Myelin Repair Foundation and NIH enter into agreement to repurpose MRF-008 for multiple sclerosis

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The Myelin Repair Foundation has announced that it has entered a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to assess MRF-008, as a potential therapeutic for multiple sclerosis. 

According to a press release, this CRADA will facilitate collaboration between the foundation and National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at the NIH Clinical Center to study MRF-008, a drug identified by the Myelin Repair Foundation as a potential neuroprotective therapeutic to enhance repair in multiple sclerosis patients.

Through its Accelerated Research Collaboration (ARC) model, a collaborative research model designed to accelerate promising therapeutics to market, the Myelin Repair Foundation will work closely with the NIH to assess MRF-008 as a therapeutic candidate in an multiple sclerosis clinical trial. MRF-008 is a generic US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved compound for the treatment of hypertension identified by the Myelin Repair Foundation’s academic research consortium as a novel drug repurposing candidate for neuroprotection to stimulate multiple sclerosis repair. Irene Cortese and Daniel Reich have been named as leaders of the research study at the NIH.

“As a non-profit organisation beholden to patients, not profits, we are uniquely positioned to advance MRF-008, a generic drug identified by the Myelin Repair Foundation academic consortium, forward as a novel therapeutic candidate to stimulate repair for multiple sclerosis,” said Scott Johnson, CEO, president and founder of the Myelin Repair Foundation. “With the NIH’s eminent expertise in multiple sclerosis clinical trials, we have found an exemplary partner to conduct the research necessary to assess MRF-008. With world-class advisors, academic scientists, industry partners and this opportunity to collaborate with NIH scientists, we remain on track to develop and deliver the next generation of multiple sclerosis therapeutics for patients.”