Trial news

This post was authored by Susan Scott, Octopus PPI (Patient and Public Involvement) Representative, member of the Trial Management Group, and Co-Applicant on the grant that funded the trial. It was originally published in the MS Society's North Herts newsletter. Two of us patient representatives on the Octopus trial were very honoured to fly to Toronto in December to an Intern ...

Octopus has now received the approvals needed for the trial to proceed.  These are from the Health Research Authority (HRA), Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the Research Ethics Committee (REC).    The chosen treatments are Metformin and R/S Alpha Lipoic Acid. Further details are available via the MS Society.  The next steps are now to work with ...

Octopus featured at a recent educational event on multiple sclerosis. Prof Jeremy Chataway, the Chief Investigator for the trial, spoke to an audience of other MS professionals about the need for new treatments that slow down progressive MS, and how Octopus seeks to address that need.  The talk took place at the MS at the Limits event at the end of September this year, and an ...

The trial team at UCL has recently submitted their application to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and to a Research Ethics Committee. Gaining approval from both these bodies is mandatory for the trial to open to recruitment. These organisations will review the application, raise any questions or request changes that they think are needed, and in ...

Clinicians and researchers involved in Octopus have published an article in the journal Neurology. This is one of the first scientific outputs from the trial. Octopus is the first trial in MS making use of the multi-arm multistage (MAMS) platform design. The goal is to speed up the evaluation of promising drugs against progressive MS by making the trial more efficient.  The a ...