Innate Immunotherapeutics Limited (ASX: IIL) has announced that it has accepted an invitation to join the Multiple Sclerosis Outcome Assessments Consortium (MSOAC), a US-based consortium undertaking the development of a clinical outcome assessment tool for use in future MS clinical trials.
Such a tool, which could comprise a number of clinical tests, would improve and speed the evaluation of new therapies for progressive MS, it said.
MSOAC is funded by the US National MS Society and led by the Critical Path Institute (C-Path), a US-based body which orchestrates the sharing of data and expertise among academia, industry, regulatory authorities, and patient advocacy groups to generate evidence needed to improve the drug development pathway.
The Consortium includes clinicians and researchers at leading academic institutions in North America, the UK, and Europe, pharmaceutical companies active in the development of MS-related therapies, regulators including the FDA and the European Medicines Agency, and patient advocacy groups including the National MS Society and the MS Society of the UK.
According to Innate Immunotherapeutics CEO, Simon Wilkinson, “This is an important event in the clinical development of our drug candidate for progressive MS. We are one of a very few companies with a promising therapy in the clinic for this challenging disease. Now we are the first pre-market stage company to be invited to join this group."
Innate Immunotherapeutics' Chief Scientific Officer, Gill Webster, attended the 3rd annual meeting of MSOAC in Washington DC immediately after Easter and said: "it was very satisfying to be welcomed as an industry member of the Consortium. Our team has put in a huge effort to get MIS416 into a Phase 2 trial in patients with secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. We are excited that the clinical assessments being used in our trial will provide valuable data which should help the Consortium’s development of a much needed outcome assessment tool in progressive MS.”
"It’s encouraging to see Innate Immunotherapeutics, a start-up company, assuming an active role in MSOAC,” said Dr Nicholas LaRocca Vice President, Health Care Delivery and Policy Research at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.
“It is a testament to our group’s efforts to ensure that all stakeholders, particularly small companies helping to bring innovation to therapy development, are represented and actively engaged in the efforts to move us closer to a world free of MS.”