Submitted by lac59 on Fri, 26/09/2025 - 11:45
Early findings suggest a combination of metformin, a diabetes drug, and clemastine, an antihistamine, can help repair myelin – the protective coating around nerves, which gets damaged in multiple sclerosis (MS) causing symptoms like fatigue, pain, spasms and problems with walking.
Funded by the MS Society and carried out by researchers at the University of Cambridge, results of the phase two clinical trial, CCMR-Two, take us another step closer to finally being able to stop disease progression in MS. But researchers stress people should not attempt to acquire the drugs outside a clinical trial, as further research is needed to fully understand their efficacy and safety in MS.
Previous evidence from animal studies showed that metformin enhances the effect of clemastine on myelin repair, but until now the two drugs had never been tested together in people. News of the latest trial was presented at this year’s European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) – one of the world’s biggest MS research conferences – in Barcelona on Friday 26 September.
Over 150,000 people live with MS in the UK. While there are around 20 disease modifying therapies or people with relapsing MS, and some emerging for active progressive MS, tens of thousands of people remain without effective treatment. Those drugs that do exist only work on one aspect of the condition – the immune system. They don’t stop the gradual nerve damage that leads to long-term disability. We desperately need to find ways to protect nerves from damage, and boosting the body's natural ability to put myelin back onto nerves, could be a way in. And this research offers fresh hope to thousands that life-changing treatments could be on the horizon.
MS is just the beginning. Finding ways to protect the brain before irreversible damage sets in, is vital across all neurodegenerative conditions from Alzheimer’s to Parkinson’s, diseases that together cost the UK hundreds of billions and place an enormous burden on the NHS and carers.
Dr Nick Cunniffe, Academic Neurologist at the University of Cambridge, who led the CCMR-Two trial, says: “I am increasingly sure that remyelination is part of the solution to stopping progressive disability in MS. We still need to research the long-term benefits and side effects before people with MS consider taking these drugs. But my instinct is that we are on the brink of a new class of treatments to stop MS progression, and within the next decade we could see the first licensed treatment that repairs myelin and improves the lives of people living with MS.”
Hannah Threlfell, 43, from Abington was diagnosed with relapsing MS in 2019 after experiencing optic neuritis. She joined the CCMR-Two trial in the hope she could help future generations. The teacher-turned-curate says: “Before I was diagnosed, I sat through a talk from MS specialist, Professor Alasdair Coles, about groundbreaking MS research. Even though I didn’t know I had it then, I remember thinking how incredible it was that so much had been achieved. And now I have MS, joining the trial was a no brainer. The team have all been so positive and amazing – I’ve made friends for life!
“I love helping and I know being on this trial will make a difference to someone else in the future – even small ripples have long-lasting effects! It would mean everything to find a way to stop MS progressing and would be the answer to the pray. This research gives me even more reason to believe that in my lifetime everyone with MS will have treatments that work for them.”
Director of Research, Dr Emma Gray at the MS Society, says. “These results are truly exciting, and could represent a turning point in the way MS is treated. We desperately need ways to protect nerves from damage and repair lost myelin, and this research gives us real hope that myelin repair drugs will be part of the armoury of MS treatments in the future.
“This research is the culmination of decades of research funded by MS Society supporters. We won’t stop until we find treatments for everyone living with MS.”
CCMR-Two is being funded by donations to the MS Society’s Stop MS Appeal. The appeal hopes to raise £100 million by the end of 2025 to help find treatments that could slow or stop the build-up of disability for everyone with MS.
For more information and to help fund essential MS research visit www.mssociety.org.uk/stop-ms
