A drug called RNS60 halted the progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) in mice, according to a new study published in PLOS ONE, a research journal.
The study was a collaboration between Revalesio, a clinical stage biomedical company based in Tacoma, Wash., and Kalipada Pahan, Ph.D., professor of neurological sciences at Rush University in Chicago.
The drug stopped the mice’s MS, defined by progressive paralysis of limbs, and prevented inflammation in the spinal column and brain, the study says. RNS60 also protected nerve cells from losing myelin, their protective covering.
The mice in the study were given the drug either at early onset of the disease, or late at the relapsing phase.
Researchers suggest the drug worked by changing “the over-reactive immune response associated with MS through increasing the population of regulatory T cells, which have protective function, while reducing the number of inflammatory Th17 T cells.
“These results highlight a novel immunomodulatory role of RNS60 and suggest that this unique therapeutic may yield new treatment options for MS.”
Revalesio is planning to test RNS60 in a phase II clinical trial at St. Sinai Hospital in New York.
