Role of Biomarkers in MS ResearchACCELERATE THE NEXT GENERATION OF MS TREATMENTS
President’s Letter
Dear Friends and Supporters of MRF,
We continue to work on our goal of accelerating the next generation of MS treatments through our focus on biomarkers, and have an important update to share with you: we added 4 new significant biomarker studies to the list of research MRF is funding.
We are excited by the findings from these experiments. Pharmaceutical companies that have myelin repair drug development programs underway also find the results to be very promising. They know that biomarkers – like MRF is working to identify – would help accelerate their efforts. Your continued generous support will allow us to invest in additional studies.
Why Biomarkers Are Critical to MS Research
A biomarker is a biological sign of a normal or abnormal process, or of a condition or disease. A biomarker may be used to see how well the body responds to a treatment for a disease or condition. Currently, MRI scans are the only biomarker – or measurement – used in MS research. But MRIs cannot accurately measure if a treatment truly promotes myelin repair, which represents the next generation of MS treatments.
To accelerate the development of new treatments, MRF is focused on identifying additional biomarkers that can be assessed via blood tests – which are faster, less invasive, lower cost and more specific than MRI. These new biomarkers will benefit the millions worldwide living with MS by enabling smaller and faster clinical trials.
MRF Biomarker Research
May 2022
MRF initiated a study at Columbia University to use EVs to develop new ways to check microglial activity in various sub-types of MS patients. (In MS patients, destruction of myelin in the CNS is associated with activated microglia.)
March 2022
MRF began funding work at Johns Hopkins University to study macrophage migration inhibitor factor (MIF) as a biomarker of neuronal and oligodendrocyte death and disease severity in MS.
January 2022
MRF began funding a study at the University of Barcelona to evaluate whether EVs from astrocytes can indicate whether the CNS environment is promoting or inhibiting repair. (In MS, remyelination of demyelinated axons may be inhibited by stressed or activated astrocytes.)
August 2021
MRF funds scientist at Lausanne University to identify new biomarkers in relapsing and progressive MS, first using human iPSC derived astrocytes then astrocytes from CSF and blood from MS patients and healthy controls.
July 2021
MRF funds work at Cornell to determine whether brain endothelial cell EVs, oligodendrocyte EVs and microglial EVs from MS patients’ blood, changes with various MS sub-types.
June 2021
MRF funds the addition of a T1 relaxometry imaging component to the OHSU evoked potential experiment to provide an additional estimation of myelin. This allows concurrent evaluation via EVs, imaging, functional improvement, and evoked potentials.
April 2021
MRF funds the addition of EVs to an OHSU experiment that is using evoked potentials as a measure of demyelination. Evoked potentials are a possible way to measure repair by measuring the conduction speed of signals along axons.
October 2020
MRF funds follow-on experiments at Johns Hopkins University to determine change in levels of synaptic proteins in neuronally derived enriched EVs over time in MS patients including patients with aggressive MS before and after stem cell transplant.
“Although hundreds of thousands of scholarly scientific articles are published every year, the FDA approves less than two-dozen new drugs a year. What's missing is the translation of all that cutting-edge science into cutting-edge cures. That's where the MRF comes in.”
Scott Cook, Co-Founder, Intuit
“The Myelin Repair Foundation's model—which brings together researchers and works to ensure that their work is relevant to development of patient treatments—is a critical innovation at a time when our system of drug development is looking for new ideas.”
Elliot Gerson, Aspen Institute and Rhodes Trust
“There are many foundations funding research on different diseases, but fewer that are investing in the infrastructure to manage that research more effectively.”
Nancy Barrand, Special Advisor for Program Development, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
“Innovation is a decidedly social process encompassing diverse individuals, corporations, communities, networks, and regions. The work of the Myelin Repair Foundation is an excellent demonstration of these principles.”
John Hagel, Co-Chair, Deloitte LLC, Center for Edge Innovation
“I am drawn to new ideas that have the potential to change a market. I am inspired by the MRF's business model and advanced medical research concepts. MRF is a non-profit, but it breaks every rule and barrier to the speed of a start-up with the agility of a successful business.”
