MND-SMART update on amantadine

MND Scotland welcomes today’s announcement from the MND-SMART team that, following a review of stage 1 interim analysis data for amantadine, it has been decided that amantadine will continue to be evaluated as part of the MND-SMART trial.  

Independent trial committees said no safety concerns were identified and congratulated the sites on impressive recruitment and data integrity.   

MND Scotland is the foundational funder of MND-SMART, a landmark clinical trial, which started recruiting in February 2020, as a result of the charity’s initial £1.5 million investment. The innovative trial is designed to speed up the search for new and effective medicines that can stop, slow or reverse the progression of MND. In June 2023, we announced a further £2 million investment, and a partnership with the MND Association of England, Wales and Northern Ireland, which committed an additional £500,000 to bring the total investment to £2.5 million. 

To date, MND-SMART has randomised nearly 900 people with MND across 22 sites in all four UK home nations. MND-SMART is pioneering in its approach and design for neurological conditions, allowing multiple drug treatments to be tested at the same time, speeding up progress and reducing the number of people with MND who would be assigned to a ‘placebo’ group. 

MND-SMART has started with ‘repurposed’ drugs which are already approved for use in other conditions. This means all the safety testing and development work has already been done, saving time and money. 

MND-SMART also confirmed the launch of a fourth arm in Edinburgh in January 2025.  

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. 

Dr Jane Haley, Director of Research for MND Scotland, said: “MND-SMART is the charity’s largest single research investment. We are proud to support this pioneering trial, which has been created in Scotland but is available in all four UK nations. MND-SMART has transformed participation for people with MND across Scotland, ensuring equitable access to a clinical trial for people with the disease.”