MND-SMART becomes UK’s biggest ever MND clinical trial

MND-SMART has become the UK’s biggest ever clinical drug trial for people living with motor neuron disease (MND) following the recruitment of four hundred participants.

MND Scotland is the key charity funder of the landmark trial which is designed to speed up the time it takes to find medicines that can slow, stop, or reverse the progression of MND.

Initially researchers are testing drugs that are already licensed for use in other conditions to check whether they offer any benefit for people with MND. This re-purposing of existing drugs could cut years off the time taken for potential treatments to become available to people with MND through the NHS.

The trial is based at the Euan MacDonald Centre for MND Research at the University of Edinburgh and is open to the vast majority of people living with MND across the UK. The 400 participants have been recruited across 17 trial sites across Scotland, England and Wales, in conjunction with the NHS.

This major recruitment milestone has been reached thanks to many people, most notably people living with MND who gave up their time to take part and contribute to continually improving the design of the trial.

MND-SMART has pre-defined criteria about how many participants are needed before clinicians can say definitively whether either of the first two drugs tested, memantine and trazodone, are effective in slowing down the progression of MND. Reaching the milestone of 400 participants means that the team is now closer to this goal.

Clinicians are now firming up plans to add another drug into MND-SMART, as well as opening more sites to make the trial accessible to more people across the UK.

Dr Jane Haley MBE, Director of Research at MND Scotland, said: “We are delighted that the MND-SMART clinical trial has reached 400 participants, making it the largest MND trial currently available in the UK.

“We are very proud to have been pivotal in the establishment of MND-SMART by providing £1.5million to support it during its first 5 years. None of this would be possible if not for our incredible fundraisers, volunteers and donors who make our work possible every day.

“I’d like to congratulate the team of expert clinicians on all their work so far. A special thank you to the 400 people with MND who have given up their time to take part in this vital research. Together, we will make time count.”

If you would like to support our research, please donate today.

If you are currently living with MND and would like to join the MND-SMART clinical trial, please visit www.mnd-smart.org for more information.