In the news and on
our website
Global ECTRIMS/ACTRIMS
meeting presents cutting-edge
findings
More than 7,000 scientists
and clinicians gathered in
Amsterdam in October for a
joint meeting of the Europe
and Americas Committees for
Treatment and Research in
MS. Some 1,100 presentations
outlined exciting progress in MS
research.
First results were reported
from late-phase clinical
trials of new agents, some of
which, if found to be safe and
beneficial, may come on the
market in 2012 and 2013.
The full potential of a variety
of rehabilitation and exercise
regimens to help restore
function to people with MS
were presented, including
approaches to addressing
troubling symptoms including
pain, cognitive issues, fatigue
and tremor. Results on possible
risk factors—and protective
factors—were featured,
including new information
about how our intestines
influence immune activity, as
well as levels of vitamin D in the
bloodstream.
What triggers MS?
Researchers want to know
Two new large-scale studies are
recruiting people to investigate
risk factors that trigger MS and
to figure out how to end MS
forever.
•;Researchers;from;the
Harvard Medical School,
Brigham and Women’s Hospital,
and Partners MS Center are
recruiting 5,000 subjects who
have at least one close relative
with MS for the GEMS study
(Genes and Environment in
MS). The goal is to identify
the genetic, environmental
and immune profiles that
may increase a person’s risk of
developing MS. GEMS is led by
primary investigator Philip De
Jager, MD, PhD, who is a Harry
Weaver Neuroscience Scholar of
the National MS Society.
•;Investigators;nationwide
are recruiting 640 children with
early relapsing-remitting MS
or clinically isolated syndrome
(a single episode of MS-like
symptoms) and 1,280 children
without MS for a four-year
study to determine risk factors
that make children susceptible
to developing MS. The $3.2
million grant from the National
Institutes of Health to lead
investigator Emmanuelle
Waubant, MD (University
of California, San Francisco
Pediatric MS Center), is based
on pilot data collected by the
Society’s Pediatric Network
of Centers of Excellence.
Investigators specifically are
looking at genes, Epstein-Barr
and other common viruses,
vitamin D levels, and exposure
to cigarette smoking.
Fast Forward® and Athersys
collaborate on stem cell
treatment
Fast Forward LLC, a nonprofit
subsidiary of the National
MS Society and Athersys Inc.,
announced an alliance to fund
the development of Athersys’s
MultiStem® adult stem cell
platform for the treatment of
chronic progressive MS. Fast
Forward will provide funds to
enable preclinical testing of
MultiStem in mouse models
of MS to support submission
of an Investigational New
Drug application (IND) to
the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA). The
aim of the IND would be to
secure authorization from the
FDA to conduct a clinical trial
administering MultiStem to treat
people diagnosed with chronic
progressive MS. n
Read more news
and details of
these stories at
nationalms
society.org/
bulletins.
