Promise 2010 Seminar‏

I missed this seminar because I just did too much this week. The author of the following is simply a friend, fund raiser, advocate and generally caring soul.

Promise 2010 was established by the NMSS in 2005 as a method to research, analyze and vote on funding for advanced MS Research. The resulting Task Force determined that the best way to speed up nerve tissue repair is to bring together experts in clinical trials and basic laboratory scientists to form partnerships. These teams could conduct all elements of the study from basic research to planning studies of neuroprotective drugs and repair strategies in people with MS.

Four teams in the U.S. and Europe were granted a combined $15.6 million over the life of the project to lay the groundwork for clinical trials by 2010.

These four teams are:
Dr. Peter A. Calabresi (Johns Hopkins University) and collaborators are searching for better ways to detect and quantify tissue injury in MS and testing agents that may protect the nervous system from further damage.
Professor Charles ffrench-Constant (University of Cambridge, UK) and colleagues are focusing on restoring myelin by identifying and amplifying natural repair factors in the brain and by attempting to transplant replacement cells.
Dr. Gavin Giovannoni (Queen Mary University of London, UK) and collaborators are attempting to turn cells into vehicles that will deliver repair molecules to sites of injury in the brain, and screening molecules for their protective properties as a prelude to clinical trials.
Professor Ian D. Duncan (University of Wisconsin Madison) is leading a multidisciplinary team to develop better imaging technologies such as PET and MRI to visualize myelin and nerve fiber damage, and to detect its repair. They are also exploring techniques for transplanting cells to promote repair.

Yesterday I was in attendance of a progress report presented by Dr. Giovannoni on his area of focus.

His team is testing nerve-protecting compounds. His presentation demonstrated that a therapy of Lamotrigine (currently used to prevent seizures in people with epilepsy) has been proved in clinical trials to provide superior results to current MS therapies on the market to prevent or slow progressive shrinking of the brain (atrophy) in people with secondary-progressive MS. Lamontrigine is in the final stages of clinical trials in England and that no testing of the drug for MS treatment is currently being conducted in the United States.

Delivery is intravenous. Dosage is annually over 5 days.

The other part of his presentation concerned a large, multi-center ongoing study is ongoing to see if the active compound in cannabis, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) can slow the progressive phase of MS. The challenge was to develop the ability to deliver the compound outside of the brain and into the nervous system in sufficient quantity. The results were positive in lab experiments but to date no pharmaceutical company has discussed licensing and or clinical testing.

Lastly he spoke of a potential cause. Researchers still do not know. He agrees with the idea that both environmental and hereditary factors influence risk and course of MS. That the following factors are inherent in people with MS: A) Location. (birth and living) B) A relationship between Vitamin D and MS risk. C) That women contract MS twice as much as men. D) A relationship with Epstien-Barr Virus infection and MS Risk.

I'm using this post to launch my 2009 Walk MS Fund Raising effort.