Multiple Sclerosis - Secondary Progressive Multi-Arm Randomisation Trial

The MS-SMART trial is closed and on 12th October 2018 the headline results of the trial  were announced. A short participant video explaining the results can be found via this link: 

www.mssociety.org.uk/ms-smart-results

Professor Jeremy Chataway and all the researchers across the UK would like to say a huge thank you
​to everyone who took part in the trial.

MS-SMART trial tested 3 drugs (riluzole, amiloride and fluoxetine) in 445 people in the UK with Secondary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis (SPMS). The drugs were selected from a group of medicines that are used to treat other conditions and had previously shown promising signs in the treatment of MS (in particular SPMS). Amiloride is used to treat heart disease, fluoxetine (depression) and riluzole (motor neurone disease). Participants took one of the drugs OR a placebo pill (a dummy pill) for two years. No one knew which treatment they were taking while the trial was on-going. ‘Blinding’ as this is known is widely used in clinical trials and ensures the results of the trial are not subject to bias.

How was MS-SMART funded? The MS-SMART trial is independent research awarded by the Efficacy and Mechanism Evaluation Programme (EME), a partnership between the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), along with the Multiple Sclerosis Society (MS Society) and managed by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) on behalf of the MRC-NIHR partnership. MS-SMART is an investigator led project sponsored by University College London (UCL). Additional support comes from the University of Edinburgh and the National Institute for Health Research University College London Hospitals Biomedical Research Centre. Sanofi is supporting the study by donating the supply of riluzole for the trial.

Please note, the team leading MS-SMART are not responsible for the accuracy of information about the trial provided on other sites, or by parties external to the MS-SMART researchers. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not those of the MRC, NHS, NIHR, MS Society or the Department of Health.
Updated: 12.10.2018