Research priorities for progressive MS announced

MS Societies from around the world have joined together to set the priorities for research into progressive forms of multiple sclerosis. 

The International Progressive MS Collaborative is the greatest effort to date aiming to speed up research and identifying treatments for people with progressive MS. The new collaborative was launched earlier this year on World MS Day and is formed of the MS Societies of the UK, Canada, Italy, Netherlands the US and the MS International Federation.

Key priority areas identified by the Collaborative in need of a urgent attention are:

• identifying and developing potential treatments
• clinical trial design
• symptom management and rehabilitation

An international effort is needed to address and fund these research priorities. 

Funding opportunities for these areas of research are likely to be announced at an international scientific conference in early 2013.

Doug Brown, Head of Biomedical Research at the MS Society said, “We are delighted to be taking a leading role in this collaboration and it's great that we’re all working together on the problem of progressive forms of MS, where there are currently no treatments that slow or stop the progression of disability.”

The priorities were published in a paper for the journal ‘Multiple Sclerosis’ in August 2012.