (Harvard Medical School, Boston) and colleagues reported findings that involved a collaboration with Claudia Lucchinetti, MD (Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN). Dr. Lucchinetti is lead investigator of the Society’s MS Lesion Project, funded through the Promise: 2010 campaign. The results could ultimately lead to laboratory tests that help diagnose MS and predict its course. (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences U S A. 2008 Dec 2;105(48):18889-94)
IVIG Shows Mixed Results in Two Studies
Dec 18, 2008
Intravenous immunoglobulin G (IVIG), a treatment involving infusions of pooled antibody proteins, showed mixed results in two recent studies in people with MS. Alexandros C. Tselis, MD, PhD (Wayne State University, Detroit) and colleagues found significant improvement in a small group with MS and optic nerve inflammation, and Franz Fazekas, MD (Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria) found no significant effect in a study of 127 people with relapsing-remitting MS. These studies point to the need for larger studies that can better define the patient populations and circumstances in which this treatment may be beneficial.