BioMS Medical initiates enrollment in pivotal U.S. phase III multiple sclerosis trial
BioMS Medical Corp announced that the first patients have been enrolled in MAESTRO-03, its U.S. pivotal phase III clinical trial of MBP8298, a proprietary synthetic peptide for the treatment of multiple sclerosis. The randomized, double-blind study is enrolling approximately 510 secondary progressive MS patients at approximately 60 sites across the U.S. who will be administered either MBP8298 or placebo intravenously every six months for a period of two years.
The primary clinical endpoint for the MAESTRO-03 trial is defined as a statistically significant time to disease progression as measured by the Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), in patients with HLA-DR2 and/or HLA-DR4 immune response genes. Up to 75% of all MS patients are HLA-DR2 and/or HLA-DR4 positive.
In MS patients, the body's immune system inappropriately attacks the myelin coating around the nerves in the brain and spinal column, whereas healthy people are otherwise "tolerant" of such common body components. The proposed mechanism of action of MBP8298 is, by design, to re-introduce such a state of "tolerance" to a critical portion of the nerve's Myelin Basic Protein that is an immunological site of attack in many MS patients.
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