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The Australian MS Clinical Trials Platform is a collaboration between MS Australia and a national group of MS researchers and clinicians to fast-track MS clinical trials in Australia.
As at December 2024, the Australian MS Clinical Trials Platform supports three clinical trials in MS commencing in Australia in 2024-5, with a view to ongoing support for further MS clinical trials in future.
The Australian MS Clinical Trials Platform currently supports three clinical trials: PLATYPUS, STOP-MS and FIRMS-EBV.
The PLATYPUS trial (PLatform Adaptive Trial for remYelination and neuroProtection in mUltiple Sclerosis) will evaluate drugs for slowing the progression of disability in people with progressive MS.
PLATYPUS will specifically test drugs that may help repair the damage to the protective coating around nerves or protect the nerves from damage.
PLATYPUS is an example of an adaptive clinical trial: a new and more flexible type of clinical trial design that, among other things, allows simultaneous testing of multiple potential therapies.
Initially two therapies will be tested against a placebo or “dummy drug”, with the potential to test additional therapies in future.
PLATYPUS will test “repurposed drugs”: that is, therapies that are approved in Australia for use in other conditions, so their safety profile is already well understood. This can assist with fast-tracking the path to the clinic, should the trial be successful.
As the Australian extension of the international OCTOPUS (Optimal Clinical Trials Platform for Progressive Multiple Sclerosis) trial; PLATYPUS allows Australians with progressive MS to participate in world-leading research.
The STOP-MS trial will test whether antiviral drugs can slow disability progression in people with progressive MS.
Recent landmark studies have confirmed the requirement for the Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infection in the development of MS, before the earliest signs of nerve damage and years before MS onset.
Treating EBV infection or its downstream effects on the immune system presents exciting possibilities for completely new ways to treat MS.
The STOP-MS trial will test two antiviral drugs that are already approved in Australia to treat other viruses but are also effective against EBV in the laboratory.
This two-stage trial will first test which antiviral drug controls EBV infection more effectively. The more effective of the two drugs will then be taken into Stage 2, to test its effectiveness in slowing disability progression.
The FIRMS-EBV trial (Fatigue In Relapsing MS EBV treatment trial) will test whether antiviral drugs can reduce fatigue in people with relapsing-remitting MS.
Fatigue can be a crippling invisible symptom, affecting up to 80% of people living with MS, and there are no effective treatments.
FIRMS-EBV will test two antiviral drugs already approved to treat other conditions to see whether they reduce fatigue, and/or effectively control EBV infection in relapsing-remitting MS.
To determine whether you may be eligible to participate in one or more of the Australian MS Clinical Trial Platform trials, you are invited to use MS Trial Screen.
You can see whether you fit the essential criteria for each Australian MS Clinical Trial Platform trial using an online survey named MS Trial Screen:
MS Trial Screen was developed and is managed by the Menzies Institute for Medical Research at the University of Tasmania. It is funded by MS Australia to help people navigate MS clinical trials in Australia.
To find out more about MS Trial Screen and to access the online survey:
Alternatively, you can speak to your neurologist or health care team about your interest and potential eligibility for the Australian MS Clinical Trial Platform Trials.
Further information and trial contacts are available by clicking the links to each trial above.
