A new research institute in London has been launched aimed at discovering a cure and new treatments for motor neurone disease (MND).

The UK Motor Neuron Disease Research Institute (UK MND RI) will bring together a virtual network of MND labs, clinical centres and researchers to carry out MND research across the UK.

Affecting one in every 300 people in the UK, MND is a neurodegenerative disease which affects the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Around one-third of patients with MND die within one year of diagnosis, and more than half within two years.

Currently, Sanofi’s Rilutek (riluzole) is the only licenced drug for MND in the UK.

Collaboratively, doctors, clinicians, scientists and people living with MND, along with funders and charities, will work to speed up drug discovery and drug development and aim to test potential treatments in clinical trials.

LifeArc, the MND Association, MND Scotland, My Name’5 Doddie Foundation and the National Institute of Health Research and Medical Research Council will fund peer-reviewed research programmes within the UK MND RI.

Institutions that are already involved in the new UK MND RI include King’s College London, the Universities of Sheffield, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Oxford and University College London.

Christopher McDermott, co-director of the new UK MND RI and professor of translational neurology at the University of Sheffield, said: “The Institute partnership has had early success in securing government funding to undertake a new experimental medicine study to rapidly screen drugs at a pace and scale not seen before.”

Ammar Al-Chalabi, co-director of the UK MND RI and professor of neurology and complex disease genetics at King’s College London, said: “Researchers across the UK…[will] work together as a team, joining up lab science with clinical practice to advance research more quickly towards an effective therapy.”

In December 2022, the UK government invested £50m into research for MND, with £29.5m of the funding being invested directly through specialist research centres and partnerships.

Most recently, the National Institute for Health and Care Research partnered with the MND Association to speed up the discovery of new treatments and insights into the condition.

https://www.pmlive.com/pharma_news/new_uk_research_institute_launched_for_motor_neurone_disease_1503448