Recruitment and Registration of Interest FAQs
No, there is no obligation to sign up with the UK MS Register although we do encourage this.
No. However when they finish their existing clinical trial, following a 6-month washout period, they could be considered for the trial. However, it is possible to be in the trial and take part in a study that does not require you to take any medication or use a device. Please speak to your study team if you are interested in another study.
We apologise for the delay.
You can find the latest updates on open and pending Trial sites here, and we continue to work to get more hospital sites around the UK open during 2025. The initial capacity of the trial was 125 participants per treatment arm (375 total). We are now in the second stage which needs to enrol 600 participants per experimental so there will be plenty of opportunities for you to take part in the trial.
As there has been a lot of interest in this trial already, it may take a while to get back to you. The waiting time could be up to a year, depending on when hospital sites open and the research doctors’ and nurses’ capacity to review and confirm your eligibility. They will first contact those who have registered their interest earlier. However, please be assured, we will continue to contact you regularly to keep you updated about the trial’s progress. These updates are also available on the MS Register Blog. If you do not receive these updates, please contact MS Register.
Like all clinical trials, Octopus/Platypus has eligibility criteria that dictate who can take part. If an experimental treatment tested in the trial is effective, it may then be licensed for a wider group of people.
Eligibility criteria make sure the trial is safe for everyone taking part. They also make sure we can test the benefits of a drug as quickly and effectively as possible. For all clinical trials, you're more likely to find an effect if you tightly control the group of people taking part, so there isn’t too much variation to account for (also known as ‘noise in the signal’).
We want the trial to be as inclusive as possible. For that reason, the eligibility criteria is as wide as possible. For example, we have a wider EDSS range than many previous trials and a higher upper age limit.
A Registration of Interest means you have registered your interest in taking part in the trial by answering some questions. Once completed, if you are suitable to take part we will still need to do further checks. You will be added to a list for your chosen hospital site, and they will contact you by phone (see What happens at pre-screening?). The waiting time could be up to several months, (see Why can it take a while to hear from my hospital site?).
Once you have completed your Registration of Interest, and if you are potentially able to take part, please be assured you have registered your interest. However, due to the high volume of registrations and hospital sites opening to Octopus, it may take some time before a hospital site gets in touch with you. The Octopus trial will send you updates on the trial progress via email approximately every 3 months. Therefore if you receive the Octopus trial updates, then it confirms your Registration of Interest has been received.
Participants who are currently registered can read the latest updates in the News page.
Pre-screening is the telephone call that you will receive from your chosen hospital site if you have submitted a Registration of Interest. It may be a while before you receive this call (see “I registered my interest to take part in the trial a long time ago, why have I not been contacted?”).
On this call, you will be asked to chat through the answers you have given, see if anything has changed and some other questions to see if you are able to take part in the trial. It is also an opportunity for you to ask any questions you may have about the trial. If at the end of the call the hospital site think that you meet the eligibility criteria and can take part, you will be invited to the hospital site for further screening tests prior to randomisation (“What is randomisation?”).
If you are interested in other trials for people living with MS or would like to take part in other research in the UK, further information is available on the MS Society website. Please also discuss your options with your GP.
In the update at the end of April 2025, there is a list that will allow you to change your preferred site. This can be found here.
The best way to know you are still being considered:
- Did you receive an screen update confirming you are eligible and are on the waiting list to be contacted by your study site when you registered?
- Are you receiving regular updates from the MS Register about the trial?
- You have not received any other email from the registration team notifying you that you are no longer eligible.
The timeline for opening a new site can vary, but generally it can take about 6 months.
There are multiple reasons why, including:
- Administrative requirements - sites need to create contracts and site-specific documents which can take time.
- Study staff availability
- Site capacity – many sites run multiple trials at once, and so they may want to finish one trial before launching a new one.
If there is any reason why you are not eligible when you register for the trial, you will be notified as you complete the questionnaire.
If you are eligible when you registered, but later become ineligible whilst waiting to join, you will be contacted by email to let you know.
Once you have registered to join the trial, the study team will contact you via telephone to double-check your eligibility for the trial.
If you still meet the eligibility criteria for the trial then the next step is arranging an in-person screening visit.
There are several reasons why it may be taking some time for your chosen site to get back to you:
- It takes time for hospital sites to open as they need local approval, as well as need to complete set up documents and training to ensure the trial is run safely and correctly.
- Study teams tend to have a limited number of slots for appointments which need to be split between participants attending follow-up visits as well as screening visits.
- Study staff have other responsibilities, which can make their availability for trial activities limited.
However, we are in the process of setting up more new sites across the UK so keep an eye out on the Trial sites and News pages for the latest updates.
