Innate commences dosing in SPMS trial

Innate Immunotherapeutics (ASX:IIL) has commenced dosing in a phase IIb trial of MIS416 in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS).

Patient dosing is now underway at the trial’s sites in Perth and Melbourne. A third site in Brisbane is due to commence recruiting patients after tomorrow.

The randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of the efficacy and safety of MIS416 in Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (SPMS) aims to recruit up to 90 patients.

The trial is being held at the Western Australian Neuroscience Research Institute, Nucleus Network’s AMREP Centre for Clinical Studies in Melbourne and Brisbane’s Wesley-St Andrew's Research Institute.

Innate also announced it has appointed Dr Claudia Mansell as senior research scientist. Mansell will lead the analysis of trial subjects’ blood samples, with the goal of facilitating the development of the first test that could be used to monitor patients’ clinical responses to MIS416.

Mansell joins Innate from the University of Auckland’s School of Biological Sciences. She has a PhD in immunology from Germany's Heinrich Heine Universität and the Harvard Medical School.

Around 30% of multiple sclerosis sufferers worldwide have SPMS and there are currently no approved drugs for ongoing treatment for the disease. Around 23,000 Australians have MS.

Innate Immunotherapeutics (ASX:IIL) shares were trading 14.71% higher at $0.195 as of around 1 pm on Tuesday.