Drug derived from acne bacteria to be used to treat MS in Australian trial(04/11/13)

A drug that contains a fragment of the teenage acne bacteria will be used to treat multiple sclerosis in a new Australian trial.

Almost 100 patients will be part of a trial to test the drug's effectiveness in treating the more advanced form of MS.

Results from unpublished early trials show modest improvement in symptoms of secondary progressive MS.

The CEO of biopharmaceutical company Innate Immunotherapeutics, Simon Wilkinson, said the drug was derived from propionibacterium acnes - the same bacterium that causes acne in teenagers.

Unlike other drugs that use a man-made version of the substance, MIS416 takes the bacteria and puts it through a manufacturing process that leaves behind just the microparticle required to elicit the immune reaction against MS.

The early trial found eight of 10 patients treated for 12 weeks had some improvement in their MS-related symptoms.

"We had 80 per cent of the patients show a 30 per cent or greater improvement in at least one measure of their MS clinical status or disability," Mr Wilkinson said.

Dr Matthew Miles of MS Research Australia said the disease typically began withrelapsing/remitting MS, where attacks on the immune system came in waves.

More than half of those diagnosed with this first phase of MS will develop secondary progressive MS within 10 years.

Dr Miles said there were no disease-modifying treatments for this debilitating form of MS.

"We need to be concentrating on potential therapies for the secondary progressive MS," he said.

"Like all potential clinical trials it's a great opportunity and it's wonderful for people with MS that this is going on."

The company behind the drug has shifted part of its operations to Australia for the trial. It will start recruiting for the phase 2b trial next year.

Mr Wilkinson said running a clinical trial in Australia gave the company access to a larger patient cohort and it was considerably quicker and less expensive than in the US. Almost 25,000 Australians have MS, which affects the central nervous system.

Its symptoms can include difficulty walking, heat sensitivity, depression, and bowel and bladder dysfunction.

news.com.au Copyright © News Limited 2013 (04/11/13)