Samantha Fein, Managing Director, Threxy
“Unlike a lot of other organizations, the Myelin Repair Foundation really understands the intersection between academia and pharma. And if you're going to make a difference in MS, myelin repair is where you're going to have to put your efforts. We are putting efforts there.”
Craig Sorensen, Vice President, Vertex Pharmaceuticals
“Working with MRF is an unmistakable path for me to bring effective therapeutics — and new hope — for all patients in need.”
Beatrice Perotti, Ph.D., M.B.A., President and CEO, Beatrice Perotti, Inc.
“Breaking down barriers between academic research and commercial drug development will be the centerpiece of the Myelin Repair Foundation's legacy.”
William K. Bowes. Jr., Founder Amgen, U.S. Venture Partners
“Through our funding, we look for ways to make medical research more relevant to health improvement. MRF's leadership in transforming the research paradigm is very compelling to us.”
Lynne Garner, Trustee & President, Donaghue Foundation
“We view the Myelin Repair Foundation's Accelerated Research Collaboration model as just that, a transformative idea with the potential to pioneer a new approach to medical research that can speed the discovery process and lead to the development of new treatments.”
Carl Schramm, President and CEO, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation
“Not enough progress has been made, fast enough, toward effective treatments for MS. I am involved with the Myelin Repair Foundation because I really believe in the methodology: Getting the best people together to solve a really tough problem collaboratively. I truly believe that the Myelin Repair Foundation offers real hope.”
Julie Wainwright, Founder and CEO, SmartNow.com
“MRF's collaborative model is … definitely accelerating results. The scientists have made important advances that, if the labs had been working on their own, would have been much less likely.”
Brian Popko, Ph.D., University of Chicago, Director, Jack Miller Center for Peripheral Neuropathy, Associate Chair for Research, Department of Neurology
“I support the MRF for two reasons. Personally, I have a connection to MS: My husband has MS. But even beyond that, the vision of Myelin Repair Foundation and the method that they are proving out to get drugs to people faster is a really big vision that is important for a lot of unmet medical needs and it is exciting to be a part of it.”
Sharon Wienbar, Managing Partner, Scale Venture Partners
“If you just leave it to basic scientists working alone in their own labs, converting basic scientific discoveries into drugs almost never happens. Without the ARC model there is no infrastructure for accelerating drug development.”
Ben Barres, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University School of Medicine, Chair, Neurobiology Department
“Disease foundations play an important role in funding early stages of research when other research and investment dollars are scarce. I am impressed by what the Myelin Repair Foundation is doing to encourage collaboration. MRF's model is novel and spot-on in terms of moving innovative research forward.”
Gail Maderis, President and CEO, BayBio: Northern California's Life Science Association
“The Myelin Repair Foundation has identified the best labs in a defined area and brought them together with excellent and independent minds from the pharmaceutical industry to advance the most promising ideas for novel therapeutics.”
Martin Raff, M.D., Emeritus Professor, University College London
“Collaborative innovation — bringing together people from different disciplines, with complementary skills — is a powerful strategy for solving complex problems. The MRF's model provides important lessons for the pharmaceutical industry, which faces a crisis of innovation in developing treatments for complex diseases.”
Karim R. Lakhani, Harvard Business School
“Not enough progress has been made, fast enough, toward effective treatments for MS. I am involved with the MRF because I really believe in the methodology: Getting the best people together to solve a really tough problem collaboratively. I truly believe that the MRF offers real hope.”
Ted Yednock, Executive Vice President, Head of Global Research, Elan Pharmaceuticals
“I believe the most striking accomplishment has been the success of the model. The thought that one could get several excellent basic scientists to work in a united effort with a clinical target in mind is really impressive... Not only has the group worked together, but there are now products of this effort. Very impressive!
Henry F. McFarland, M.D. (Ret.), National Institutes of Health