BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis, or MS, is a debilitating autoimmune disease affecting the central nervous system. An estimated 400,000 Americans have MS and every week, nearly 200 new patients are diagnosed. A patient develops MS when the fatty tissue, myelin, that surrounds the nerve fibers of the central nervous system and helps it quickly communicate messages to the body, disappears. This triggers the devastating symptoms of MS including moderate to debilitating fatigue, loss of balance and vision, numb or tingling sensations throughout the body and an inability to control breathing. While the cause of MS alludes the medical community, researchers believe a combination of genetic and environmental factors could play a role in a patient's susceptibility.

According to the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, there are four different types of MS: Relapsing Remitting MS, Secondary Progressive MS, Primary Progressive MS and Progressive Relapsing MS. While there is no cure for MS, patients with Relapsing Remitting MS can benefit from beta interferon drugs, Copaxone, Novantrone or Tysabri, as well as alternative medicinal options. However, patients with Secondary Progressive MS, an especially debilitating form of the disease, have had no viable treatment options.

NEW HOPE? Patients with Secondary Progressive MS live with the knowledge that their disease will continue to progress, leading to continual loss of both physical and neurological function. Many patients with SPMS rely on mobility aids, like a wheelchair, and have advanced symptoms of traditional MS, such as tremors, loss of bladder and bowel function and vision loss. The rate of deterioration varies among patients.

A new drug, MBP8298, is in current clinical trials called MAESTRO-03. The drug is an injection similar to an allergy shot. Administered twice a year, patients are injected with a synthetic replica of a Myelin Basic Protein, which is a dominant attack site for more than 75 percent of all MS patients. By periodically introducing this protein to the patient's body, it is believed to induce and maintain immune system tolerance, therefore stopping the immune system's attack that causes MS disease progression. In a study published in the European Journal of Neurology in August 2006, MBP8298 showed a five-year delay in disease progression.

While MBP8298 will not offer a cure, it could stop disease progression, allowing patients and their families to adapt to their current condition. This takes away the uncertainty patients feel, not knowing what their physical and neurological condition will be in the coming months or years.

TRIALS: Trials of MBP8298 are ongoing in Canada and the United States, and are currently enrolling participants. Visit the following email address if you or someone you know would like to participate.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT:                           

MAESTRO-03 Clinical Trials

http://www.biomsmedical.com