July 27, 2009

Here's some unhappy news for people with MS -- one of the few drugs being evaluated for helping with secondary progressive MS, dirucotide, has been pulled from further study following disappointing results from the phase III study MAESTRO-01. In this study, partners BioMS and Eli Lilly had hoped to show that the drug delayed how long it took subjects with MS to worsen. Unfortunately, this didn't happen, nor were the secondary goals of the study achieved. The companies also announced that the follow-on studies MAESTRO-02 and -03 will be discontinued. Participants in these trials are advised to contact their study investigators for more information on the discontinuation process.

In a small note of possible consolation, I have heard recently from different drug companies that they are interested in developing drugs for progressive MS. It will take time for these drugs to come to market, but the success of the first-line RRMS drugs has probably demonstrated that drugs for progressive stages of the disease would also find a receptive market. Hopefully some of these will meet with better luck than dirucotide.